Macy's gift bag billboard removed from corner, exposing boarded up 'holdout' building beneath

Visitors to Herald Square this week found the iconic red-and-white Macy’s gift bag advertisement gone from the corner of West 34th Street and Broadway, the skeleton of a partially boarded five-story building exposed in its stead.

The giant bag-shaped billboard, adorned with the Macy’s star and "The World’s Largest Store" slogan, was removed last weekend to make way for what the New York City Department of Buildings said would be the installation of two new LED signs. Left exposed, for the first time in decades, is the "holdout" building beneath it; a structure that has anchored the corner since the early 20th century.

The five-story structure, located on a 30x50-foot parcel at 1313 Broadway, predates construction of the massive Macy’s Herald Square store built by R.H. Macy & Company owners Jesse and Percy Straus between West 34th and West 35th Street more than 100 years ago.

Then-owner the Rev. Alfred Duane Pell inherited the parcel from his father, who’d purchased it in the 1800s, and had initially agreed to sell the site to Macy’s for $250,000, but instead sold it to dry goods store owner Harry Siegel for $375,000.

Siegel then failed to strike a deal with Macy’s, whose owners simply built around it.

Real estate battles

On Wednesday, Lilly Tuttle, senior curator of the collection at the Museum of the City of New York, told Newsday the holdout story behind the famous Macy's sign provides insight and reference to the real estate battles in New York.

" "I think what was very clever about the shopping bag is that it totally occluded that there's a building there, beneath it — and that that building was a representation of the power struggle between Macy's and another retailer," she said.

The site has long had advertising, dating back to turn-of-the-20th century advertising for the original Madison Square Garden.

Macy's has used the site for advertising billboards since the 1920s, Tuttle said. 

The buildings department noted the Certificate of Occupancy for the site allows commercial usage for the cellar, first and second floors — but maintains a permanent occupancy ban on the third, fourth and fifth floors.

Over the years the ground floor was home to a cigar store, a Nedick's hot dog vendor and most recently Sunglass Hut.

The buildings department has not disclosed the permit holder for the coming LED signage at the site.

 Tuttle said it's long been rumored other prominent companies, among them Amazon, had sights on landing the space for advertising. 

Macy's did not immediately respond to inquiries seeking comment.

"What comes next?" Tuttle said. "We don't know. But, you take this sign off and you're seeing the underside of New York City. You've peeled off that layer and you see it's so much more than a sign. It's the story of a real estate battle, the value of advertising space, the story of New York and money and density ... And wouldn't it be ironic symmetry to the battle with Macy's and Siegel if someone else now gets that space."

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.