Every Friday, I try to put together a post of random tidbits from my week in scouting. Enjoy!
While scouting in Tribeca earlier in the week, I was glad to see that my favorite Manhattan ghost ad (a sign, billboard or painting advertising something long gone) is still in decent shape…
Located at the corner of West Broadway and Reade are these two great paintings on the stone.
The ad reads: “Brush Up Business With Paint, Paste, Paper & Push.”
Beside it is this great painting of a hand holding a brush.
What does it mean? According to a 1994 NY Times Letter to the Editor, this is an advertisement for advertising! The push in this case refers to a sell. Or, in other words, with paint, paste, and paper, you can push your product. No one seems to know when this came into existence. It was definitely not around in a 1940’s photograph of the building (though it was clearly designed to look early 1900’s), and some speculate it might just be a movie set decoration from the 1970’s.
12th Ave up in Harlem is one of New York’s most iconic roadways, passing beneath the gorgeous arches of Riverside Drive. Note the alley on the left…
As I’ve said numerous times, Manhattan only has a handful off alleys, and every year another seems to disappear. Recently, I wrote about the demise of Theatre Alley; now I’m starting to fear for the dead-ended alley at West 134th Street off of 12th Ave.
These iron posts have been set into the cement on both sides. The buildings in the background are all part of the Manhattan Mini-Storage above…Could they be shutting this one down for good with an ugly orange gate? Fingers crossed this is just some sort of temporary scaffolding…
Great old sign on Canal Street. With all the renovations tearing through Chinatown’s most touristed thruway, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s gone in a few months.
Really interesting decoration on an otherwise unremarkable building in the 30’s…
Lining the upper windows is this row of birds:
For some reason, these things look evil to me.
Finally, a question for you readers. I often get on the BQE at the Greenpoint ramp, passing this oil tank.
Right next to the oil tank is a long pipe sticking out of the ground, on top of which burns a large flame (really hard to see in this picture, sorry!). Can someone explain why that is? I’ve seen a similar pipe at the JFK airport near their oil tank.
Have a great weekend!
-SCOUT
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