Stunning photos show NYC’s iconic mom-and-pop shops from an Italian restaurant frequented by the mafia to a candy store beloved by celebrities

From an Italian restaurant frequented by the mafia to a candy store loved by celebrities, stunning photos have revealed the unique mom-and-pop shops that have been adding character to city neighborhoods for more than a century.

A new book from the husband-and-wife photography duo James and Karla Murray celebrates the aesthetic and history of hundreds of these small shops that have long served specific communities.

These include Vesuvio Bakery on Prince Street, which has been serving pastries for 102 years, Brooklyn’s oldest Italian restaurant, Bamonte’s, which was once a mafia haunt, and Ray’s Candy Store in the East Village, a celebrity favorite.

Some of the storefronts depicted in the book have been closed since being captured by the team. Many of them didn’t make it past the past decade, and many more didn’t survive the pandemic’s crashed economy.

The Murrays told DailyMail.com that they wanted their book, Store Front NYC: Photos of the city’s independent stores, past and presentto preserve their memories and promote the memories that still exist.

Ray’s Candy Store – an East Village staple that supplies soft serve ice cream and more to celebrities, NYU students and the masses – on Avenue A near East 7th Street. Pictured here: Ray in 2019

Stella’s Pizza on 9th Avenue near West 17th Street in Chelsea, 2020

“Our aim has always been to help preserve these beautiful independent shops as they play such a vital role in the community for us,” says Karla. “And they need our help.”

Some of the storefronts featured in the book remain neighborhood classics from across the boroughs, such as Ray’s Candy Store on the Lower East Side, which has long provided soft serve ice cream and more to NYU students, celebrities and anyone else who walks by.

But others, like M&G’s soul food restaurant in Harlem, and D. D’Auria and Sons Pork Store in the Little Italy neighborhood of the Bronx, have closed their doors, leaving their neighborhoods devoid of small businesses that once catered to the cultural tastes of entered the area.

James emphasized that the book is not a “melancholy lament” for places the city has lost over the years, but rather a “celebration” of the independent businesses in the five boroughs.

“Even if a neighborhood changes ethnic background… it’s exciting to see what new stores open,” says Karla.

He said he hopes the book teaches people to appreciate their neighborhoods a little more.

He encouraged anyone reading to “get up from your computer and go to your local… that’s a better way to do things.”

In short, the book is an attempt – an ‘artistic intervention’, according to Karla – to show the beauty of some of the businesses that bring the city to life.

The book, Store Front NYC: Photographs of the City’s Independent Shops, Past and Present, is out now and available at Amazon as well as in a number of independent bookstores.

D. D’Auria and Sons Pork Store in the Little Italy neighborhood of the Bronx. Pictured here in 2004, the store has since closed

Bamonte’s, the oldest Italian restaurant in Brooklyn and at various times a favorite meeting place of mobsters. In 2009, after being released from prison, Anthony “Fat Tony” Rabito of the Bonanno crime family was banned by his parole officer from returning to several Italian restaurants in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, which reportedly included Bamonte’s. Pictured here in 2016, the restaurant remains open on Withers Street near Union, Williamsburg

CBGB & OMFUG, a music club in Manhattan’s East Village that closed in 2006. The iconic location opened in 1973 in Bowery on Bleecker Street

Lenox Lounge, a long-standing bar in Harlem on Malcolm X Boulevard between west 124th and 125th. Known for its maximalist decor, among other things, the lounge closed in 2012 and the building was demolished in 2017

Richard’s Barber Shop on Nostrand Avenue near Park Place in Crown Heights. Pictured in 2004

Ralph’s Discount City on Chambers Street near Church Street in Tribeca. Pictured here in 2004, the store closed in 2007

M&G Soul Food Diner at West 125th Street and Morningside Avenue in Harlem. Pictured in 2007. The soul food establishment closed in 2008