The Upper West Side isn’t quite the Mississippi Delta, but we get the Blues too. Local Cullen Oliver Johnson even put together a song about his sadness after the Gotham Deli on Columbus between 72nd and 73rd closed. Check it out below:
Excuse me but this is my grandfather that made this video. He spent time and effort writing the song and contacting friends to make this video happen because of a cause he felt strongly about. Putting someone down for that is simply childish and rude. But hey maybe it’s just your day job!
Zandeneh: good for you! stick up for your grandfather!! He did a great job and you SHOULD BE proud of him.
anyone putting him down like that is saying more about themselves than about him. their insecurities are showing.
Andrew Matthew
10 years ago
Bet he noticed every empty space from 59th to 96th since he’s more sad then I am.
Paul
10 years ago
Good, bad or indifferent you have reflected the feelings of many who live in our neighborhood. Well done! In another ten years I imagine that all of Manhattan will resemble the average strip mall in Manhattan, Kansas!
JAN T
10 years ago
What a nice tribute.
MadManDapperDan
10 years ago
Well done!! It is indeed sad to see another neighborhood staple leave the fold.
As for ScooterStan, how do you even have time to hate on this heartfelt homage? Maybe you don’t have a day job?
Are you offering one? If so, I could provide a list of really neat jobs I wouldn’t mind having, starting with “fitter” at the LOCAL MOM-N-POP Bra Smyth.
As far as hate…offering a negative comment on someone’s obviously not-ready-for-prime-time “singing” skills does NOT qualify as “hate.”
Ooops…mea culpa! I forgot! This is the Age of Facebook/Instagram/etc. where everyone is expected to “Like” everything so that we all join hands and sit around singing “Kumbaya”.
No, it is just that by the time we are about 10 or 12, we are supposed to have internalized such basic rules of civility as “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.” I’m assuming you’re older tha. 12?
Speedy
10 years ago
why should I go to the Gotham Deli when I can get a better selection and better prices at the Dwayne Reade? Adios, muchacos!
With a little less speed, perhaps your capitalization, your spelling and your opinions would improve.
Eileen Lawlor
10 years ago
Hi Cullen, great job! Wonderful to see you preform it too. It’s a meaningful sentiment about change… which doesn’t always make things better. Thanks for telling me to check this out.
I hope you get a million hits! Ei
Mary Firestone Bradley Foore
10 years ago
Cullen! What talent! Love the song–it was really great–world class and what a lovely Satchmo voice!
Mary
Bruce Bernstein
10 years ago
well done Cullen. you reminded us on a human level how much we are losing.
Barbara Bradley Brandon
10 years ago
Cullen, I LOVE that song! Yes, it’s a blues song, but it has such a catchy melody that I’ve been humming it all day. It’s so good to see you even if it is via YouTube. Hope life is treating you well, except for all the empty storefronts. Life here in Richmond is great. Actually, somebody who compiles such things has named Richmond as the happiest city in the U.S. Who knew? Hope to see you next time you are in Richmond. Bob sends his best!!
Dayna
10 years ago
Love this Culley! It’s a very catchy tune & I’ve got it in my head too. It’s great when art can express love and sadness at the same time.
Sounds like ScooterStan doesn’t get the difference between heartfelt artistry & someone going for a recording contract. Sad for him. 🙂
Coco
10 years ago
Awww…I really LOVE this! Very Tom Waits. I feel like this about 103 St. Market on Broadway, and Good Nature on 98th and Broadway – both longtime places that made you feel at home. What a great idea to honor these lost gems – more and more closing every day. We come to rely on them and we miss them. Speedy, Scooter – try slowing down just a bit to get to know your neighborhood deli – it may not be around much longer and I bet you’ll be surprised to find a rather special NYC experience! (Sounds corny, but true!) Great voice – love to hear more of your songs!
Alan
10 years ago
The whole character of Columbus Avenue has changed. So many store closures, where do you shop anymore?
Debbie
10 years ago
The bottom line is that we need a cap on the rents with regard to commercial property. They keep raising rents so high that the Mom and Pops are forced out of business.
Jenny Crouch Dickinson
10 years ago
Well, look at you, Cullen! I even saw that Eileen Lawlor left you a note, too — old home week for sure.
I have to say, you are incredible and boy, can you blow a clarinet. This tribute to the deli was outstanding, really outstanding.
I’ve been following you for the longest time, movie-wise, although I could take it all the way back to Ridge Elementary and through Freeman, but seriously, I wish you’d been in Richmond the day that Once Around came out. There I was, minding my own business, and all of a sudden there YOU were on the screen. Let’s just say the entire theater found out your name very quickly as I jumped up and yelled, “Oh my gosh! That’s Cullen Johnson!”
You have so much to be proud of; heck, I’m proud of you, too. It’s been so much fun to keep up with the little bits and pieces I hear of you….even the butler school. Whew, you have done it all. CHEERS to you, Cullen! You were a great kid and now a great man.
…..and you have one terrific granddaughter, too, to write what she did about this tribute. She probably should have been Southern, haha.
Great work, Cullen!
Jenny Crouch, all grown up and white-haired.
Tim Armacost
10 years ago
That’s a beautiful song. The blues is clearly the right medium to express the sadness of the neighborhood changing because locals can’t afford to pay the rents that big corporations can pay…..
Dennis Regan
10 years ago
Nice job Cullen. We all appreciate your sentiment and effort.
Denise DeSanto
10 years ago
Here it is.
SFR
10 years ago
Yeah you right Cullen. RIP NYC gives me the blues too. Worthy tribute. Thank you for your spirit
UWS Neighbor
9 years ago
What a wonderful tribute! Bravo to Cullen for expressing what so many of us feel in such a beautiful way.
Gerry
9 years ago
Way to go Cullen, gorgeous all around. My only comfort in this deteriorating neighborhood is that it’s now October 2015, Gotham Deli’s space is still not rented and the landlord is hopefully hemorrhaging money.
Oh, and ScooterStan? I hope you’ve stopped being an ass by now.
Ummm…don’t quit your day-job !!
Excuse me but this is my grandfather that made this video. He spent time and effort writing the song and contacting friends to make this video happen because of a cause he felt strongly about. Putting someone down for that is simply childish and rude. But hey maybe it’s just your day job!
Zandeneh: good for you! stick up for your grandfather!! He did a great job and you SHOULD BE proud of him.
anyone putting him down like that is saying more about themselves than about him. their insecurities are showing.
Bet he noticed every empty space from 59th to 96th since he’s more sad then I am.
Good, bad or indifferent you have reflected the feelings of many who live in our neighborhood. Well done! In another ten years I imagine that all of Manhattan will resemble the average strip mall in Manhattan, Kansas!
What a nice tribute.
Well done!! It is indeed sad to see another neighborhood staple leave the fold.
As for ScooterStan, how do you even have time to hate on this heartfelt homage? Maybe you don’t have a day job?
Re: “…Maybe you don’t have a day job?”
Are you offering one? If so, I could provide a list of really neat jobs I wouldn’t mind having, starting with “fitter” at the LOCAL MOM-N-POP Bra Smyth.
As far as hate…offering a negative comment on someone’s obviously not-ready-for-prime-time “singing” skills does NOT qualify as “hate.”
Ooops…mea culpa! I forgot! This is the Age of Facebook/Instagram/etc. where everyone is expected to “Like” everything so that we all join hands and sit around singing “Kumbaya”.
No, it is just that by the time we are about 10 or 12, we are supposed to have internalized such basic rules of civility as “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing.” I’m assuming you’re older tha. 12?
why should I go to the Gotham Deli when I can get a better selection and better prices at the Dwayne Reade? Adios, muchacos!
With a little less speed, perhaps your capitalization, your spelling and your opinions would improve.
Hi Cullen, great job! Wonderful to see you preform it too. It’s a meaningful sentiment about change… which doesn’t always make things better. Thanks for telling me to check this out.
I hope you get a million hits! Ei
Cullen! What talent! Love the song–it was really great–world class and what a lovely Satchmo voice!
Mary
well done Cullen. you reminded us on a human level how much we are losing.
Cullen, I LOVE that song! Yes, it’s a blues song, but it has such a catchy melody that I’ve been humming it all day. It’s so good to see you even if it is via YouTube. Hope life is treating you well, except for all the empty storefronts. Life here in Richmond is great. Actually, somebody who compiles such things has named Richmond as the happiest city in the U.S. Who knew? Hope to see you next time you are in Richmond. Bob sends his best!!
Love this Culley! It’s a very catchy tune & I’ve got it in my head too. It’s great when art can express love and sadness at the same time.
Sounds like ScooterStan doesn’t get the difference between heartfelt artistry & someone going for a recording contract. Sad for him. 🙂
Awww…I really LOVE this! Very Tom Waits. I feel like this about 103 St. Market on Broadway, and Good Nature on 98th and Broadway – both longtime places that made you feel at home. What a great idea to honor these lost gems – more and more closing every day. We come to rely on them and we miss them. Speedy, Scooter – try slowing down just a bit to get to know your neighborhood deli – it may not be around much longer and I bet you’ll be surprised to find a rather special NYC experience! (Sounds corny, but true!) Great voice – love to hear more of your songs!
The whole character of Columbus Avenue has changed. So many store closures, where do you shop anymore?
The bottom line is that we need a cap on the rents with regard to commercial property. They keep raising rents so high that the Mom and Pops are forced out of business.
Well, look at you, Cullen! I even saw that Eileen Lawlor left you a note, too — old home week for sure.
I have to say, you are incredible and boy, can you blow a clarinet. This tribute to the deli was outstanding, really outstanding.
I’ve been following you for the longest time, movie-wise, although I could take it all the way back to Ridge Elementary and through Freeman, but seriously, I wish you’d been in Richmond the day that Once Around came out. There I was, minding my own business, and all of a sudden there YOU were on the screen. Let’s just say the entire theater found out your name very quickly as I jumped up and yelled, “Oh my gosh! That’s Cullen Johnson!”
You have so much to be proud of; heck, I’m proud of you, too. It’s been so much fun to keep up with the little bits and pieces I hear of you….even the butler school. Whew, you have done it all. CHEERS to you, Cullen! You were a great kid and now a great man.
…..and you have one terrific granddaughter, too, to write what she did about this tribute. She probably should have been Southern, haha.
Great work, Cullen!
Jenny Crouch, all grown up and white-haired.
That’s a beautiful song. The blues is clearly the right medium to express the sadness of the neighborhood changing because locals can’t afford to pay the rents that big corporations can pay…..
Nice job Cullen. We all appreciate your sentiment and effort.
Here it is.
Yeah you right Cullen. RIP NYC gives me the blues too. Worthy tribute. Thank you for your spirit
What a wonderful tribute! Bravo to Cullen for expressing what so many of us feel in such a beautiful way.
Way to go Cullen, gorgeous all around. My only comfort in this deteriorating neighborhood is that it’s now October 2015, Gotham Deli’s space is still not rented and the landlord is hopefully hemorrhaging money.
Oh, and ScooterStan? I hope you’ve stopped being an ass by now.
Really nice tribute.