Storefront signage is a ubiquitous feature on New York City streets. Today, signs can barely seem worth noticing, the well-known fonts and logos blending into the scenery. But when the streets of New York were lined with mom and pop shops, the design of signs (through fonts, images, and use of space) often allowed these individual stores to stand out. The diversity of signage is especially eye-catching in historical photographs.

A tour of the architectural and cultural gems of Bleecker Street. From Bob Dylan to Dylan Thomas, from Federal style rowhouses to new law tenements, Bleecker Street represents a wonderful cross-section of New York City’s diverse history.

Longo Sanitary Bakery, ca. 1935.

Longo Sanitary Bakery, 1937. This Bleecker Street bakery dates to 1905 when an Italian baker purchased the building at no. 201 for $5,000. The ground floor shop was opened by 1907 selling baked goods and items that the Italian immigrants were accustomed to buying, including espresso beans, dried mushrooms, and spices. According to the grandson of the original owner, the large bread baking ovens were also used by neighbors to cook items that did not fit in their smaller home appliances. The current owner's father learned the business of coffee after the long hours required for baking became too much. He purchased Porto Rico Coffee Importers and moved it from no. 195 to this storefront. Today the coffee store remains and is still owned and run by the Longo family.