JAMES AND KARLA MURRAY PHOTOGRAPHY

From STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face Of New York

NEW YORK NIGHTS and STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face of New York prints currently available at Clic Gallery 255 Centre Street at Broome NY

http://www.clicgallery.com/artists/james-karla-murray/artist-info.php

East 14th Street is changing to something that in no way will resemble what it looked like 10 or even 5 years ago. Here’s some lost storefronts and some that are hanging on on a street that soon we won’t recognize… The empty “mystery” lot near Third Avenue is gone and it seems to be just the beginning of the street’s transformation.

Meyer’s Discount Cosmetics - CLOSED

Walid Menswear - CLOSED

Russian Souvenirs - OPEN

I.Q Decor - space re-purpose - OPEN

Led Zeppole - CLOSED and replaced by…

Chubby Mary’s Heros - OPEN

Permacut Hair Stylists - with its OR.3 phone number - CLOSED (re-opened on First Avenue)

Coffee Shop - OPEN (future uncertain due to imminent Post Office closure)

Blarney Cove - soon to be closed - OPEN (for now)

Custom Short Van on 14th …

Buildings ready for demolition

Otto’s Shrunken Head - OPEN

East Side 99 Cent or More $$ - Closed

The previous R&R Everything 99 Cent Store - Closed

New Fashion Town - Closed

New Fashion Town Space - Still Unoccupied

All Nations Bakery - Closed

Brother Candy Grocery Lotto - Re-fronted and Expanded from this early photo

L.I. Fish Market - CLOSED

Brother’s Candy & Grocery current expansion - OPEN

A Dodge Meadowbrook parked just past Ave B…

Joe’s Dairy is located on Sullivan Street by W. Houston Street in a neighborhood that was once considered the western half of Little Italy. It’s been a dairy store for over 83 years and was originally called Frank and Al’s Dairy. The current owner, Anthony Campanelli, bought the store in 1977. The storefront is original but the sign was installed in 1972.

Here’s our interview with Anthony Campanelli, owner of Joe’s Dairy in 2008 that appears in our book STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face of New York:

“The recipe we use to make the homemade mozzarella is the original recipe from when the store was opened over 83 years ago, but what happens is that the recipe slowly changes a tiny bit as the person who has taken over the store follows it. We have all added our personal touches over the years. There’s more to making mozzarella than you would think. I could show you how to make it step by step but you still wouldn’t be able to do it, because it’s all really in the technique. The main ingredient for mozzarella is the milk curd. I use like 25-30 bundles of curd delivered every day from New Jersey. And there’s 45 pounds in each bundle. So it’s the curd and the water and the knowledge. That’s the only ingredients you got. The water is also very important to the recipe. There’s a lot of hardness in different waters and here in New York the water is great for making mozzarella. If you go to Florida or California, it’s a completely different thing. I know people who went out there and tried to make mozzarella and what they are doing now is having water tanked out to them from New York because they can’t make the mozzarella the same way without it. It breaks down. It’s like the chemicals…it sounds strange but there is a chemical imbalance with the water everywhere else that turns the cheese different. Everything that we make here has to do with mozzarella. That’s what we are known for. We even have a smokehouse outside at the back of the store where we do all our smoking. I don’t own this building. I only rent the store. When I’m ready to retire, it will probably be a lost art in my family because I have a daughter but I won’t allow her to do this. It’s a lot of hard work. It’s not that a woman couldn’t do it, but you have to get up really early and work long hours. I feel like I do this because I chose to. Nobody asked me to do it. This is what I wanted to do but I wouldn’t suggest it to anyone. I broke the tradition in my family because I went into the cheese business instead of the ice business that my grandparents and parents were into. I lived upstairs from this store when I was a kid and I started working here in 1970. I helped the owner out by working behind the counter and took an interest in the business. I really didn’t like school and decided this was what I wanted to learn…the cheese business. I am very fortunate because I have a really good customer base. Many people who have moved out of the neighborhood, come back here just to buy fresh mozzarella from me. Their roots are here but the neighborhood has really changed. There are not too many Italians living here anymore. The old timers are dying and their children are moving out so the traditions of years ago are being lost. We’ve lost most of the Italian families in the neighborhood but we’ve gained new people, like New York University students. The University has been buying many of the buildings in the neighborhood to use as dormitories and classrooms and big developers are buying old buildings and turning them into co-ops. So basically, it’s a lost neighborhood as far as family goes. Its not family-orientated anymore.”

(Copyright 2013 James and Karla Murray)

 The New York City Book Awards, established in 1996, honor books of literary quality or historical importance that evoke the spirit or enhance appreciation of New York City.

R.I.P.