Photog pair tracks disappearing NYC stores

From left: Ralph’s and Katy’s Candy Store (Credit: James and Karla Murray)

In New York City’s competitive retail environment, storefronts can evaporate in the blink of an eye — which is why one photography duo is bent on capturing them before they slip away, according to am New York. James and Karla Murray’s new book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York” chronicles the disappearance of neighborhood mainstays like Ralph’s Discount, which had been in Tribeca for 44 years before shuttering in 2007, and Katy’s Candy Store, a 39-year Bedford-Stuyvesant veteran that closed in 2008. Karla Murray said she and her husband began tracking these retail spots after seeing how rapidly even long-term tenants were being erased. “We started noticing that more and more and more, and we said, ‘Oh this is terrible,'” Murray said. The couple’s photographs are currently on display at Clic Gallery at 255 Centre Street near Broome Street. [amNY]