UPDATE: Tuesday, April 7 at 9 a.m.: Murray’s Sturgeon Shop completed the restoration last week of its iconic sign.
It is the first time in 80 years that the business fully dismantled the sign and rehabbed it, while also adding a protective seal.
Check out the original story below.
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, which will remain neon, 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.
that’s right but, even as a huge fan of neon signs, i have to admit that the Pioneer sign ain’t bad. i can see it from one of my windows, and the thing is, it does the same job as the neon sign did and is very, very similar in its effect.
LED signs have gotten worse as they’ve ‘matured’, leading to effects like the bodegas seem to love—the light blast directed outwards at blinding intensity just because, well just because.
truly not that bad, and for a grocery store which operates on razor thin margins it makes sense they got rid of the old one in the middle of the night cause people like you would cry and want to force them into repairing it, costing a lot of money.
Dublin house repaired theirs but it was the repair company that started the fundraiser to fix it, not them. ain’t cheap. props to Murrays. I do appreciate the old school but lets not freak over a solid replacement, all things considered.
Except the owners of the Columbus Pioneer own the space.
Pioneer could have done a fundraiser like Dublin House — still could.
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♥️
Let us hope the restoration is more like the Dublin House sign and less like the Pioneer Sign, which still fails.
Great move by Murray’s. Now in gratitude we should rename the 86th Street subway station after Murray’s.
Gale?
I’m glad they’re restoring the sign, but what really matters is they have consistently maintained their quality. Murray’s is the best!
Long live Murray’s!
So nice to hear and they are using neon rather then the cheaper led equivalent.
Murray’s is a gem! The food is fantastic, but the people who work there are even better, unfailingly patient and they know your name. Amazing. Thank you, Ira!
Except that they use the same rag to clean the knives that they’ve used to wipe down the counters. I’ve seen it more than once and won’t shop there anymore.
Murray’s is the best indeed. I am so glad it has lasted.Thank goodness for Murray’s, Zabars and Barney Greengrass…icons of the UWS with quality.
Good to know they’re planning to be there a long time
I’ve been going to Murray’s since January of 1976, when Artie Cutler was the owner. It keeps me young (ish). And I love the sign restoration.
Just curious if you managed the seminal rotisserie baseball team The Okie Fenokies?
I read “young (ish)” and “young fish.”