Disappearing New York City

After noticing the rapid disappearance of mom-and-pop storefronts across New York City neighborhoods, husband-and-wife photographers James and Karla Murray spent more than ten years documenting the family-run facades—half of which no longer exist. “A lot of these guys, we found out, they have plenty of money. They’ve had these stores forever, it’s just [that] they have nothing else to do—they just love what they do, they either love baking, they love fixing shoes,” they said. “Sometimes they even actually own the building but what happens is they got older and when they wanted to retire no one else in the family wanted to take over the business ... They’ve done well for their kids—kids are doctors, lawyers ... They put in these long hours and made a better life for the children, and then sadly, no one wants to take over the business.”

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