Business of the Month: Tudor Rose Antiques, 43 Greenwich Avenue

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If you want to check out a vast and diverse collection of silver artifacts spanning thousands of years and various cultures, you should visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But if you want to get a personalized education on silver craftsmanship and even acquire an item or two, you should swing by our February Business of the Month, Tudor Rose Antiques at 43 Greenwich Avenue between Perry and Charles Streets, which for four decades has been helping its customers add a touch of beauty and interest to their homes, one silver object at a time.

Howie and Myra Donowitz were public school teachers during the 1970s, with a special affinity for vintage furniture and decorative arts. In their free time, they would visit the antique stores that back then lined Atlantic Avenue, and they would even travel upstate or to Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, looking for pieces to add to their collection. Before long, though, their passion for new discoveries and acquisitions exceeded the capacity of their New York City apartment. A friend suggested the possibility of making a business out of selling their finds. And this struck the couple as a tempting idea indeed.

Howie and Myra first set up shop on weekends at a center on E. 55th Street off Sutton Place, where they received an informal education on antiques from fellow dealers. The experience was not only convivial, it also taught them about the preferences of their customers. Noticing the tendency of decorative objects to sell more quickly than the furniture pieces that they embellished, the couple decided to specialize in silver. And that became the focus of their store in 1978, when the antiques center closed and they moved, along with a few of their neighbors, to a new space at 36 East 10th Street. At the time, the area south of Union Square was perhaps the leading hub of antique dealerships in the country (see here and here). Tudor Rose became a vital addition to the mix and, within a few years, had grown enough to strike out on its own at 28 East 10th, where it would remain for almost three decades.

The keys to Tudor Rose’s longevity and success have been deceptively simple. Howie and Myra buy what they like, and they know what they buy. Their collector’s eye and hard-earned expertise ensures the procurement of distinguished items that will appeal to customers looking for something distinctive, beautiful, and imbued with the sort of solidity and historical depth not for sale on Amazon. In addition, the Donowitzes have retained a teacherly habit and appetite for patient and generous explanation. They welcome visitors to treat the store as a mini-museum, confident that they can educate anyone about an item and instill in them, whatever their taste, an appreciation for it. This may or may not eventually result in a purchase, but it serves for the couple as its own reward.

Tudor Rose’s selection comprises a wide enough range of items that you’re bound to find a special gift there for anyone, including yourself, regardless of whether you’re looking for a calling card case, a candle stick holder, a goblet, or a magnifying glass. The merchandise does, however, reflect the taste of Howie and Myre. And the couple shares a fondness for British and American silverwork from the 1800s through the early 1900s, a period during which form, however ornamental, followed function—and the more specific the function, the more it served as a marker of distinction. Anyone may own shears; but only the discerning would own a beautifully ornamented pair with a serrated edge intended to facilitate grape stem cutting. A spoon is a spoon; but only special spoons are designed specifically for scooping out Stilton cheese. This makes the store an ideal place to shop for people with very specific needs (such as grape and Stilton cheese eaters); but not only. Years of experience have taught Howie and Myra how to repurpose even the most specialized of items. So you can also let yourself be drawn to whatever catches your eyes and let them tell you what you might use it for. Here are some of the items that caught ours:

Neoclassical-style Dutch hot chocolate pot from the 1880s:

Georgian Period snuff mulls from the early 1800s

Georgian Period mull for even greater snuff needs

English and American candlestick holders from the turn of the 20th century

Edwardian match striker:

Victorian agate brooches from the 1880s for kilts, tams, and shawls:

British tantalus from the 1890s, thus named because you can’t remove the bottles from the cabinet without unlocking its safety mechanism:

Bon Bon spoon:

American and British napkin rings from the 1860s through the 1920s:

Arts and Crafts British humidor from the 1900s:

Tudor Rose lost its lease at 28 East 10th in 2014. By then, it had long become a renowned dealer in silver antiques and amassed a clientele that included collectors, magazine prop stylists, movie prop buyers, and just regular and, occasionally, multi-generational shoppers. The neighborhood was no longer the antiques capital of the country, and dealers and designers no longer flocked to the area. Business was increasingly done online. Howie and Myra, who had themselves moved to the neighborhood decades before, considered moving their business out of it. In the end, though, they decided that they did not want to forgo the convenience and familiarity of the Village, and they found a new location for Tudor Rose just a few blocks away on Greenwich Avenue between Perry and Charles Street, close enough that they still regularly cross paths with acquaintances.

Tudor Rose has kept up with the times and developed an e-commerce operation. The store, however, remains the business’ beating heart, the place where longtime customers-turned-friends swing by for a visit and where Howie and Myra get to engage the public and, like the teachers they once were (and still are), share their passion with the world. Asked what they like about running their business after all these years, Myra has this to say. 

I love buying. I mean, I love the pieces. It’s just, I love doing the research, and I love seeing a piece that I’ve never seen before. And I won’t put it out until I know what it is. And I love the people.

For its four decades bringing history, artistry, and function into our lives, we are thrilled to name Tudor Rose Antiques our February 2026 Business of the Month.

What special small business would you like to see featured next? Just click here to nominate our next one. Thank you! #shoplocalnyc

Here is a map of all our Businesses of the in Month: