Artist Creates Miniature Manhattan One Storefront at a Time

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By Jill Colvin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN— Los Angeles artist Randy Hage is trying to preserve New York's iconic past — one miniature storefront at a time.

Tucked away in his home studio, the model maker has been crafting a growing collection of mini New York storefronts 1/12th their original size that look astonishingly true to life.

The intricately detailed recreations, which are making waves on the photo-sharing site Flickr, are part of an effort by Hage to document and preserve what he sees as the city's disappearing, grungier past.

In the years since he's been visiting the city, he said he's seen the street scape change, as classic, hand-painted storefronts have been replaced by generic logos and stainless steel.

"My goal is to document and bring greater attention to those disappearing storefronts," he said.

So far, Hage has completed a handful of models, including the reincarnated Vesuvio Bakery in SoHo, with its famous lime green façade, and several sites in Brooklyn, including Nick's Luncheonette in Williamsburg.

He's now working on recreating a newsstand built of wood and Plexiglass on MacDougal Street near SoHo's Washington Square Park.

"The structure itself looks like it's almost going to fall down," he said.

Next, he'll turn his tools to Ideal Hosiery, a storefront at 339 Grand Street on the Lower East Side, which has a hand-painted, weathered maroon-and-white sign and a collection of faded merchandise in its windows.

Hage said he was drawn to the location's bright colors and textures.

"It's got all of its age and all of its character," he said.

Though he doesn't live in New York, Hage said he fell in love with the city long ago and now returns at least twice a year to walk the streets and photograph sites that catch his eye.

When he returns to California, he gets to work.

First, he builds the base structures out of wood. Components like grates in cement are etched in metal, while bricks and other items placed on the street are cast in resin from hand-carved molds.

Building a single model can take up to two months, he said, minus the photographing and design work.

It's a vast departure from his day job, making models for sets built to be destroyed.

"Most of the stuff that I make gets blown up or burned down for some TV or movie scene," he joked.

So far, he said he hasn't looked into selling the models.

"They're purely a labor of love," he said. "My love for the city and the individuals who live there is all going into this."

He hopes to introduce the city to his mini storefronts in an exhibition once the series is complete.