A Good Sign: Neil's

This is the neon sign hanging outside Neil's Coffee Shop at the southeast corner of Lexington and 71st. It's always been one of my favorite old signs and I was glad to see it was still there when I visited the Hunter College area again recently.

The diner is still as I remember it from my Hunter days. It has such a permanency to it. Never changes, never primps or tries to sell itself. I know nothing about the place. The sign would seen to indicate that it's been there at least since the '50s. They don't take credit cards. The menu is the usual diner affair. But the way the words "Coffee Shop" are placed far off to the right of the door, aligned with nothing in particular, is pure independent business eccentricity.