Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Another look at the SW corner of 7th Street and Avenue B

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Late last week, workers removed the sidewalk bridge from outside 108 Avenue B, the 5-story building on the SW corner of Seventh Street that houses longstanding tenant Vazac's/the Horseshoe Bar/7B

As we noted in early June, workers took down the scaffolding and construction netting ... revealing a restored exterior — and some notably absent previous features...
The faded ad for the Peter Jarema Funeral Home on the next block of Seventh Street with the allure of "Air Conditioned Chapels" and a smaller sign for "Vazac Hall Catering" (and "Fine Food")  a nod to the business before the current iteration of the bar...
According to work permits on file with the Department of Buildings, the landlord had approved plans to remove the "deteriorated metal cornice" and "build up and maintain existing brick parapet." 

Since the June reveal, we've heard from many readers and residents who were sad to see the ghost signage go. (And as we said, the bar's interior retains its timeless charm.)

Read our previous post here for more background on the building and its history. 

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sadly the detailing and craft store involved in cornice & parapet making seems to be lost art

adrbin said...

One of the most powerful characteristics of the once great New York was the layers of history that hid in plain sight. The more one knew the more one saw. Born & raised in NYC, I loved changed, I just never thought that it would all change to all be the same. Suburbia in the sky.

Anonymous said...

It's sad to see the ghost signage gone, but so glad Horseshoe bar is still there! (I'm always worried when I see a post about that corner) Hoping for the bar to be around for many years to come please :)

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

Hi, you can see a picture of the ghost sign when it was still pretty visible here: http://galessandrini.blogspot.com/2017/03/photo-gallery-nyc-1990s-portfolio-1.html
Taken in the Mid-90s. I used to love this place, often empty in the afternoons. ! Spent lots of time there playing pinball.

Urno Talbot said...

Anyone remember Pauls Bar? it looked like the front of this building and on a corner, feel old for not remembering. One night we go and there's a guy in front next to the door, stabbed and bleeding out as the emts arrived. EV in the 70's was never a bore