JAMES AND KARLA MURRAY PHOTOGRAPHY

For the full article and pictures of the tour:

http://www.12ozprophet.com/index.php/news/james-and-karla-murray-storefront-walking-tour4

“Like their graffiti books, they did in-depth research and face-to-face interviews within the community. The book has become a cross-over hit…”

http://printuniverse.ning.com/photo/katy-s-candy-store?xg_source=activity

“The print was inspired by a beautiful books ‘Disappearing faces of New York’ by James & Karla Murray.”
linocut, 15×15.5 cm, 2011

By Kasia from Cracow, Poland

 http://www.kkjsm.org/

Kehila Kedosha Janina 280 Broome Street New York City, NY 10002

We wanted to thank everyone at Kehila Kedosha Janina for hosting a signing and lecture for our book, “STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face of New York” yesterday. There was a great turnout and we stayed afterwards and talked shops over coffee and cookies with everyone. It was truly a great time. Visit the interesting museum and only synagogue in the Western Hemisphere of this tiny, obscure Greek Jewish community and learn about their 2,000-year-old culture.

For directions, access their website (www.kkjsm.org) For additional information and to order signed copies of the book for mailing, e-mail them at kehila_kedosha_janina@netzero.net or call us at 516-456-9336

Kehila Kedosha Janina 280 Broome Street New York City, NY 10002

http://www.kkjsm.org/

Kehila Kedosha Janina is honored to host a book signing and lecture by James and Karla Murray, authors of STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face of New York. Books will be available for purchase for $20.

This event is open to the public.

Free.

Refreshments will be served.

For directions, access our website (www.kkjsm.org) For additional information and to order signed copies of the book for mailing, e-mail us at kehila_kedosha_janina@netzero.net or call us at 516-456-9336

About the venue: “A 2,000-year-old culture virtually unknown, even to its neighbors. A tiny group. A minority within a minority. They are called Romaniotes. An obscure branch of Judaism, which few Jews have ever heard of, with traditions dating back to Roman times. They are Jews who, after the destruction of the Second Temple, were sent on a slave ship to Rome. Instead, a storm forced them to land in Greece, where over the next 2,000 years, they developed uniquely different ethnic and religious customs. Today, all these years later, you can visit the only synagogue in the Western Hemisphere of this tiny, obscure Jewish community. The Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum. Still operating in its original form. ”

 http://www.kkjsm.org/
Kehila Kedosha Janina is honored to host a book signing and lecture by James and Karla
Murray, authors of STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face of New York.  Books will be
available for purchase for $20.

This event is open to the public.  Free.
Refreshments will be served.
Kehila Kedosha Janina
280 Broome Street
New York City, NY 10002

For directions, access our website (www.kkjsm.org)
For additional information and to order signed copies of the book for mailing, e-mail us
at kehila_kedosha_janina@netzero.net or call us at 516-456-9336

About the venue:

“A 2,000-year-old culture virtually unknown, even to its neighbors. A tiny group. A minority within a minority. They are called Romaniotes. An obscure branch of Judaism, which few Jews have ever heard of, with traditions dating back to Roman times.

Today, all these years later, you can visit the only synagogue in the Western Hemisphere of this tiny, obscure Jewish community. The Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum. Still operating in its original form. ”

http://www.aoarchitect.com/conversation.html

“Escaping to my favorite bookstore this weekend, I discovered and brought home an expertly published and understated collection of New York storefronts.  If you’ve seen my own slide collection, you’ll know that downtown storefronts and I have shared mutual interests for a long time.

The book takes the premise that the storefront is disappearing, that it’s a staple of the past that is going away, removing its colors and character from the life of the city when it goes.

I mostly don’t believe in trends or predictions, except at an eschatological scale.  I barely believe in statistics.  But I do know where I like to spend money when I have it, and I know what my clients are asking me to draw, and that makes me think of what I want to draw and how I might find more clients.  Maybe that’s trend analysis: if so, I don’t think the storefronts are going away.  In fact, I think it’s time to bring them back.

We’re currently looking at revitalizing an urban street corner.  The existing retail building is in a neighborhood between other neighborhoods.  It’s been unable to support businesses as long as I’ve known it.  This inbetween-neighborhood is presently seeing new residential growth, it’s poised to see explosive growth, and we think the timing is right for this building to try again.

The first move we’re making is to the storefronts: we’re making them smaller.  Micro-retail: I learned that moniker from a local developer, but the Murrays’ book has proved the point that small is normal, it’s not an exception.  Small means accessible, viable, and sustainable.  Storefronts have to be smaller.  The present demand for storefronts is only for small.  Small storefronts make new business possible.

The storefront is function in triplicate.  It is simultaneous entry, daylighting, and advertisement.  In this rectangle of street frontage, the shop owner represents everything behind the glass.  A shop owner’s competition might be to the from across town or on the web, but is mostly in collaboration with the shop owner next door: will that pedestrian come in my door or yours?  Storefronts are contagious and symbiotic.  The success of one will encourage the shops around it, and the dilapidation of one will wholly prevent neighboring leases.

However, storefronts are also commitments to place.  That’s what makes developers nervous.  Tenants want short terms, in case things don’t work out.  Local residents may tend to be renters so the data is variable.  Restaurant buzz is for food trucks and sidewalk venders instead of brick and mortar.  Business can be done in the home, and retail can be shipped from anywhere.

Let me counter that this is precisely why micro-retail works.  Small spaces can be shorter term lease because turn-over can be quicker with less modification.  Transient neighborhoods maintain a critical mass of active residents, meaning that the retail stays fresh to renewing customers.  Restaurants can be smaller, sending their trucks as missionaries to other towns.  Business can’t actually be done in the home (have you tried it with kids?)  And, retail sales can be shipped out of a small space, keeping stock clean, insurable, and updated.

I remember being thrilled to discover my favorite internet camera store in Tribeca, crammed full of product, even though I could get better service from their website.  I love knowing that Holly Aiken’s purses are made on my street and sold all over the world.   And I love thinking that by hanging my shingle out here I can be discovered from somewhere else.”

Andy Osterlund AIA | LEED AP
Andrew Osterlund, Architect, PLLC
GREEN | URBAN | SMART ARCHITECTURE
19 W Hargett Street, Suite 700-A | Raleigh, NC 27601
(919) 889 6823 | www.aoarchitect.com | TWITTER: aoarch