88 Perry Street
New York NY 10014
To be exact, this door is located at 88 Perry Street on the corner of Bleecker in the West Village. The inscription states, "Año 1868" which is the same year that Spain's First Republic was proclaimed. For years I have seen this door and have always been curious as to what it leads to or what the purpose of it was.
The colors and design typically are drawn back to Southern Spain and allegedly in 1972 the restaurant owners of 88 Perry sought out a Spanish artist from Seville named Rodriguez to install a mural where a door might have been before.
As you can see above in the inscription, the attribution to a “Rodríguez” might be a misunderstanding, as this reveals that "the tiles were created at the Fca (Fábrica) Mensaque Rodríguez y Compañía SA, in Seville, Spain, a prestigious factory of bricks and ceramic tiles that opened it doors in 1917 and went out of business in 2006"(courtesy of Espanyu.org).
Since this "unofficial landmark" resides on an official West Village landmark it has been sudden chaos about having this mural removed since in 1972 the owners and artist never seeked approval from the town. Locals see no reason for the removal and this issue has since been overlooked for the time being. Personally, I think they should leave it alone. It adds character to the very unique district of NYC.
Image and info from Espanyu.org
