With Brooklyn storefronts becoming more and more generic as chains move in to the borough's nabes, a book documenting some of the more old-timey awnings has hit the market. Featuring 75 photographs taken while on bicycle rides, Paul Lacy's Brooklyn Storefronts will take you on a colorful (albeit 2-dimensional) tour of retail exteriors including Los Doctores Tires Shop, the Great Eagle Photo Company, and the St. Jude Religious Articles. This is a decidedly less dangerous Brooklyn storefront project than Don Wiss took on a few years ago (random fact: Wiss recently put together a collage of Emperor's Club girls).

Lacy will be at the Brooklyn Public Library this coming Wednesday (March 26th, 7 p.m.) for an hour long event in which he will "project the original digital images from the book, storefronts with handpainted signs and eye-catching window displays, and yes, many pictures that are not in the book: murals, flags, folk art, classic neon, astonishing found curiosities, and other out-takes."

One can't help but think that this, ironically enough, is the sort of thing that the Brooklyn Urban Outfitters will be selling in its Brooklyn-centric section.