This is a sad photo: James and Karla Murray showed a comparison shot of Ralph’s storefront taken in 2004 with a photo taken fairly recently of the same space. For those who don’t know, Ralph’s serves as the cover image for James and Karla Murray’s fantastic book Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York. The shop actually closed back in 2007 but seeing it next to this current photo is a bit heartbreaking.

If you want to check out James and Karla Murray’s book, you can pick up Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York at Amazon for $40. It’s well worth it as a historic look at New York City’s storefront history.