Ear Candy

How did I miss it? So many times driving on Forest Avenue coming into Port Richmond where things get a little run down, a little gritty, a little OTB (closed, of course).

There are only two storefronts on Barrett Street. One of them, Philip's Candy of Coney Island, just made it into the Store Front II: A History Preserved: The Disappearing Face of New York (Karla & James Murray), the second large-format book of photographs of classic NYC storefronts. They have a good story, having transplanted their longtime Coney Island (est. 1930) to Staten Island in 2003 after the MTA evicted businesses under the Sitwell train terminal for a remodeling project.

But Majors Records may have an even more amazing survival story. Majors was established in 1971--what a year that must have been for record stores! They hung on for 43 years until a rent hike in the Pathmark plaza threatened demise. After a story about the store's closing appeared in the Staten Island Advance, the owners got eight offers for new space, including the one they moved into on Barrett Street. (Read Advance story on reopening here.)

Lots of CDs, used and reconditioned DVDs, and newly minted vinyl but the real attraction are the racks of records--original release vinyl, some used, some new and never opened--that make up the back end of the store. Neil Sedaka, Helen Reddy, Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan, a superb collection of Joan Jett records. And those orange price tags that I haven't seen for decades. Dig it.