Text and Photographs by Stephen Harmon
When I moved to the Upper West Side in the early 1970s from a Long Island suburb, I was fascinated by the storefronts and businesses, which triggered memories of the service streets I knew as a very young boy growing up in Brooklyn. The businesses for me were the heart, indeed, the soul of the neighborhood. I photographed them during the day and at night, from the outside and inside, some isolated from the life of the street and some with people using or working in them or just passing by.
Stephen Harmon is a longtime Upper West Sider, a retired lawyer, and a world-class photographer whose work is displayed in many of the city’s museums, including The Museum of the City of New York, The Brooklyn Museum, The New York Historical, and The New York Public Library.
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Wonderful photos!
Thank you!!
Do you happen to remember The Broadway Nut Shop? On the east side of Broadway in the low 80’s? And the unforgettable Frieda and her brother Seymour who owned/ran it? My mother always bought nuts there to put in little silver bowls for parties, and dried apricots and chocolate covered orange peel for my father.
What a great place! I got my red licorice whips there on a regular basis.
Yes! Huge assortment of candy canes for 10 cents!
How can we buy some of these? So wonderful
Call me at 212 874 2052
Thank you so much for this!
Thank you!
my favorite weekly feature!
I appreciate that!
Only moved to the neighborhood 3 years ago but love this series.
Would love it if the photos could be capationed with location.
The Subway station is probably the southwest corner of 79th and Broadaway
Love this so much! Fabulous photos!
Thanks so much!
Some classic places. The Claremont, To Boot and of course P&G
Thank you again! I don’t remember that boot store though…..but what struck me was the volume of newspapers that were being sold in a number of your photos. I loved that. Today, there are only a handful at any place that still sells newspapers! I still read the paper paper!
Cheers.
Seeing the newspapers piled in back of the subway entrance — at 79th street if I’m not mistaken — reminds me that it was my job to pick up the Sunday Times for my parents early in the morning (so they could sleep in). The paper was delivered on all other days. Great photos !
As a young gay man in the early 80s, those kiosks were the only place I ever got my nerve up to buy magazines with pictures of nude men.
Oh my gosh brings back so many memories, thank you for sharing these
My pleasure!
It’s a pleasure to have another look at the lost West 80th Street Community Child Day Care Center (1972). They don’t make ’em like that anymore.
P & G Bar! Someone once commented that it was the perfect bar to meet a blind date because if you got stood up, nobody would notice or care…
I grew up on the UES but now in MSH. I remember the Claremont Riding Academy. My school had an after school elective where you could go horse back riding and it was there. I chose to go roller skating instead some place in midtown?
I attended PS166 across the street from the Claremont Academy. I always loved seeing the riders come in from their Central Park excursions.
I went to PS 87 so never saw them, but I remmeber sometimes seeing the riders in Central Park. That was always fun.
I have fond memories of roller skating and bowling but absolutely no recollection of where they were located. Anyone?
Oh Steve, these are GREAT! Thanks for the memories!
Such kind words. Thanks.
So much feeling in these photos.
Thank you!
Thank you very much!
Great photos! I love seeing the old subway signs that identify the division the line was on (IND/BMT/IRT).
Thanks@
I love these! Thank you! Especially liked the little newsstand squashed between the two buildings. 🙂
Thanks you!
Manufacturers Hanover!! I always think about them and Chemical and Marine Midland.
And Claremont! Whenever I want by the school that replaced it, I still expect to smell that stench. You could smell it a good half block away
And the kiosks. So fee of them are left.
LIII:
You do realize that Chemical bought both Manny Hanny and Chase?
I had thought Chase bought Chemical, not the other wy around. Turns out i was wrong abou thtat.
The point was hte consolidation. These were all independent entities, and now, well, not.
In 1979 I opened an account at The New York Bank for Savings (AKA The Bank for Savings in the City of New York). Then I had an account at Goldome, then Manny Hanny, then Chemical, then Chase, and lastly JPMorgan Chase.
I never changed banks.
I started with Manny Hanny, which is how my now-Chase checking account number is coded, it’s fun when the bank employees recognize it.
I love that. My very first bank account, opened for me with my parents when I was 6, was NY Bank for Savings–did it have a bumble bee logo?
Then Goldome, no Manny Hanny but Chemical and then Chase. I never realized it was a little dynasty!
Yes, the NY Bank for Savings was nicknamed the “Beehive Bank” for its logo, a symbol of thrift. Head over to 14th St. & Eighth Ave. to see a surviving example of their beehive.
https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2010/08/1897-new-york-savings-bank-81-8th.html
ecm,
But your last bank is really JPMorgan-Chemical.
When Chemical bought Chase, Chemical opted for the more widely known name; it’s like Norwest Bank buying Wells Fargo in 1998.
Well, they called themselves JPMorgan Chase, for what it’s worth — and they WERE my last bank. My experience with them soured me on banking altogether.
Do you happen to have a pic of my favorite bodega-La Perla Del Sur?
On Columbus between 82nd and 83rd in the late sixties ?
It would be wonderful if the locations of these photos could be shared.
For quite some time now, there has been a group on Facebook called “Growing Up on the Old Upper West Side” in which nostalgia is the order of the day. Here is a partial list of JUST the restaurants that have been mentioned or appeared in photos: The Front Porch, Marvin Gardens, Szechuan Taste, Teachers, Teachers Too, Ernie’s, J.G. Melon, Schraffts, The Library, Szechuan Taste, Hunan Balcony, Peretti’s, Chun Cha Fu, Ruelle’s, Nick & Tony’s, Harbin Inn, Gitlitz, Cleopatra’s Needle, O’Neal’s Balloon, Ginger Man, Columbus, The Copper Hatch, L’Eclaire, Steinberg’s Deli, Dobson’s, Victor’s Cafe, and at least a dozen pizza parlors that no longer exist.
And again, that’s a SHORT list!
I’d like to think the LONG list includes Amy’s Falafel, Argo Restaurant, Bagel Nosh, Big Nick’s Burger & Pizza Joints, Blue Star Coffee Shop / 3 Star Coffee Shop, Burger King, Cake Masters, Columbus Gourmet Food, Cosmic Cafe, Excelsior Coffee Shop, Four Brothers Bar & Restaurant, Frusen Glädjé, Golden Ass Coffee House, Happy Burger, Happy Burger II, Hot Wok’s, Hunan Royal, Jackson Hole, La Tacita De Oro, Maharaja India Restaurant, Popcorn Indiana / Dale & Thomas Popcorn, Popover Cafe, Pumpkin Eater, Sarabeth’s Kitchen (412 Amsterdam), Silverbird, Smokey’s Real Pit Bar-B-Que, Souen, Swiss Chalet / Dallas BBQ, The Only Child, West Side Storey, Zen Palate, and that restaurant that used to be at the NW corner of 77th & Amsterdam c. 1980 before The Cottage replaced it, whatever its name was.
I would go have a look but for the fact that I have Facebook (among other sites) blocked at the DNS level.
Terrific list! It’s nice to see Amy’s invoked. I remember one around the W. 96 subway and another by W. 71st.
That would be La Caridad. Others gone are Genoa, The Kitchen (Chinese), 79th St. Diner, Shining Star Restaurant, Noodles, Famous Dairy, Broadway Bay, Fulton’s Cafe, The City Grill, Victor’s, La Fortuna, Miss Grimble Cheesecake, Main Street, Tony’s Italian Kitchen, Shells, Museum Cafe, Miss Elle’s Homesick Bar and Grill, Silk Road Palace, Poiret (reborn as Columbus Bakery), Niko’s Mediterranean Grill. Scaletta.
Thanks for your feedback, Andrew, and that’s a great list of additional lost eateries, some of which I ate at fairly often.
How sure of you, though, about that La Caridad identification? I do know that The Cottage moved into La Caridad’s site of 52 years at Broadway & 78th in 2021. But I’ve read that La Caridad began in 1968 and had been at the above location for 52 years when in closed in 2020, leaving a ten-year period unaccounted for. You’re saying that it was at 360 Amsterdam during all or part of that period? (One complication: a NYT health-inspection report from 1973 lists an Ernesto’s Restaurant at that address. That’s sufficiently before my discovery of the place in late 1979 that I have to wonder whether it was then still Ernesto’s — or La Caridad. The Cottage arrived there in 1982.)
Ah, yes, thank you. E! I read too hastily and was citing Caridad was where the New Cottage set up on Broadway. I arrived in the neighborhood in ’78 and it seems I was already then stopping off for under $5 lunch specials in the Amsterdam/77th Cottage on the way to Juilliard classes.
Oh, well, it has admittedly been quite a while! I myself arrived in the fall of ’79, so you presumably had a bit more time to discover The Cottage’s predecessor. And I do still wonder where La Caridad was for its first ten years.
The mystery endures, alas!
Does anyone remember a Hungarian restaurant on Broadway in the 80s? They had a strolling violin player. This was back in 1970 or so.
What about The Cherry Restaurant, which, if I remember correctly, was on 77th & Columbus, unless it was an Amsterdam. It was a great, cozy diner. After it closed I would frequent The Lincoln Square Coffee Shop, across from Lincoln Center, which had comfortable banquette seating.
I do recall the Cherry (335 Columbus) but not eating there, though it may simply be lost to the mists of time or the fogs of brain. I did, however, dine a few times at the Empire Hotel Coffee Shop in the Empire Hotel; I found it a little too posh, which probably says something about me.
You brought back memories. I often eat at the Cherry. It was a Columbus Ave. landmark. My favorite was their Chicken Francaise also loved French fries with gravy. Down the block was another diner right out of the 30’s. It became Ruskes another hot spot at the time.
Wasn’t Happy Burger on like 93rd, right outside of the subway station, or am I thinking of another place?
Argp – that was Cirty Diner, right?
And there was also a diner on 87th street.
And what about like Red Apple on 88th and Broadway – before it was Duane Reade?
Four Brothers was on 86th and Colo,nis, right? I do not recall anyone ever settting fioot in there!
Also. Daffy’s!
Happy Burger II was at 2489 Broadway, between 92nd & 93rd; you won’t find the site anymore as the building it was in was replaced by The Melar apartments (2005). HB2 was around in 1984, possibly a bit earlier, and lasted until June 2004, I believe. As for the original Happy Burger, it was up at 2847 Broadway, a few doors north of Cathedral Parkway, and existed from before 1980 to no later than 2015; sorry about the inexact dates.
Yes, Argo was renamed/remodeled into the City Diner, which of course is still around. I’m not sure when it metamorphosed — perhaps c. 1987?
Yep, I recall the Red Apple at 2407 Broadway — basically the same spot as 2401 Broadway, home to the new Key Foods.
Four Brothers: 2381 Broadway at 87th. What used to be at 86th & Columbus was the 3 Star Coffee Shop (?–Feb. 2014) and before that the Blue Star Coffee Shop. I ate at both 3 and Four!
I loved hanging out at Ruelle’s and also Ruskey (did I spell that correctly) which was next door.
My then-roommate played piano at Ruskay’s during brunch hours, so groups of us were often there on weekends eating eggs and supporting the talent. (Ruskay’s served coffee and tea in clear glass teacups which seemed so cool to me then that I bought some for home. Still have ’em!)
Ruelle’s was a great, and I loved the feel of Columbus Avenue then. The neighborhood was in transition, with quirky, interesting businesses rejuvenating an area that, in the early ’70s, felt tired. But the new businesses integrated nicely into the old neighborhood. Nothing looked too sleek, glassy, or sterile.
Here’s a wonderful NY Times photo of Ruelle’s and Ruskay’s that posted to Reddit a few years back:
https://old.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/lw1jjh/william_e_suarony_times_ruelles_restaurant_at_the/
: )
What a great photo! In the mid 70s my friends and I would go to one of the 2 “R’s” late at night and sit outside and watch the neighborhood go by. Columbus Ave. was so cool back then. It took a turn for the worse later.
I met my husband in the early 80’s and we went to many many of these restaurants and bars.
The Claremont Stables! Like almost every other former stable on the UWS, it is now a parking garage (or at least part of it is). In fact, for UWS-ers who may not know, any time you see a free-standing parking garage (as opposed to one that is part of a new building), it was formerly a stable. And given how many there are on the UWS, you can imagine how many horses there were!!!
Loved standing outside and watching the riders and horses go round during lessons.
Just an fyi… The Claremont Stables are a key plot device in the movie “Eyewitness” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyewitness_(1981_film)
The P & G!! Inside, with those vaugely Alsatian wall paintings covered in 75 years of grease and cigarette smoke. They’d serve you if you promised to bring in an age card next time.
Those fantastic murals! I loved the P & G.
I was hoping to see a pic of Williams BBQ, Bway between 85/86. The absolute best, still have not found chicken flavor that comes close.
So thrilled to see that someone else remembers Williams BBQ! It started on the west side of Broadway before it moved to the east corner at 86th Street.Absolutely the BEST chicken and the nicest people. They had sinfully scrumptious fried chicken too.
Ah, the P&G. Very popular with stagehands and waiters as a place to hang after work. Lovingly called “The Pig”.
Yes Sir!,
Good ‘ole Upper West Side.
The magazine guy on Columbus Ave. between 85th, & 86th St.
The Orthor building on 79th St; as a ternager & after school, I worked across the street at F. W. WOOLWORTH (1969-1975).
The Notre Hotel on 80th St, & Broadway with Jewish fruit shop on the corner. P&G Bar on Amsterdam & 74th St. Hookers all along Amstetdam Ave. Manufactures Hanover on Broadway & 111th St.
Eclair!! 🙂
Where was that? Was that the place on 72nd bet. Columbus and B’way on the north side of the street with the cakes and pies in the window?
I look forward every week to your photos, Stephen! Thank you for posting these!
I so love throwback Thursday’s! It’s such a treat? I look forward to it week to week since WSR started featuring the awesomely nostalgic captures of Stephen Harmon.
Thank you so much for these weekly gifts.
Great photos! Fond memories of days gone by. So long ago. Makes me think of Randall’s Pretzels on 78th street, Whizzer World Toy Store Broadway & 86th, Poloma Cookies on Amsterdam and Bilsky & Sons Stationary on 72nd Street. All long gone.
Thanks!
Menash (2305 Broadway)!
Stephen, I always look forward to these posts of your UWS photographs. Would love to see a coffee table type book of them. I’m sure I speak for many here in saying we’d gladly buy a copy!
Would love to do a book. Thanks. Get me a publisher.
I lived on W. 80th St. from 1976 to 2005, so these photos bring back great memories. The pic with the Notre Dame Hotel shows a part of W. 80th St. not far from where I lived.
You must have vivid memories of the West 80th Street Community Child Day Care Center, with its big yellow tube.
What was the name of the diner on W. 72nd (north side of street) with the carousel of cakes and pies in the window? I did a google street view just now and it’s not there anymore.
Was it possibly at the NE corner of Columbus & 72nd?
No, it was further west on 72nd.
The last one is great!
I love the photos of New York City from the 70’s very much
Claremont stables are now the Stephen Gaynor School on 89th. Lookg at the building now and the photo, they’ve done a great job cleaning it. You can still see the word CLAREMONT on top of the building in the stone
That little newsstand is Columbus between 68/69. Also reminds me of the locksmith on 76th!
Johnny’s! Bought a few records there in the good old days! How the UWS has fallen. 🙁
Thank you for bringing back so many happy memories! I learned to ride at Claremont and even had an after school gig there grooming horses. And I had a summer job at Ruelles, and had a first martini at Ruskay…
Lived on UWS in the 80’s. Love and appreciate these photos so much. Anyone remember a restaurant named : Noodles ? Across from Dakota on 72 St ? How about Diane’s? A burger joint on Columbus between 71.& 72?
Finally there was a restaurant on 72nd St between Bway & Amsterdam. You had to walk down the stairs from street level to enter. Always dark inside . I would have an occasional omelet there in the late morning. Name escapes me. Thank you !
Noodles was great- situated off of an apartment building lobby. Complimentary fruit cup and Sambuca included with an entree. Diane’s was attached to a Sedutto’s ice cream window. I can’t envision enterprise between Bway and Amsterdam but I think La Dinastia that is still there has a descent into lower room……
I believe I recall Diane’s, and I certainly recall Big Nickʼs Burger/Pizza Joint Too (late 1980s–Aug. 2021) at 70 West 71st Street, just east of Columbus. That the one?
What I don’t remember (among other things!) is the name of the restaurant formerly at Amsterdam & 77th before the arrival of The Cottage in the early 1980s.
Those are wonderful!
The Upper-Westside is the true spiritual home for many of us, whether or not we live there!
I ate dinner many evenings in Al Buon Gusto. I’ll always miss that place.
Hanratty’s on Amsterdam and 95? Great restaurant in the 1970’s
Who remembers Mrs. J’s Sacred Cow on 72 bet. B’way and WEA? And Docks opened their first (?) restaurant on B’way in the upper 80s in the early 80s. I loved that place for a special night with friends.