RIP Lobster House neon(on City Island, on Bridge Street between City Island Avenue & Minnieford Avenue)  The New York Neon blog reports that the iconic City Island Lobster House sign was destroyed by Sandy. Happily the restaurant itself is up and running, but I’m sad that such a great sign has been lost. I’m glad I was able to visit while it was there. (Here’s what it looks like now.) Another neon loss reported in that same New York Neon blog post is the lovely Shore Theatre sign in Coney Island. It was missing its tubing, so I never saw it lit, but it was nevertheless a landmark of Coney Island. Another serious blow to New York’s neon collection. As you may have heard, Sandy’s effects are still being felt by too many residents & small businesses of New York & New Jersey. Some suggestions for how you can help are in my last post.
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RIP Lobster House neon
(on City Island, on Bridge Street between City Island Avenue & Minnieford Avenue) 

The New York Neon blog reports that the iconic City Island Lobster House sign was destroyed by Sandy. Happily the restaurant itself is up and running, but I’m sad that such a great sign has been lost. I’m glad I was able to visit while it was there. (Here’s what it looks like now.)

Another neon loss reported in that same New York Neon blog post is the lovely Shore Theatre sign in Coney Island. It was missing its tubing, so I never saw it lit, but it was nevertheless a landmark of Coney Island. Another serious blow to New York’s neon collection.

As you may have heard, Sandy’s effects are still being felt by too many residents & small businesses of New York & New Jersey. Some suggestions for how you can help are in my last post.

Sunny’s Bar(In Red Hook on Conover Street btwn Reed & Beard Streets)  Pardon the repetition, but things have been a little crazy here in New York City this week. We’re hunkered down now, waiting for the hurricane (it just started raining hard). My apartment is on relatively high ground so there’s little danger of flooding, but a power outage seems likely. Scout, Mojo, and I have stocked the larders and battened the hatches, though, so I’m sure we’ll be fine. Last night Paul & I went to Sunny’s to calm our jittery pre-hurricane nerves. Sunny’s is so snug, and warm, and welcoming, it’s pretty much the best place to be. It’s in the evacuation zone so it’s closed up now, but last night, tucked into the end of the bar and looking down the room past amiable faces to the friendly glow of the anchor & fish in the window, all felt right with the world. A good antidote for too much fretting. Of course I’m worried about my fellow New Yorkers (and others up and down the Eastern Seaboard), but I’m also worried for New York’s neon signs. Too often uncaring owners use wind damage as an excuse to scrap lovely signs—I hope it doesn’t happen this time. I’m printing and packing Kickstarter rewards until the power goes out, and this weekend I’ll start beta-testing the app (very excited for this!). Oh, and the Observer posted an article about neon (including a big section on Project Neon) in Sunday’s edition. Very cool! [Edit:  there’s a slideshow, too, with some of my photos—though the photo of me in front of Katz’s didn’t make the cut…] That’s all from here. If the subways are up and running on Monday and I can get around, I’ll check out some signs and file a report. In the mean time, everyone stay safe! PS:  I nearly forgot to say—the Project Neon photo show is set to open on Friday September 23 at the City Reliquary. More details soon!
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Sunny’s Bar
(In Red Hook on Conover Street btwn Reed & Beard Streets) 

Pardon the repetition, but things have been a little crazy here in New York City this week. We’re hunkered down now, waiting for the hurricane (it just started raining hard). My apartment is on relatively high ground so there’s little danger of flooding, but a power outage seems likely. Scout, Mojo, and I have stocked the larders and battened the hatches, though, so I’m sure we’ll be fine.

Last night Paul & I went to Sunny’s to calm our jittery pre-hurricane nerves. Sunny’s is so snug, and warm, and welcoming, it’s pretty much the best place to be. It’s in the evacuation zone so it’s closed up now, but last night, tucked into the end of the bar and looking down the room past amiable faces to the friendly glow of the anchor & fish in the window, all felt right with the world. A good antidote for too much fretting.

Of course I’m worried about my fellow New Yorkers (and others up and down the Eastern Seaboard), but I’m also worried for New York’s neon signs. Too often uncaring owners use wind damage as an excuse to scrap lovely signs—I hope it doesn’t happen this time.

I’m printing and packing Kickstarter rewards until the power goes out, and this weekend I’ll start beta-testing the app (very excited for this!). Oh, and the Observer posted an article about neon (including a big section on Project Neon) in Sunday’s edition. Very cool! [Edit:  there’s a slideshow, too, with some of my photos—though the photo of me in front of Katz’s didn’t make the cut…]

That’s all from here. If the subways are up and running on Monday and I can get around, I’ll check out some signs and file a report. In the mean time, everyone stay safe!

PS:  I nearly forgot to say—the Project Neon photo show is set to open on Friday September 23 at the City Reliquary. More details soon!