West Side Rag
  • TOP NEWS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • CONTACT
West Side Rag
No Result
View All Result

Get WSR FREE in your inbox

Search the site

No Result
View All Result

Get WSR FREE in your inbox

AVAILABLE NOW!


HERE

Weekend History: Two Signs Emerge From the Past

October 13, 2019 | 2:21 PM
in HISTORY
8

As much as we try to paper over the past, it’s usually still hiding near the surface. Two signs that were recently spotted in the neighborhood brought back memories from decades ago.

Peter Salwen spotted a 38-year-old campaign flyer on a building on Amsterdam near W. 83rd. “Frank J. Barbaro, a former longshoreman and liberal state assemblyman from Brooklyn, was Ed Koch’s chief challenger for re-election to a second term as mayor of New York,” Salwen — an historian — wrote. “In the Legislature, Mr. Barbaro was a fierce advocate for organized labor, tenants and minorities. He later served for six years as a State Supreme Court justice,” the Times noted. “Outspent by a ratio of nearly 10 to 1, Mr. Barbaro nonetheless ran a spirited campaign, vowing to ‘liberate the legend of Fiorello La Guardia from an impostor.’..Mr. Barbaro lost the primary with 36 percent of the vote. He continued his campaign in the general election through his independent Unity Party, but got only 13 percent to Mr. Koch’s 75 percent.” Barbaro died in 2016.

Bill Hindlin spotted a sign for a famous electronics business that disappeared more than a decade ago. “I took this picture the other day on 97th street just west of Broadway, site of the now closed Walgreens. When they removed the Walgreens signage it exposed the sign of “The Wiz” electronics store which closed years ago and into which Walgreens took over. Ah, memories of ‘Nobody Beats the Wiz!'” The Wiz opened in the 1970s but closed most of its locations in the early 2000s after going bankrupt.

It’s not the first time an old sign has popped up in the neighborhood.

Share this article:
guest

guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

8 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Bill Williams
Bill Williams
3 years ago

Nobody may have beaten the Wiz but Crazy Eddie’s prices were INSANE!

0
Reply
MB/UWSer
MB/UWSer
3 years ago

This eight year resident always finds it fun to see history before the invasion of franchises.

Also, hiding in plain site: the unlit neon RISTORANTE sign that hangs over the parking garage on W. 75th between Amsterdam and Broadway – over the now comedy club. Sitting at a booth in Viand brings it in clear view. I wonder of all the who, what, when, where.

Then, walking south on Columbus Avenue on left side of the street, sometime after W. 72nd there is a pillar shaped stained glass sign up high that says ICE CREAM attached to the building – no ice cream store for a long while.

0
Reply
Betsy
Betsy
3 years ago
Reply to  MB/UWSer

Ice cream sign was probably Sedutto’s from the 80s. Had an adjoining door to the great burger place next door.

0
Reply
galdebord
galdebord
3 years ago
Reply to  Betsy

I waited tables at that “great burger place” in the mid-80s (along with Sandra Bullock and many lesser-known but wonderful artists, actors, opera singers, etc.) The ice cream store was run by the same people. Everybody came through that restaurant – Diane’s Uptown – at one point or another. Woody and Mia and their (then small) kids, Mary Tyler Moore, SNL cast, Ernie Anastos, Signourey Weaver, whoever was playing at Lincoln Center that night. We were open till 2am and our biggest night was always Thanksgiving Eve when people came up to watch the balloons being blown up.

0
Reply
LL
LL
3 years ago

I saw the first sign a month ago when I was heading to the library. I had to look the up, as I didn’t know who he was.

And o remember the Wiz. I couldn’t go to that Duane Reade for a long time because it felt werid not seeing TVs all over the place. I loved it there. The Walgreens was a Duane Reade first, right? I wonder what will be in its place.

I remember there used to be a Gap on 96th and Broadway, and now the 86th st Gap space has been closed for 2 years or so, and the old Banana Republic for at least 5

What will happen to these large spaces?

Sorry. Off topic.

0
Reply
David Morris
David Morris
3 years ago
Reply to  LL

No. The Duane Reade was on Broadway between 97th and 98th where Westside Market is now. That space was a Sloan’s supermarket.

0
Reply
RJ Martinez
RJ Martinez
3 years ago

I went into the Nobody Beats the Wiz at 97th street, entered their raffle and maybe a month or two goes by. I wake up to a free BMX bike, haha. Then 2 years ago I won Hamilton tickets. I guess I’m a little lucky.

0
Reply
robert
robert
3 years ago

The wiz sign has been out there “in public” since the Wiz store was there. Walgreens simply forgot to remove it. And now its gone as well

0
Reply

YOU MIGHT LIKE...

Monday Bulletin: It’s Cherry Blossom Time
HISTORY

Monday Bulletin: It’s Cherry Blossom Time

March 27, 2023 | 6:03 AM
Reader Opinion: ‘Simply Build Nothing’
COLUMNS

Reader Opinion: ‘Simply Build Nothing’

March 25, 2023 | 11:03 AM - Updated on March 27, 2023 | 8:49 AM
Previous Post

Vandal Blacks Out Jewish Nonprofit’s Racy Advertisement

Next Post

How A Bountiful Garden Grew On the Upper West Side

this week's events image

Explore Your Favorite Subject

20th precinct 24th precinct american museum of natural history animals art bicycling bulletin central park closings columns community board 7 coronavirus crash crime development dogs events fdny fire food gale brewer helen rosenthal history jcc lincoln center monday bulletin morning bulletin nypd openings pedestrian safety photography photos politics public schools pupper west side real estate restaurants retail riverside park silver stars fitness snow sponsored subway upper west side uws

CITY NEWS

Brick Underground
City Limits
Eater
Gothamist
NY Daily News
NY Post
NY Times

LOCAL RESOURCES

Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group
Central Park Conservancy
CB7
Community Education Council 3
Assembly District 67
The New York Historical Society
Riverside Park
West End Preservation

UWS Blogs

Bloomingdale History Central Park Blogger
North River Notes

Next Post
How A Bountiful Garden Grew On the Upper West Side

How A Bountiful Garden Grew On the Upper West Side

85-Year-Old Woman Assaulted and Robbed Near Fairway, Police Say

85-Year-Old Woman Assaulted and Robbed Near Fairway, Police Say

UWS Encounters: Starting Early, Too Late, and Right on Time

UWS Encounters: Starting Early, Too Late, and Right on Time

  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • NEWSLETTER
  • WSR MERCH!
  • ADVERTISE
  • EVENTS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TERMS OF USE
  • SITE MAP
Site design by RLDGROUP

© 2023 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • TOP NEWS
  • THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • CONTACT US
  • WSR SHOP

© 2023 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.