Wexler William

I take the middle ground of the above two comments. I lived ACROSS THE STREET from Wexler's for the past seven years, and I too have seen this place open maybe twice in that time. True, I work during the day, but my schedule varies enough that one would think I'd see this place open more than I have in that time. It is certainly never open on a weekend or holiday. It certainly isn't open before 10am, and it certainly isn't open after 5pm. Let's put it this way - there is no other store in the neighborhood I see closed more often than this place. And yes, the previous review is correct, the faded, dated, dusty, display in the window looks like it hasn't been changed since 1972. But, all that being said, I've seen plenty of other flashy and open-all-the-time businesses come and go during that time, and this place is still in operation, which brings me to the title of this review: It must be doing something right. If it is some sort of specialty "architectural glass" place that is open by appointment only - I am sure it is possible. I always imagined that either the guy got some 99-year lease about 80 years ago and is paying $50 a month in rent or something crazy like that, or maybe he owns the building and framing/ glasswork is his hobby, and this is just what he loves to do, and does not run it as a money-making operation. Illegal mafia operations don't need a cozy storefront on prime UWS real estate, so that seems unlikely. But whatever wonderful business operation is being run there, it doesn't seem it would need storefront real estate with pedestrian traffic either. Either way, I wouldn't say the shop is shady or unreliable - I have no reason to think that. But it definitely is different that your usual NYC shopfront. more

What a fool L.B. must be, writing that petulant review because the shop is not open when she's in the neighborhood. Wexler is the number one merchant of architectural and specialty glass to landlords, architects and designers in Manhattan. In addition, they are one of the top picture and mirror framing and gilding shops. Just wanted to set the record straight when I saw that silly ignorant ego-rant against Wexler's. more

I live down the street, and I have NEVER seen this shop open. Wait, that's not true: one time I passed by, and saw workmen with a tall ladder attending to water damage in the ceiling of the old shop. Ok, that's not true either. ANOTHER time it was open when I had taken the day off from work, so I could actually pass by during the 6.5 hours when it's open on weekdays, *exactly* during other people's work hours. So I stopped in. I just had to see what lay beyond the sad, yellowing, unchanging display in the window: some vertical blinds, multi-ply glass, and random frame corners. The shop looks much like what's in the weird window. The owner was kind of glum and seemed not very interested in me. I really wonder what keeps shops like this open in NYC, where I'm sure the overhead is outrageous. I simply wouldn't trust this shop because it looks so ramshackle. Very odd. If this were a movie, this shop would be a front for some criminal activity or magical hijinx or other intrigue; but since this is real life, it's just a tired old shop. I don't mean to sound so critical - it just baffles me when shops stay open despite not having convenient hours, attractive displays, or anything else you'd think a shop would have to do to attract any customers. more