Friday, August 19, 2022

Some appetizing ghost signage uncovered on 14th Street

Workers today uncovered ghost signage at 442 E. 14th St. at Avenue A... a sign for "Appetizers" on what was most recently New Herbal World. (Thanks to Bayou for sharing this photo!

Some time/day we'll dig into the NYPL Digital Collections to see what this business may have been. 

And the workers are — per some EVG reader reports — combining this space with the former Lower East Side Coffee Shop for a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.

14 comments:

  1. They should leave that sign up for the next smoke shop that will open in this space.

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  2. That's a beauty. Must've been nice with the neon.

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  3. It was a delicatessen. One of the guys that worked there was named DiTomasso. I forget the others' names. Used to get a bologna sandwich from them at lunchtime when I went to Immaculate and could go home for lunch in the late 1960's.

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  4. Anon@2:21pm - Thanks for dropping some old school neighborhood knowledge. Whatever you do, don't move to Florida or Upstate, so the newbies can thrash about and scream in a history-free zone.

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  5. It is all covered already.

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  6. As a Stuy Town lifer who still lives here, yep it was a deli.

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  7. Carol from East 5th StreetAugust 19, 2022 at 8:14 PM

    Love ghost signs! There should be a law to preserve them (Yeah right. Tell that to the Landmarks Preservation Committee).

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  8. Not to be contrary, but originally, "Appetizing" stores were not "delicatessens" in the true sense. Appetizing stores didn't sell meat. They sold smoked fish and dairy, along with other treats, but not meat, this to follow Kosher guidelines.

    It's possible that this business eventually changed hands and purpose, and actually became a deli, as mentioned, but I'm pretty sure when it was a real Appetizing Store, there was no bologna. BTW, there was another Appetizing store in the area, on the N/W corner of 19th St and 1st Ave, right down the block from PS 40. It sold the aforementioned fish and dairy, as well as one of the worlds greatest displays of Penny Candy, ever known to man !..... take it from a 3rd grader who shopped there frequently.

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  9. I worked there in the 70's and 80's. It was owned at the time by Mike Dalton, who originally had a deli on 14th between B and C. It was run by his son-in-law Richie. I worked there with Pete, Larry, Tomasso, Steve, and Bill. Great sandwiches - and for people who didn't want to wait in line at the supermarket.

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    1. I knew Steve! He was such a nice guy. What memories 😊

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  10. We were by there this morning and the sign was gone already, I hope somebody saved it from the dumpster!

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  11. Please tell us that it was covered up and not on its way to a landfill in Jersey.

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