Jiffy Cleaners Defaces Itself

It's been a bad summer for New York signage. Jiffy Cleaners in Ridgewood, Queens, is the latest old business to trade in a unique, charming piece of original signage (above) for a new, normal, boring and utterly anonymous plastic awning (below). How is it that business owners don't realize the distinction afforded them by great old signs? Not everyone has one, you know. Do they really think a new, but ordinary, awning (which will look dirty and old in six months time) will bring them more business? Are there studies that prove this?

Jiffy's been around for nearly 50 years, FYI.

A Good Sign: Pino & Santo Hair Styles

In Ridgewood, on Fresh Pond Road. Like the prices, too.

Zum Stammtisch Opens a Pork Store

Though I guess this happened last summer, I didn't seen it until this week: Zum Stammtisch, the wonderful old German restaurant in Glendale, Queens, has opened a pork store next door.

The butcher shop is located at 69-40 Myrtle Ave. is co-owned by Werner and Hans Lehner, who own  Zum Stammtisch. The store offers a wide variety of quality meats, sausage, cheeses and products imported from Germany. 

On the less happy side, I strolled down a couple blocks to where Zum's competitor, Von Westernhagen's, used to stand to see what its replacement looked like. Edison Place looks clean and decent. But it also looks like a hundred other polished-wood-and-flatscreen upscale bar/eateries, the kind that are pretending to be posh and individual but are really just cookie cutter joints one step up from TGIF's. The interior layout is basically the same, except it doesn't feel like you're walking into someone's living room anymore. And the actual old time bathrooms have now been refashioned as "old time bathrooms." One could scream.

The Green Mystery of Onderdonk Avenue, Slightly Less Mysterious, And Perhaps More Sudsy

Two years ago, I blogged about this intriguing Ridgewood building at the corner of Onderdonk and Stockholm. I noted the odd color, the odd structure, and the presence, up top, of a number of Jewish stars and four-leaf clovers. I speculated that it was a religious building in the past, but find no evidence of such a past. At the time, there was garment work going on inside.

Recently, a reader wrote in, saying: "Green Mystery; Renovated our home (200 feet away). Found in ceiling on 2nd floor a green bottle with the Star of David. Could the building have been a brewery? Still have the bottle but can't make out all the initals; small b, large N over an A followed by Co."

Interesting. Anybody out there have a clue. I still can't find out anything about this building.

UPDATE: Commenter "Mingusal" sheds some light on the mystery below by reminded us of the six-pointed star's other symbolic past. Do we have a former German beer hall here?

Not Completely a Fake

Nearly two years ago, I posted an item about this fantastic painted ad in Ridgewood. I had initially thought it was genuine. But then I found out, via Forgotten NY, that it was painted in 1985 as a backdrop for the film "Brighton Beach Memoirs."

Well, turns out I was half right. The Planter's Peanuts part was painted for the film. But the stuff up top, about A. Lux Cutlery, is real. Writes a reader: "Lux Cutlery was actually located in that building. The owner was the second generation in that business. He retired shortly after the movie. They supplied knives to members of the NY Meat Cutters Union."

When it comes to New York history, you never stop learning.

Karl Ehmer Leaves New York

Last summer, I pitched a local food magazine an article about Karl Ehmer, the old school German sausage maker in Ridgewood. They went for it and told me to go head. But when I called Ehmer, they were cagey about the idea. They were renovating, the man said. Call back in the fall. I chalked it up to the died-in-the-wool suspicions an old-time Queen merchant had for a Big City reporter. The story was killed.

Now I know why they didn't want to talk. I apologize for being so late to this story—I still feel it's important to report it—but Karl Ehmer closed its shop and main shipping center on Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood, Queens, in late September of last year. I suppose I should have seen that coming when I noticed that a Karl Ehmer outlet in Glendale closed last winter.

The shop opened in Ridgewood in 1958, but the Ehmer story goes back further than that. The first store was opened in 1932 on 46th St. and Second Ave. Ehmer had a manufacturing plant in Ridgewood since back in the 1940s. He would team up with store managers to co-own Karl Ehmer stores throughout the city and beyond. Karl would put up the money, and the managers would run the shops, carrying fine Ehmer products. It was a chain, and they were franchises, basically. There was one prominent store on E. 86th Street, in then-German Yorkville. By 1970, there were 30 Ehmer stores; by the late '70s, there were 50, some as far flung as Florida and Pennsylvania.

But the Germans died or moved away, and Ehmer's presence in Manhattan vanished. Ehmer followed his clientele out to Ridgewood and Glendale. But they, too, eventually faded away, and the store hurt for business. The brand will still be found in stores, since the family sold the name to Bosco's Family Food Company, a distributor in Oceanside, Long Island. But for the first time in nearly 80 years there is no longer an Ehmer store in New York City.

I visited the Ridgewood store back in December 2009. Didn't know it was for the last time.

Madison Drugs, Old But Doesn't Look It

Madison Drugs in Ridgewood says it was established in 1957, though it looks rather less old than that. Do we believe them?

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Ridgewood Church for Sale

The 103-year-old United Presbyterian Church of Ridgewood is for sale.

The always tasteful folks at Massey Knakal tell us "The subject property is comprised of a 12,868 SF religious building (seating for approx. 850-1,000) and 2-story single-family residence on an adjacent tax lot. The site features approx. 127' of frontage on 60th Place and could be utilized either as part of the community facility or re-developed as a residential rental or condo/co-op project. The two adjacent tax lots combine for approx. 23,721 buildable SF for residential and approx. 35,142 buildable SF for community use. The entire property may be delivered vacant upon closing, making it ideal for a user, investor or developer."

The congregation dates back to 1862, then called the First Presbyterian Church of East Williamsburgh, meeting in a little wooden church on the site of the present structure. The current building is Renaissance-style building and has stained glass windows imported from France. The dedication took place on May 22, 1910 when the congregation numbered 500 and there were 750 pupils in the Sunday School. The United Presbyterian Church of Ridgewood came into being when the St. James United Presbyterian Church, also of Ridgewood, made overtures to unite. The merger of the two churches took place in October 1993.

Check out the building back in 1913, below. Not much around.

The Green Mystery of Onderdonk Avenue

It seems to be the week of unsolved mystery buildings here at Lost City. Here's a corner structure in Ridgewood Queens, at Onderdonk and Stockholm, whose defining aspect seems to be that it's very, very green. (And, also, rather interesting looking.)

But look closer and you see that that heavy coat of green paint has helped conceal a number of Jewish stars. (And, uh, four-leaf clovers.)

Read more »

A Good Sign: Caskey Tavern

At the sign of the flaming goblet.

In Ridgewood, Queens.

A Romanian Butcher

Perhaps there are many Romanian butchers in the City. But this is the only one I've ever encountered. It's call Ridgewood Pork Store and it's located on a silent corner of Seneca Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens. It looks very much like an old-fashioned butcher shop inside. I big wooden block. Links of sausages hanging from the ceiling. Cuts of meat everywhere. Sawdust. So quiet in there. It could be on the main street of some shtetl in Moldavia.

It's owned by one Jonel Picioane, a Romanian, who makes many different sausages, some native to homeland, others not. I tried a few and found them all good, but on the rustic side. They are unprettified sausages, gamey and a little tough, but very tasty and very real. All are made on the premises. And everything was amazingly cheap. Picioane doesn't speak much English, so he wasn't able to tell me much about the meats. About the shop's longevity, he could only say it had been there "a long time." How nice it would be to live nearby and casually make one's way through the meat inventory, getting to know each cut.

Lighten Up, Lady

I think I know why this bridal center on Seneca Street in Ridgewood, Queens, went out of business. Take a look at the hand-painted image of the bride on the left hand side of the sign. "Yikes!" says the would-be groom. "That's what a bride looks like?! She doesn't look happy!" And is she's not happy, better look out, bub. Pretty broad shoulders on that gal.

A Good Sign: Planter's Peanuts

This amazing-looking painted wall ad, seen from the Seneca Avenue subway platform in Ridgewood, is, in fact, a fake. So Forgotten NY tells us. It was painted in 1985 when they were filming the movie of Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs."


Well, so it may be. But, you know, I don't care. It's a marvelous fake. I love the details, particular the stuff up top advertising the services of A. Lux Fine Cutlery.


Saw filing. Grinding. Repairing of all kinds cutlery. Typewriters New Reconditioned Sales Rentals Repairs.


Here's a close-up of Mister Peanut's shining mug. Was there ever a more jaunty corporate mascot?


Much of the ad is now covered up with graffiti, which is what I think makes the ad seem more authentic.


Here's how it looks from the street.

Rudy's Pastry Shop

Rudy's Pastry Shop, in Ridgewood, Queens, at 905 Seneca Avenue, looks new on the outside—at some point the owner modernized the facade—but the word "kondetorei" on the awning should tip you off that something special is inside.

Konditorei is the German word for a confectionery shop. And that's what you'll find inside. A nearly 80-year-old one, harking back to Ridgewood's German past. The interior is much more in keeping with the place's old world character. Lots of wood paneling. And a big "R" inlaid in the floor, from lord knows how many years ago. The shops wares are delectable. Buttery cookies, mini apple turnovers, Linzer torte and strudel. Friendly service, too. There's a single table if you care to eat your purchase there.


One question: If you possess a history and a storefront as rich as Rudy's, why cover the name on your door's threshold with a nasty old piece of carpet? You're Rudy's! Let the world know you're Rudy's.

How to Sell a Taco

In Ridgewood, Queens.

Bar Gone, Sign Still There

I would have liked to have gone to the Cypress Inn, on Stanhope Road in Ridgewood, Queens. But it appears to have disappeared some time ago, to judge by the look of the old, remaining sign, and the dry cleaner that now occupies the place.

Ridiculously Cute Restaurant

It was very difficult to resist the tidal pull of the avalanche of ethnic cuteness offered by this corner restaurant on Great Pond Road in Ridgewood. Suit of armor? Little gnomes at work above the doorway? Fieldstone facade? Polish name I can't pronounce? I'm there!

Unfortunately, I had no time, and besides had a date at another nearby, adorable, ethnic restaurant (see Who Goes There? Friday), so I had to pass it by.

The name, Krolewskie Jadlo, means "King's Feast," and—can you believe it—this joint is part of a mini-chain! There's another one on Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint! Same owner. Krzysztof Drzewiecki is his name. He's the chef, too. He purports to serve "true Polish cuisine," now just the usual meat and potatoes and pierogis (though there is plenty of that on the menu). Didn't look too busy. Must go back when I have more time.

Hobbies

You see plenty of old-style vertical neon signs hanging around the City. But the things they advertise number only a few. It's either "Bar" and "Liquor" or "Pharmacy."

Here's one I've never seen anywhere else in NYC: "Hobbies." And, on the edge of the sign, "Trains." How great is that? A neon sign telling the world that model trains are inside.

The sign is at 16-02 Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood, Queens. There's no hobbies store underneath the sign right now. It's a 99 cents shop. If you stroll a block or so to the south, however, you'll find NHS Hobbies at 68-16 Fresh Pond Road. The sign says its been in business since 1947. My guess is the store used to be located in the space under the "Hobbies" sign but was forced to move the its current smaller space some time ago. If you look on Google Maps, a hobbies store is indeed at the 16-02 addrss. Also, it appears the store used to be called Nagengast Hobbies, not NHS. (The name Nagengast, in small letters, still appears on the old sign.) The old space was at least twice as big as the new one.

Wonder why they changed the name from Nagengast to the much-less-appealing NHS? And why didn't they take the great Hobbies sign with them? If anyone has extra information about this business, please write.


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An Irritation

I love the look of this closed deli at 677 Onderdonk Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens. And therefore it is extremely irritating that I can find out nothing about it.

The name is testimony to two of the cultures that once dominated this section of Queens. The marks on the word "Delicatessen" indicate that the sign was perhaps once outfitted with neon.


Take a look at this Schaller & Weber signboard still stuck in the window. One imagines the deli carried the famous Yorkville butcher's products. Odd hours. Evidently, this was a lunch place, and the owners perhaps woke up early to bake bread. Imagine getting yourself a fine, hot, loaf of rye here at 6 AM some morning!


The floor tiles at the entrance spell out the letters A and H. The initials of the owner, perhaps. Or maybe of a business that was here before the Deli. The tiles look about 100 years old.

In September, an application to the DOB was approved to do some work on the facade, so I imagine that great sign won't last. Does anyone know anything about this place?

These Colors Don't Run! Any Neither Does This Pizza!

Not sure of the significance of this very large mural just off Seneca in Ridgewood Queens. Twin Towers, American flag. Check. A typically patriotic 9/11-themed work. Also an Italian flag. OK. The painter, evidently Italian, wants to show his solidarity with the American cause.

But a huge, flying, piping hot, pepperoni pizza? What is its role in this tableau? Is it heading toward the World Trade Center? Or is it there to protect the towers? Is it there to feed the victims of the attack? Or taunt the terrorists with its toothsome pork toppings?

Even stranger: the building this mural is painted on is not a pizzeria.



UPDATE: Queen Crap has sent me a picture proving there used to be a pizzeria here, called Carlos' Pizza. It's now a 99-cents store. There are a lot of 99-cents stores on Seneca.