Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Gross' Balls

Back in April I reported that S&G Gross pawnbrokers had closed after 115 years in business. I worried about what would happen to their antique golden balls, the great symbol of pawnshops, hanging over 8th Avenue near 34th Street.


April

Now they're gone.

The neon sign is gone, too, and the place has been plywooded and installed with tourists who stand around and point into the sky.

Let's hope those balls are in good hands.


today








5 comments:

NEW YORK IN THE 1990's PHOTO ARCHIVES said...

When I see these pawnshop "balls", I always think of the movie "The Lost Weekend " with Ray Miland...too bad this is disapearing...another classic New York fixture that's being forgotten !

onemorefoldedsunset said...

Fondly remember Stavenhagen, on Brooklyn's Fifth Avenue. The strange, intimate repositories of so many cherished possessions.

Tal Hartsfeld said...

Amazing that no wise-ass types are making fun of the ambiguous title of this post.

Unknown said...

The gentleman is probably pointing up at the room they are staying in at the New Yorker Hotel. I hope they are enjoying their incredible luck standing right between a TGI Fridays and a Famous Famiglia Pizzeria with McDonalds only a few steps away... A real New York experience! They will have great stories to bring back home with them.

Unknown said...

I think they only look up during those moments far and few between when they can tear themselves away from their evil phones.