Monday, April 5, 2010

Bleecker Corner

From my meager collection of scanned old photographs, I found this shot of the corner at Bleecker and Christopher. I liked the little grocery store for its vintage signage and the words "FANCY FRUITS." It is possible that DAIRY means not that the store sold milk, but that it once served kosher, maybe the remnant of an old dairy lunch counter.


circa 1995

This building, Forgotten New York tells us, is one of the oldest in the Village, "constructed during the Jefferson administration" and photographed in 1935 by Berenice Abbott.


1935, Berenice Abbott

Today, like a lot of things on Bleecker, the storefront houses a boutique. LTJ Arthur is a French luxury brand. Says Racked, the shop carries something called "charentaise lounge slippers." A different sort of fancy fruit.


2009

See Also:
Times Square 90s
at

6 comments:

  1. Barbara L. HansonApril 5, 2010 at 11:07 AM

    Going back before 1980, sold groceries, veg, and dairy. No recollection of anything else; also, not a huge nabe for kosher establishments. Horrible what's there now.

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  2. MelanieApril 5, 2010 at 3:13 PM

    I love Bernice Abbott--her photographs are deep and inspiring.

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  3. Caleo88April 5, 2010 at 6:27 PM

    First off Jeremiah, I want to heartily thank you for your continued effort to document this city and it's passing. As someone who moved here in 88',seeing your photos is always wonderful as well as painful. I never took many photos during the 80's and 90's, because I never imagined in my worst nightmares that the city could possibly become what it is today.
    No matter what any cantankerous pre 80's curmudgeon's tell you, you are definitely a NATIVE NEW YORKER. Your efforts here have earned you that designation.
    And for all the natives who mourn the loss of our great city ( and I know more than a few ) there are millions of natives who voted for Giuliani, who still sing his praises, and who HATE everything that old New York was.
    So just being a NATIVE is meaningless. Because most of the natives are the ones who cheered as Giuliani kicked ass, and who quietly sat by and watched developers and brokers and hordes of twinkie tourists and douchebag yuppies murder this once proud beast called New York City.
    We're all just living inside the carcass of that glorious beast now... but thanks to you and a few other's who were here at the end of the golden age, we can sit back and look at photos of times and places that hold SO many memories.
    The ghosts of Old New York thank you Jeremiah... and so do I.

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  4. Dan MApril 5, 2010 at 8:42 PM

    This was also the (supposed) building where the Commissioner's City Grid Plan of 1811 was drawn up. Quite a history.

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  5. Barbara L. HansonApril 6, 2010 at 8:19 AM

    Caleo, dismissing the rest of your rant against natives (as 5th gen myself, I can't say I've met many such as you describe--hating old NY? Nerts!), saying something doesn't make it so. Jeremiah is a New York treasure, but a native he ain't.

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  6. Jeremiah MossApril 6, 2010 at 9:26 AM

    thanks Caleo and Baha. true, i'm not a native and can never be. i do like to think of myself as a New Yorker.

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