Hyman Moscot, a Jewish-Belarusian immigrant who arrived through Ellis Island in 1899, started out selling ready-made reading glasses from a pushcart on Orchard Street before opening MOSCOT's first proper shop at 94 Rivington Street in 1915. His surname itself was reportedly changed from Mushcot to Moscot somewhere in the immigration process. The business has stayed in family hands ever since (now on its fifth generation, with Zack Moscot designing and prototyping frames in New York), making it the 21st-oldest eyewear company still operating anywhere in the world.