very simple

These three buildings used to comprise one store known as the M. Gordon Novelty shop. It was a bright blue eyesore, made even more eyesore-ish by the fact that in the entire time I lived in the flatiron neighborhood, the shop was actually abandoned. It spend years as a closed, gated over, crumbling mess in the middle of some of the most premium real estate in the city (you can sort of see the old building from an angle in a photo I took in 2005. and this flickr group seems to be dedicated to preserving its memory). But it was also one of those vestiges of old new york that more often disappear too quickly in our modern age. I’m glad that they refurbished the buildings – if nothing else I spent years wondering when the thing was going to collapse. I just wish they had found something more unique than yet another le pain quotidian to stick inside.

Tags: new york city, photos