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Iconic Union Square 'Coffee Shop' Sign Replaced With Perfectly Dispiriting Chase Bank Sign
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 21, 2020
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 21, 2020
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Will the old glowing Coffee Shop sign go the way of the CBGB awning—lost forever, destined to live out eternity in someone's basement, its whereabouts unknown to the rest of us who used to like looking at it?
The Union Square establishment opened in 1990 at the highly-visible corner spot across from the park, at the time inheriting an old neon sign from a previous restaurant in that space, Jason's (you can see it below in 1978). And they inherited the sign, too, from the coffee shop that was there before them, which was called... Chase.
Affixed to the building, it offered a warm glow at the corner of Union Square West and East 16th for decades. The sign was perhaps more beloved than Coffee Shop itself, as flickering beacons like that tend to tug at New Yorkers' nostalgia, harkening us back to some vague idea of the good ol' days in New York Town.
But then Coffee Shop closed in 2018, becoming just one more restaurant with "RENT" etched upon its tombstone, and despite the new tenants all promising to, on some level, preserve what came before them, the space has been stripped of its charm. Even the old turquoise siding at street-level has been replaced with darkness.
In one section there's a by CHLOE., which opened in December 2019, at which time a publicist for the chain told Gothamist they "did not keep any original fixtures [but] they paid homage to Coffee Shop... for example, the bright rainbow marquee light was inspired by the iconic neon 'Coffee Shop' sign." I disagree.
by CHLOE claims their neon sign (R) is an homage to the Coffee Shop sign. Nailed it!
L: Gretchen Robinette/Gothamist; R: Scott Lynch/Gothamist
In the other section, there's a combination Chase Bank-Joe Coffee.
Joe's director of marketing, Margaret Watson, told us last month, “It feels like Joe but if you knew Coffee Shop you would probably recognize it... We made an effort to connect to the history of the space, preserving many of the features from the Coffee Shop."
Truly, a striking resemblance.
The Coffee Shop interior, the Joe Coffee interior that took it over.
L: Gretchen Robinette/Gothamist; R: Joe Coffee
The Coffee Shop sign lingered after the restaurant closed, inspiring hope the new tenants would keep it in place; there had even been rumors it was just being restored. However, it went missing last year and now the combination Chase Bank-Joe Coffee has just put up a new sign in its place. It looks about as warm and inviting as you might have imagined. How can something with so much wattage be so cold?
A heart-wrenching before & after
L: Gretchen Robinette/Gothamist; R: Amy Nicholson
It's possible, however, that these new tenants did not, say, use the old neon sign as a sacrificial offering, maybe during a pre-opening ritual held in a Hudson Yards building that's so exclusive you can't even see it unless you make seven figures. It's possible that the old Coffee Shop owners simply sold it at their auction, or just wanted to keep it and not let Big Bank use it to endear themselves to the public.
We're attempting to find out more from the old owners (if we can find an old CBGB awning, we can find this sign), but in the meantime, the publicist for by CHLOE told us, "We are unsure about what happened to the original Coffee Shop sign located on the corner of the building... We assume the Coffee Shop owners took care of it."
Tagged
chase bank
coffee shop
joe coffee
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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