Farewell To A Much-Photographed Old Coney Island Avenue Sign

As construction finally got going recently on the future 7-Eleven at the corner of Coney Island Avenue and Beverley Road, we knew the day would come when the faded sign for the former Automotive City would come down. As you can see above, that sign, which was missing most of the letters on the reverse side, has finally been removed.

As of right now, according to permits, an illuminated 7-Eleven sign and strip (like this, perhaps) is set to be installed on the wall of the building, so it doesn’t look like anything will go in the same place as this old sign. While the project inches toward completion, let’s take a look back at this corner, and some of the photos of this sign that neighbors have taken.

Photo by amberc

According to the Department of Buildings, a single-family home stood on this lot at 547 Coney Island Ave around 100 years ago. However, the address appears wrong and the year is cut off on a scan of a Certificate of Occupancy, which the DOB dates to around 1902-1906. An unsafe building notice and a demolition is listed for 1910.

Photo by Ian T West

Property Shark says the building there was built in 1930, while the DOB says a new building was constructed in January, 1950.

Photo by Michael Dietsch

By 1966, the site held a dry cleaning and clothes pressing establishment — they also did hand washing and custom tailoring. The parking lot was there by this time as well.

Photo by harlanerskine

The business responsible for this sign, Automotive City, registered with the state in February of 1973. It was an automobile supply store that also did tire sales and installations. The business is listed as dissolved as of December, 1992. At 555 Coney Island Ave (which is the address for most Automotive City listings), a work permit was issued in 1995 to repair the storefront glass after a car crashed into the building.

Photo by johnnyphoto

Public records show the building sold in 2007 for $2.2 million.

Remember anything else about this corner? Got any photos — either from the recent past, or from back in the day — of your own that you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments, or at editor@ditmasparkcorner.com.