Like its counterparts in the South Village, Carroll Gardens, and the North Bronx, the long-established Italian neighborhood in East Williamsburg, with its old-school shops and storefronts, is shrinking.
So before Graham Avenue (renamed “Via Vespucci” after the Italian explorer) is swarmed by wine bars and doggy day care centers, take a moment to appreciate the iconic signs stretching from Ainslie Street to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
Looking at the Emily’s Pork Store sign makes me hungry. I wish I’d stopped in for some fresh mozzarella. And Caffe Capri! I love the mermaid crest on the left. This is what the sign looks like without the last bit cut off (it reads pastry, expresso, cappuccino).
Grande Monuments is a wonderful sign on its own. But there’s a bonus on the side of the building: another sign with the old two-letter phone exchange.
The ST is probably an abbreviation for nearby Stagg Street.
Tags: Caffe Capri Brooklyn, East Williamsburg, Emily's Pork Store Brooklyn, Italian neighborhood Williamsburg, Italian neighborhoods Brooklyn, Italian store signs, New York old phone exchanges, old phone exchanges, Vintage store signs
March 3, 2013 at 1:03 am |
The “ST” in the phone number was indeed “Stagg,” the exchange that was in use at the time:
http://phone.net46.net/nyc/latealpha.html#Sterling
March 3, 2013 at 1:05 am |
Thanks for the confirmation!
March 19, 2013 at 7:31 am |
the Bonanno family ran (runs?) a lot of that area, The Motion Lounge famous from the Donnie Brasco story is on that block
March 22, 2013 at 5:12 pm |
[...] Caffe Capri- one of my favorite signs in Williamsburg Image by *Bitch Cakes* linked to from here: ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/vintage-store-s… [...]