This red neon Pepsi-Cola sign is a major player in NYC's landscape and a familiar sight to any who travel the east side of Manhattan such as on the FDR drive. The sign is located in located on the Queens waterfront in Hunters Point - the site of the Pepsico's former bottling plant (which was moved in 1999). The multi-tube red sign, visible by day or illuminated at night, has been there for over 70 years. It was built in 1936 and rebuilt in 1994 by Artkraft Signs (now the Artkraft-Strauss Sign Co.), the oldest and last-surviving subsidiary of the original Claude Neon Co., headed by Frenchman George Claude who held the patent for neon. In 2003, the Rockrose Development Corporation purchased the land for a $1 billion residential and commercial project. Click here for photo. The 120-foot Pepsi Cola sign was preserved - it was dismantled and re-erected 300 feet south to its current permanent location. It is nice to see that the value of a historic icon like this appreciated and preserved by a real estate development company ...
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Pepsi-Cola in Neon
This red neon Pepsi-Cola sign is a major player in NYC's landscape and a familiar sight to any who travel the east side of Manhattan such as on the FDR drive. The sign is located in located on the Queens waterfront in Hunters Point - the site of the Pepsico's former bottling plant (which was moved in 1999). The multi-tube red sign, visible by day or illuminated at night, has been there for over 70 years. It was built in 1936 and rebuilt in 1994 by Artkraft Signs (now the Artkraft-Strauss Sign Co.), the oldest and last-surviving subsidiary of the original Claude Neon Co., headed by Frenchman George Claude who held the patent for neon. In 2003, the Rockrose Development Corporation purchased the land for a $1 billion residential and commercial project. Click here for photo. The 120-foot Pepsi Cola sign was preserved - it was dismantled and re-erected 300 feet south to its current permanent location. It is nice to see that the value of a historic icon like this appreciated and preserved by a real estate development company ...
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5 comments:
Magnificent Pepsi Cola! Who would have thought you could get that much from a neon ad on the river? Very nice.
gorgeous photo. the apartments in the background look just like those being built everywhere else in th world! no distinguishing features....look at older architecture in most cities, and you can have a good guess about geography - far more representative of time AND plae!
That's so cool! There are icons like that all over the world... they started as an advertiment, but nowadays they're part of the story of the city :)
I posted one of those in Madrid DP, if you wanna see that ... ;)
Great sign! Would love to see it lit-up at night!
Brian -- the Times suggests the current site is not permanent:
"It will remain there for 18 months, then be moved by the same process to its permanent location."
Any idea where that next site is?
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