New sign!

I've installed a new "SOY" sign above the restaurant this morning. It's made of plastic mega blocks I've been trying to get rid of since early this year. I finally found perfect use for them! It was a fun project, and I got so many compliments while installing them.

This picture from last Halloween turned out to be the last photo I have of the previous sign. It was completely destroyed during the building exterior clean-up a few months ago, and the contractors scraped everything off and painted over.

This sign was the first one from the very beginning of SOY in 2002. I've made them with glass tile pieces. Some of the tiles had fallen off, and paint was peeling all over the place in such a beautiful way. Some people had suggested maybe it was time to re-do. But I loved it since it looked old, and scenes of urban decay and ruins were my deep attraction to this neighborhood when I arrived here in 1990.
Recently I discovered that you can see the history of the street view on google maps. When you look up 102 Suffolk Street, the current view is from 2014. Then there's pull-down menu on upper left hand corner where you can pick the view from previous photos starting 2007. In 2007, you don't see SOY at all because there was a big moving truck parked in front. In 2011, I had a "caught on camera" moment walking out of SOY with an empty stroller. I was puzzled to see an empty stroller- where was Taiyo? Well, he was way ahead of me, walking toward Delancey. A lady walking behind him if worried and turning behind her to see if anyone is running after him.

By the way, the strange art/toy installation almost made the whole month. Elmo in the middle was stolen about a week ago. I will have to fill the void.