Often Imitated, Never Duplicated.

In New York, we know a fake when we see one. Since Leslie Buck created the Anthora in the early 1960s, its blue-and-white Greek motif has become so closely identified with the city that imitators were inevitable. Over the years, unauthorized variations have borrowed the basic formula while tinkering with the details: the Parthenon has appeared in place of the familiar amphora, along with a discus-thrower, a harpist, and even a classical scene of a woman bathing a nude man with water poured from a golden jug. From ten feet away, they may look convincing. But to a seasoned New Yorker, something is off. The shade of blue is wrong. The lettering lacks swagger. The Greek ornamentation tries a little too hard. Close, perhaps—but no Anthora.

That is the peculiar fate of a design that became bigger than the object it decorated. The original Anthora was merely a disposable paper cup, yet it grew into a shorthand for New York life: coffee grabbed from a corner deli, carried down the sidewalk, balanced on a newspaper, or clutched on the way to the subway. Its countless copycats are proof of just how deeply the design entered the city’s visual vocabulary. Today, spotting the genuine article in the wild can feel like encountering an endangered native species. In a city awash in imitations, finding a real Anthora filled with hot coffee remains a small but priceless New York experience.

Dedicated to preserving the legacy of the iconic Anthora coffee cup – a true symbol of New York City’s street culture, corner delis, and daily rituals – NY Coffee Cup celebrates its enduring design, cultural significance, and place in coffee history, both in NYC and beyond.