Text and Photographs by Stephen Harmon
Every area in New York City is unique, with its own look and feel and one or more iconic sites or features, like the Washington Square Arch in Greenwich Village or the old narrow streets and tall granite buildings in the downtown financial district or any architecture that evokes an immediate sense of place.
When I moved to the Upper West Side and started photographing in the 1970s and 80s, I did not do it in the thematic style of the Throwback Thursdays that West Side Rag runs. I simply walked the streets whenever and wherever I could and photographed what attracted me, which was almost everything and everyone.
Without searching for a cohesive theme, here is a group of images of some of the uniquely UWS buildings and other things I loved and tried to capture and preserve on film.
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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Love these — thank you!!
Thank you!!
Possible to buy a few prints? Hope so.
Wonderful! So many memories.
Thank you!!
Wonderful, evocative photos—as always. Thanks!
I appreciate your kind words.
Love seeing these!!
Thank you, Stephen, for another great Throwback Thursday. So glad that Off Track Betting is a thing of the past but the photos are beautiful and nostalgic.
So great, as usual! I love how you juxtaposed the cats with the birds!
Terrific images! Most things remain with a few exceptions: price of a hot dog( too bad) ; off track betting( gone thank goodness) ; checker cab( sorely missed)
Keep shooting today’s memories!
These pictures….Webers!!!
Btw. Last week someone mentioned Three Brothers, I can’t recall its exact name, but it was on. 87th and Broadway. Didn’t that then become Hollywood Restaurant and then Saigon Grill, then I cannot remember what was there then Uniqlo for a little, then Brooks Brothers, now the wine shop that is now the sewing store.p
That was moi. At 2381 Broadway (cor. 87th) was Four Brothers Bar & Restaurant, around from at least 1976 until 1988. (Across 87th St. from it used to be the Barbara Gee Danskin Center, before The Boulevard replaced the entire block in1987. At the south end of the block was a Mrs. Fields Cookies and before that Barton’s Chocolates.)
I recall all those businesses you mention, or think I do (but wasn’t Saigon Grill at Amsterdam & 90th?), though not their sequence of arrival.
One block up Broadway at 88th was Chantilly, but again, I have no clue when it opened or closed.
What bugs me most is that I can’t recall the name of that long-time dry cleaners at 256 W. 88th St., next to Mike’s Lumber, which site was where Film Forum began!
You vividly have a handle on that era of the Upper West! Saigon Grill did previously have a small fluorescent-lit restaurant on Broadway. And Mike’s Lumber used to be in The Lucerne Hotel where Wilson’s bar was- with Charivari on the other side of the entrance.
There was also one of the first Banana Republic stores on B’way and 88th (?). The interior was done up like a banana republic country – palm fronds, pith helmets, bamboo, etc….
Don’t you mean the one on 86th street?
Ok, give me a break. It was decades ago.
To the very, very best of my knowledge (and anyone knowing otherwise should feel free to chime in):
First, Banana Republic was at 2360 Broadway, on the NE corner with 86th St., and looked just as you described; it was around until 2013.
Meanwhile, The Gap was across the street at 2373 Broadway from ~1987 to Jan. 20, 2012; the next year, Banana Republic moved into that location, unfortunately without all the decorative exotica.
Yes, and it was across from the Gap. The Gap closed, and the Banana Republic moved into the old Gap space.
I remember there was a Starbucks on the northwest corner of 87th street, right by the subway entrance. The space is now empty, but up until the pandemic it was a Capitol One ATM space,. Id heard that Starbucks was the first in Manhattan, maybe all of NYC.
Yes, that was the first NYC Starbucks! I was in a DC Starbucks and told them, you should come to NYC and they said yes, very soon. And I lived very near there. Used to be open till 1am.
I clearly remember that Starbucks. It might well have been Manhattan’s first, for all I know; I confess I’ve never been a Starbucks — or even a coffee! — fan. But there is one Starbucks tidbit I can share with you. Did you know the branch downtown at 1 Battery Park Plaza is a stone’s throw or two away from Herman Melville’s birthsite? Coincidence? I think not!
Saigon Grill was first on 87th and Broadway and then moved to 90th and Amsterdam.
I think Four Brother had to have been there longer than 1988, as my parents, brother and I , moved to the UWS in the summer of 1988 and we defintiely went there, Thouh I guess they may have closed in late 1988.
I remember Mrs. Fields Cookies. Wasn’t it Mrs Fields Cookies and David’s Ice Cream?
And I remember the name Chantilly, but cannot recall what it was.
And yeah, that dry cleaner was there forever, I think they closed during the pandemic, and I cannot recall their name either. I will say one of the only positive developments in out neighborhood is that all the dry cleaners have stopped closing. I think because most people had to go back to the office and so they needed dry cleaning again.
And I did not know that about thr Film Forum.
After I moved back to NY after college, I was living in Washington Heights, and there was still the movie theater on 180th and Broadway, which had been a vadueville therater. And the interior was lovely. But I still remember seeing some super hero movie, and the Smurfs move was playing in the theeater right next door, and I could hear the movie through the walls. Good times.
I really miss all the movie theaters in midtown.
Re Saigon Grill: Ah, yes; I’d blanked out on that detail!
Re Four Brothers: As for its opening date, all I can say is that it existed in 1976, perhaps earlier — but I’m more confident it closed in 1988, quite possibly late in the year.
Re David’s Ice Cream: well, there was a Davidʼs Cookies chain as well; two of their branches were at 2294 Broadway and 311 Columbus. There was also Steve’s Ice Cream, with branches at 286 Columbus and 2294 Broadway. One of those, maybe?
Re Chantilly: women’s fashion, as I recall.
Re the mystery dry cleaner: yes, it was indeed another pandemic victim. Wish I knew the year, but I was busy inside whenever it happened. Yes, strange but true, that’s where Film Forum began, operating there 1970–80 before heading downtown.
Sounds like the Coliseum Theatre at 4261 Broadway (181st, actually; https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/526), which opened Sept. 23, 1920 as Manhattan’s third-largest theatre and closed November 3, 2011. The building, last home to a Bravo Supermarket, was demolished March–Nov. 2020 in hopes of building a shopping mall, but the block remains vacant except for some picturesque weeds. Going back a while, that block was the site of the Blue Bell Tavern c. 1725–1911, where Washington slept (https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2020/02/blue-bell-tavern-war-and-romance-in-2.html).
Yeah, 181. Sorry, I lived on 174th, 180th, an d then 160th. And yes, that’s the one.
And you’re right, Steven’s Ice Cream, yes. It was the shared David’s Cookies and Steven’s Ice Cream place on Broadway. How ddid you find that info!!
I’d always thought Washington had slept downrown, but it makes sense. Washingon Heights, and all.
It was sad to see the Coliseum Theatre demolished, though for me not so sad as losing Coliseum Books (1974–2002 at the original W. 57th St. location, 2003–07 on W. 42nd).
My method? Just digging around and keeping notes, basically. Call it a hobby.
Washington slept all over the city — downtown, uptown, Brooklyn…. Maybe all that sleeping was the secret to his success.
How do remember all that?? You”re amazing. Now you’ve got me trying the remember the name of that cleaners too!! I live on 88th, the other side of West End.
I used to live at 325 W. 88th. I miss that neighborhood. I now live in Hell’s Kitchen.
Thanks! Simply a combination of neurons and notekeeping, with many notes the result of research. I lived in that same area myself for decades, and in all that time no more than one or two of my visits to the mystery spot were for dry cleaning but rather to use the photocopier.
If you remember the name, please let me know!
It was sad to see Mike’s Lumber close after so many years. Their boards still support my DVD collection.
👍👍
i drove a Checker cab (7th pic from top) in both the 70s and 80s! a real rumble-bumble box, but it sure could fit a lot of people. Anyone remember the two “pull out” little seats in the back… not sure what they were called. It could fit 5 in the back, but not too comfortably in those little seats.
Jump seats! When I was a kid I used to beg to sit on the jump seat. It seemed the coolest invention ever!
I forgot about those pull out seats!
“jump seats” is the term.
Our family car in the 60s and 70s was a Checker station wagon, which is what I learned to drive in. Other than a truck, it was the biggest thing on the road at that time. Interestingly, the chassis size was the same for the sedan and the station wagon
Love those old Checker cabs. So NYC. I wish they were still buzzing about.
Omg. I used to love those little seats as a kid. I always sat in one when I went in a cab with my mom.
Jump seats?
Wonderful, beautiful photographs of the neighborhood (and neighbors) where I lived in the 1970s and 1980s and which I loved. Thank you, thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you!
These are so great!
Thanks for sharing! I exited that 72nd street train station everyday. My parents and I walked those streets all my life. How I miss it. These pics just touch my soul!
Thank You!
Any time I see an article with your name attached, I get all excited, like someone’s setting down a huge plate of the most perfect onion rings for me to indulge in at my leisure. I will NEVER tire of your shots, Mr. Harmon. They make me yearn, more than ever, for a time machine.
I could not possibly improve on your onion ring comparison. In fact, I must now go have some!
Kindly supply the name of your source!
I’d be happy to! Alas, it wasn’t “a huge plate of the most perfect onion rings” but rather merely a bag of Red Robin rings from a nearby supermarket, affordable but hardly my favorite variety. Among frozen o-rings, I’d recommend Ore Ida Gourmet Onion Rings (not to be confused with their Onion Ringers, made from diced onions) or, if you can’t find those, Alexia’s.
I could go on & on about restaurant onion rings, but that would be for another post.
Wow! These are the best! We need a “Throwback Thursday” printed book of Stephen Harmon’s UWS photographs – sell through the West Side Rag! (I already have a West Side Rag tee shirt – which I once wore whilst visiting outside NY – and several people let me know how much they missed NYC and the UWS!)
I completely agree. An UWS Throwback Thursday Picture Book! Put me down for one! I look forward to this WSR feature every week.
And don’t forget the murder mystery bookshop on W. 88th between Broadway and WEA.
Murder Ink (1972–2006) at 2486 Broadway? I recall no bookstores along the block you describe. If there, I presume it would have been on the south side?
87th, north side of the street, with a wonderful orange cat as guardian of the books.
No, it was on the north side of the street. “One former employee in the early 80s recalled that the 87th Street store was situated in part of the landlord’s garage. In 1976, Ms. Winn “sold the bookstore to a friend Carol Brener, who owned it for 14 years. In 1989 Jay Pearsall bought it, and three years later moved to 92nd Street and Broadway.” The store closed in 2006.” It was a small place that had steps leading up to it. But yes, it was called Murder Inc.
Got it! What had confused me is that you wrote 88th, not 87th. NOW a vague recollection is forming! So this was the original Murder Ink at 271 W. 87th St., 1972-92 (according to the NYT). I was starting to think it might be Retriever Books at 250 W. 87th St. (essentially the Four Brothers site), a shop supposedly around in 1979 but which I don’t believe I ever noticed. Glad we got this figured out.
Do you recall Ivy’s Books?
Murder Ink was on 88th between WEA and Broadway, or 87th?
87th (271); see above.
Mr. Harmon – Just a quick note to say this feature is a delight. As a 30 year UWSer your images take me back in time to when I moved here to times even before that. It is the UWS briefly depicted in Three Days of the Condor and the original Manchurian candidate. Thank you for your foresight in documenting our ever changing neighborhood.
And don’t forget the embarrassing appearance in Panic in Needle Park.
Love these every week, please keep them coming!
The wide south facing photo of the intersection of Broadway and West 72nd, as seen from the SE corner of Broadway and West 72nd, is from the 1990s.
I know because that’s when the Sony (now AMC) movie theatre, with a big apartment tower atop, down Broadway at W68 was built.
Stephen, your posts here are priceless. Thank you!!
Thank you!! I am glad you like them.
I also love to photograph the many angles and views of NYC, especially my beloved UWS streets. Not nearly as good as your photos, but I post a few on Facebook from time to time. I enjoy sharing the beauty and curiosities of NYC. I love this batch, especially the ladies and kitties looking at the world through their windows. Maybe you can use one of the many empty storefronts in the neighborhood as an exhibition site??
These photos have put a wonderful smile on my face. Thank you so very much for the memories. Lived at W Side YMCA while a graduate student. A place and time I forever hold in my heart
Thank you!!
To those mentioning Chantilly, did you mean Charivari the groundbreaking clothing store?
No, I was indeed referring Chantilly, formerly at the NW corner of Broadway & 88th Street, c. 1980. I once came across a good photo of it but can’t seem to locate it now, alas. When some things disappear, they REALLY disappear.
The cleaners referenced.: Neet Cleaners?
Thanks for the suggestion, but Neet was at 251 W. 87th. Your comment did lead me to discover another place, Fancy Care Cleaners at 250 W. 88th, but that’s not it, either. What I seek is a dry cleaners once at 256 W. 88th specifically. Maybe Mike (of Mike’s Lumber) would be a good one to ask.
These photos remind me of my Uncle Lance’s photos. My uncle was a photographer in Philadelphia during the 1940s, capturing the spirit of the city through his lens in a time of transformation. With his trusty Graflex camera slung over his shoulder, he roamed the bustling streets, documenting everything from lively market scenes and factory workers to the quiet resilience of families rebuilding their lives after the war. He had a knack for finding beauty in the ordinary, whether it was the way light spilled over cobblestone streets at dawn or the expressive faces of strangers caught in unguarded moments. His photographs, many of which ended up in local newspapers and galleries, told the untold stories of a city in flux, preserving a vivid slice of history that might have otherwise faded with time. Much like these do.
All the photos are fascinating moments frozen in time, but the second and third are works of art. The interplay of light and shadow and the compositions (that green branch against the brownstone!) are reminders that the streetscapes we walk past every day are unique and beautiful. Thanks, Stephen.
I love them all but these two stood out to me also 🙂
Very kind words. Thank you!!
I love the vintage photos, especially from the 70’s and 80’s. Brings back so many memories of the streetscapes, hairstyles, and fashions. Thanks for posting them. P.S. Love the Rag!
Thans so much!
The Checker Cab! OTB (and a regular yellow taxi in front)! Weber’s (I still have a picture frame)! Gray’s hot dog for 50-cents! I love our Throwback Thursday pics. Thank you for the reminders of my lifelong home!
Love these. I grew up on 72nd Street, it is great seeing all these fantastic blasts from the past.
Thank you!!
Hi Great photos. I was wondering if anyone can answer a question. In the 80s there was a “fancy” chocolate shop with a cafe on the corner W 72 and Columbus- SW corner I think. My husband and I cannot remember the name. Thanks!
Swatch was at the SW corner for a near-eternity, but before that there was a bakery, Natural Source, at 258 Columbus Ave. — where no doubt they made good use of chocolate. Might that be it?
And before that, it was Green Noodle which introduced fresh-made pasta to the neighborhood.
I suspect that one was from before my time in the neighborhood. When I hear “green noodle”, what first comes to mind is Ollie’s.
Anyhow, I hope Natural Source is the correct identification of Angela’s mystery shop.
wonderful photos!!!
Thank you!!
These are such a satisfying string of sensitively composed images. Thank you for sharing them with us.
Such kind words! Thank you.
I love these posts. A small thing I miss from “back in the day” is the DONT WALK/WALK pedestrian signals (over today’s Hand & Walking person).
Hello Steve, do you have or remember a restaurant on West 72nd st between West End Avenue and Broadway named The Pasta Place. Years mid to late 70’s. They hosted a couple that made fresh pasta and had an outdoor glass ceiling garden.