[June 2013]
Just yesterday we pointed out that the sidewalk bridge arrived ahead of the demolition of the single-level buildings along East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.
We wondered what would/will become of the Blarney Cove sign... The neighborhood bar closed for good last June to make way for the new retail-residential complex.
And, OMG, here it is yesterday afternoon just lying there on the sidewalk, apparently discarded by construction workers ...
… and a short time later… Little Town Shoes sent along these photos…
…gutted and tagged!
But that's not how this story ends.
EVG regular Dave on 7th happened to be walking by yesterday afternoon… and he saw the sign still intact on the building. He asked the workers if they would take it down for him.
They did.
From there it wasn't easy to remove the two sides of the Barney Cove Bar sign from the frame. First, there were a million rusty screws. Then there was the matter of navigating two 7-foot by 2-foot (!) pieces of Blarney Cove sign home.
Along the way, someone offered Dave on 7th $200 for the signs. He declined.
Eventually, one of the signs split it two. But! As of this moment, the two signs (now in three pieces) are in good hands. Repeat, the two signs (now in three pieces) are in good hands.
"I wish I could have left the whole thing intact, but that just wasn't in the cards," said Dave on 7th, who has the signs in his building. "I started to wipe the dust off the back, and it turns out that's what made it white. Either super old paint or a fluorescent powder to make it glow brighter.
"Man, I worked my ass off taking it apart."
Now if we can only find the Blarney Cove cooling and refreshening system…
[Photo from May 2011 by the long-lost (sob) Intern of EV Grieve]
Previously on EV Grieve:
Here is the future of East 14th Street and Avenue A: 7 stories of residential and retail
City OKs permits to demolish the empty storefronts along this section of East 14th Street
The Blarney Cove closes for good after tomorrow night
10 comments:
Hip, hip, hooray!
P.S. Can we see pictures please, of the sign in its new environment?
Sign Police :
knock-knock...."Yeah, we're lookin' for a 'Dave on 7th'?"
"Dave's not here, man."
Excellent work....and props to the workers who took it down....THAT could have been dicey.
I think the flourescent powder is radium provided my madam curie when she visited NYC in 1921.
A happier ending than this.
http://evgrieve.com/2011/07/workers-remove-iconic-chow-mein-sign-on.html
Yay!
Bittersweet. Mostly bitter.
that sign looks huge up close
I am so jealous of Dave,
@Crazy Eddie, that Chow Mein sign, last I heard is still on the roof of the building.
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