Just a quickie. The below picture would have gone quite well with this post of a few weeks back. I stumbled upon this shot on Flickr in this larger set of NYC shots from the 60's & 70's. This beautiful expanse of wide open space is long gone, of course. This plot of real estate is now the home of that giant, self-styled "undulating' blue shampoo bottle. This particular shot dates back to 1967, the year of my birth. The luncheonette was long gone before I ever remember visiting Astor Place, but I do indeed remember the lightning bolt mural on that north facing facade. I miss that.
Click on it to enlarge.
Cool photo. As soon as I saw it I had to go digging for the COLOR shot of the mural I knew I had somewhere. Here it is - this is from 1973:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nycdreamin/4424751510/sizes/m/
Posted by: NYCDreamin | March 11, 2010 at 06:44 AM
Looks like the skeleton of the WTC North Tower rising in that flickr photo from 73. Which would suggest it's prior to 73.
Posted by: Joe | March 11, 2010 at 02:41 PM
Nice catch!
Posted by: Alex in NYC | March 11, 2010 at 03:27 PM
In the 60s there used to be a marque under the abandoned theater of Lafayette St where my girlfriend and I always went to in the darkness and did some heavy petting. I can't remember if we ever stopped to get a coke or a lime rickey in the luncheonete, we sure both needed it after our fake lovemaking.
Posted by: mykola (mick) dementiuk | March 11, 2010 at 04:02 PM
Great photo. Reminded me of this one from an earlier era...
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/178803/782/rudy-burckhardt-coca-cola-goddess.html
Posted by: pinhead | March 11, 2010 at 05:51 PM
This one too. Love the screwy traffic patterns--south on Lafayette!
http://images.artnet.com/images_US/magazine/reviews/scobie/scobie2-19-08-7.jpg
Posted by: pinhead | March 11, 2010 at 06:00 PM
@ Joe...
Thanks for catching that. The book the photo came from (one of those "Year In Review" deals) was published in 1974 so I (mistakenly) assumed the photo was from the previous year. I'm changing it now...
Posted by: NYCDreamin | March 11, 2010 at 06:03 PM
Yeah, I have a postcard of that Burckhardt long-shot of Astor Place displayed in my kitchen. I just think what it would be like to be having my eggs and coffee down there in that diner.
I don't know. It's easy to romanticize but... man, if only.
Posted by: b | March 12, 2010 at 01:41 PM