Where Elmo’s People Shop: Broadway Silk Store in Astoria

Is it a coincidence that Broadway Silk Store, a Queens purveyor of fabric and costume jewelry, sits across the street from the Greater Astoria Historical Society? The store has been an anchor in the neighborhood since the Depression. It is two blocks from Kaufman Astoria Studios and has furnished costuming for an array of productions over its 80-year history, including “Sesame Street,” “Men in Black 3” and “The Good Wife.” And as with other multigenerational, family-owned institutions, it has an oral history so rich that it can be hard to distinguish fact from fiction.

“My great-uncle built all this,” said Sarah-Beth White, 57, gesturing to rows of shelving packed with bolts of colorful textiles. She added, smiling, “Apparently.”

Ms. White runs the store now, though her mother, Pearl Gould, 84, owns it. Ms. Gould �" who still spends occasional afternoons here, usually stroking the store cat, Bushy �" inherited the shop from an aunt, Esther Laxer, who worked into her 90s. “It was known for decades as the little old lady store,” Ms. White said. “I’m not quite there yet, I hope.”

Aunt Esther gazes stoically from a faded photograph above the entryway. She is holding a stuffed Minnie Mouse.

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Broadway Silk, at 35-11 Broadway, is hard to miss from either side of Astoria’s lively avenue. Seen from across the street, its original facade with a sign of block text on a white background is a striking departure from the brighter, contemporary awnings of the 99-cent stores, delis and flower shops that surround it.

Closer up, viewed from under the dated marquee, the compact store is conspicuous in a more modern way.

A few years ago on a trip to Vermont, Ms. White and her daughter, Elanna White, now 22, noticed that fabric stores were selling jewelry. They decided it was a good idea and bought necklaces, rings and bracelets in a style that the younger Ms. White preferred: chunky golden rings and quirky, vintage-style pendants such as compasses and cameos. Ms. White hung these from a board at the store’s entrance. A new and younger crowd of regulars was attracted by the trinkets, which typically sell for $10 to $20.

“I first came in because of the cute stuff she puts outside,” said Rosalie Kenny, 32, who is on the board of the Greater Astoria Historical Society and is often in the area. On a recent Tuesday, she was wearing a ring, a hat and a necklace, all bought previously at Broadway Silk. Now Ms. Kenny is a vendor: Her holiday gift boxes are for sale among the novelties on tables in the store’s front corner.

But people still come for fabric.

“The whole D.I.Y. resurgence has been good,” Ms. White said. “People watch a YouTube video on how to upholster your own couch. And ‘Project Runway.’ ” Set designers and students from the Fashion Institute of Technology are among the do-it-yourself patrons, she said.

On a recent Saturday afternoon, Carolina Rocha, 32, and Norma Levorato, 56, of Brooklyn arrived in search of material to upholster a chair. They shopped efficiently, and within minutes they left with a roll of cotton tapestry. “I come here all the time,” Ms. Levorato said.

Set designers for “Sesame Street” have bought material primarily to simulate household interiors, Ms. White said. For “Men in Black 3,” foam was purchased. Its destination? “Some kind of padding for Will Smith’s costume,” she said.

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