We all love our old signs and our old history around here, especially when they provide something nice to look at while riding the train. So, even though everyone had been girding themselves for the day to come anyway, it’s officially time for us to all get sad because scaffolding has gone up at the Kentile Floors sign, according to the New York Neon blog, which means the sign isn’t long for this world.
There’s no word on why the sign is coming down or what will become of the area where it once stood. With any luck, it’ll be making room for some nice new glass and steel luxury condos. Or maybe a billboard. We could use more billboards.
What’s particularly sad about this whole thing is that the permit to take down the Kentile sign was given to “remove existing structure and sign by hand off roof,” so not only does the sign come down, but we get to see it taken apart piece by piece. We mean, we get how that’s the safe option and that knocking the sign down in one fell swoop with a wrecking ball would rain glass and neon and metal down on Second Avenue, but we’re weighing that risk against the heartbreak when walking past a sign reduced to something like “KEN OR,” and we just don’t know which is preferable.