By Gus Saltonstall
For 80 years, Murray’s Sturgeon Shop has operated on Broadway, between West 89th and 90th streets. Another consistent for the Upper West Side business during those eight decades?
The sign on the facade of the store.
Murray’s is in red lettering on a white backdrop above Sturgeon Shop in white lettering with a light blue background.
Locals who frequent the shop will have noticed slight changes to the sign in recent months.
In October of 2025, following the removal of a longtime sidewalk shed that predated the COVID-19 pandemic and the conclusion of construction work on the sidewalk in front of the store, Murray’s made an announcement.
“Don’t worry, nothing’s changing but the neon sign,” read a sign stationed outside the front door.
Shortly after the announcement, the repair process for the sign began, which included removing the coloring within the letters.
West Side Rag visited Murray’s Sturgeon Shop on Wednesday morning and spoke with owner Ira Goller to check in on the sign restoration project.
Goller, the third owner of the UWS business, confirmed that the sign restoration should be completed by the end of the week, as long as the weather cooperates.
The shop has been working on the restoration for the past few months and has already redone the coloring to restore the faded colors, as shown in the comparison below.
“It’s a neon sign made with real glass,” Goller told West Side Rag. “We had to wait for the scaffolding to come down and the construction to finish to begin the restoration. The glass was broken in many places, both from the construction work and from weather conditions.”
Goller added that while countless repairs were made to the sign in recent decades, this was the first time that the business fully dismantled the sign and rehabbed it. Murray’s Sturgeon Shop will also be installing a “full protective seal” over the sign for the first time, to better protect the glass.
The protective seal is the last part of the sign restoration project and was expected to be completed this week, Goller said.
“We couldn’t keep making the smaller restorations,” he said. “It was too expensive. Too labor-intensive. We’re keeping the colors as close as possible to the original. The sign’s iconic. We don’t want to change it.”
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Just so long as it stays neon. Pioneer replaced their neon with trash lights.
Bravo to them for the effort — and for the great food!
It is indeed iconic!👏 So glad to hear of the full restoration, and learn details of the wonderful original design♥️