The lights are on: Lower Manhattan store
keeps neon dream alive for 50 years
BY ROSELLE CHEN AND
HUSSEIN AL WAAILE
REUTERS
From a cross-legged Ronald McDonald
to a martini glass replete with olive,
classic neon signs fi ll Let There Be
Neon, a Lower Manhattan shop that makes
all their signs in-house.
What makes that bright warm glow?
When electricity energizes a tube full
of the inert neon gas, the tube lights up,
explains Jeff Friedman, owner of Let There
Be Neon since 1990.
“Neon is red when it’s lit, the pure color
of neon. But we also use argon, which is
blue, and by combining the different gases
with different glass colors or phosphorus
inside the tube, that’s how we get all the
different colors,” said Friedman.
The 3,500-square-foot shop was founded
by light artist, painter and documentary
fi lmmaker Rudy Stern in 1972, and Friedman
started working there fi ve years later.
Glowing signs in all colors of the rainbow
illuminate the store, as glass-benders
hold tubes over blue-hot fl ames, shaping
them into various letters and designs.
Over the decades, other forms of lighting
– such as LEDs – became cheaper to make
and neon signs fell out of favor, but not at
Let There Be Neon.
“Neon is pure, it’s made by hand, it’s
made by glass, it’s recyclable,” said
Friedman, listing what he feels are
the advantages of neon over plastic
lighting.
“Pre-COVID, we were making
more neon than we’ve ever made
A neon sign is pictured at the “Let
There Be Neon” store amid the
coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
pandemic in the Manhattan borough
of New York City, New York, U.S.,
April 8, 2021.
before,” he said. “When COVID hit, it was
like the cigarettes were left burning in the
ashtrays.”
Friedman hopes business will return
as people regain confi dence and says the
amount of work they have received has
been steadily increasing again.
“It’s nowhere near where it was pre-
COVID, but the lights are on, we existed,
we survived.”
PHOTOS BY REUTERS/CARLO ALLEGRI
Neon signs are pictured in this combination image at the “Let There Be Neon”
store amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan
borough of New York City, New York, U.S., April 8, 2021.
Museum of Jewish Heritage launches site to honor
Holocaust survivors who died of COVID-19
BY HANNAH MALLARD
The Museum of Jewish Heritage
— A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
launched a new tribute site
to share the stories and honor the lives
of Holocaust survivors who lost their
lives over the past year amid the global
COVID-19 pandemic.
The memorial page, found on the
Museum’s website, features testimonials
from relatives about their loved ones and
includes images of Holocaust survivors
who lost their lives since the pandemic
began.
“Over this past year, as we endured a
devastating pandemic, we have heard from
relatives who have sought ways to share
the stories of perseverance and resilience
in times of pain and in times of hope,”
said Jack Kliger, President and CEO of the
Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial
to the Holocaust. “Since our founding
days nearly 25 years ago, the Museum
has dedicated our work to both those who
lost their lives during the Holocaust, and
those who survived, and their children and
grandchildren. Through this new tribute
page, we will ensure their lives will not be
forgotten,” he continued.
Holocaust survivors, all ages 75 and
older, have been heavily impacted by the
COVID-19 pandemic since the illness is
especially lethal to seniors. Because many
Holocaust survivors have been stuck inside,
self-isolating over the past year, the
FILE PHOTO
Museum of Jewish Heritage and its staff
have regularly engaged and checked on
these seniors, calling them weekly, teaching
them how to connect with others through
technology and delivering weekly meals to
survivors in New York.
The Museum continues to seek tribute
stories from the family members of
Holocaust survivors that were lost beginning
in 2020. Submit your story and your
loved one’s photo at thejewishmuseum.org.
On Sunday, April 11, the Museum hosted
its Annual Gathering of Remembrance. The
commemoration, which took place virtually
this year, fulfi lls the sacred obligation to remember
those killed during the Holocaust.
This year’s Gathering of Remembrance
paid special tribute to Holocaust survivors
who lost their lives over the past year amid
the pandemic.
Delivered by New York City, which has
one of the world’s largest communities of
Holocaust survivors (it is estimated that
over 38,000 survivors live in the New
York metropolitan area), the tribute exudes
a special power as it celebrates so many
within its own community.
“Even though this year we are not able
to gather in person, it is still our obligation
to remember those that we lost,” said
Museum Trustee Rita Lerner, the daughter
of two Holocaust survivors and the event
Co-Chair. “We honor their memory and the
memory of all survivors who have passed
away, leaving us to carry on their great
legacy,” she continued.
4 April 15, 2021 Schneps Media
/thejewishmuseum.org
