And here's how the storefront at the city-owned No. 39 looks now...
Essex Card Shop moved one block to the north to 47 Avenue A between Third Street and Fourth Street last June. A shop regular says that the owners were keeping the sign, but it wasn't going to fit above the new location.
In other old signage news... the old Pac Lab signage was removed last week from 37 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue...
Per the Anthology Film Archives: "Pac Lab was a true NYC staple, as well as the last local resource we had for same-day processing of Super-8mm and 16mm film. Over the years Pac Lab proved itself to be a company that possessed as much character and quirkiness as its clients."
Pac Lab closed at some point in 2014 or 2015.