New York Sign Museum
 Mac Pohanka speaking at the museum in 2025. | |
  Location in New York City | |
| Established | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Location | 2465 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11207 |
| Coordinates | 40°40′34″N 73°54′12″W / 40.6762°N 73.9033°W |
| Type | Local museum |
| Founder | David Barnett |
Public transit access | |
| Website | nysignmuseum |
The New York Sign Museum is a museum founded in 2019 which preserves signs and advertising from New York City and the surrounding region. It is located in East New York.[1][2]
History
David Barnett founded Noble Signs in 2013, a workshop which creates new signs for New York City businesses in the style of old iconic city signage (simple block text, extremely product-forward).[3] In 2019, he, along with Noble Signs cofounder Mac Pohanka, started the Sign Museum in the same space, with a mission to save iconic signs from across the city that would otherwise be lost when their business closed. As of 2025, around 215 signs have been preserved from around Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, New Jersey, and Long Island.[4]
Collection
The NYSM includes the famous "Queen" sign from the Italian restaurant at 84 Court Street, Brooklyn, rumored to be a meeting place for police officers and mobsters. [4] It also includes signs from Swan Piano Co. in Sunnyside; H. Goodman Furs, from Forest Hills; the facade of Jones Surgical Co; and Smith's Bar from Hell's Kitchen.
In addition to signs, the museum also includes other advertising material: matchbooks, thermometers, calendars, and over 400 shopping bags. Collecting and showcasing these items, Barnett says, is part of reclaiming and preserving the visual language specific to New York City, "as opposed to the same corporate stuff that could be in any city in the world."[5]
Tours of the museum are available on Fridays and Sundays. The museum is also open to visitors as part of Open House New York.[6]
Gallery
The iconic sign of Queen restaurant in Brooklyn.
A can neon sign for 'Bongos'.
Two signs for Barney's Custom Tailoring and Alterations.
An old 7up sign beneath an Empire Sales advertisement.
References
- ↑ Kailath, Ryan (August 26, 2024). "At Brooklyn museum, NYC's best shop signs get another life". Gothamist. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
- ↑ O'Brien, Shane (February 25, 2025). "Saving history: Queens preservationist helps rescue vintage storefront signs". QNS. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ↑ Preston, Laura (July 15, 2024). "Where New York's Signs and Marquees Go When They Die". The New Yorker. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
- 1 2 Kodé, Anna (25 July 2025). "Saving New York's Midcentury Signs". The New York Times.
- ↑ Beach, Charlotte (19 September 2025). "The NY Sign Museum Preserves the Richness of the City Through its Old Signs". Print Magazine. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
- ↑ Kailath, Ryan (1 October 2024). "10 of the coolest places open to the public for this year's Open House New York". Gothamist.