By Gary Martin
Gary B. Martin is an illustrator and animator who has lived on the Upper West Side for more than 30 years. His illustrations appear in the Rag on Sundays, chronicling life in the neighborhood, New York City, and the Universe. See them all here. For a broader range of Gary’s work, including animations and other motion graphics, please visit www.martoons.com
Listen to Rag Radio’s interview with Gary Martin — HERE.
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A Duane Reade
Supervised Drug-Injection site.
Everything old is new again! But oh – not another bank!
More typically, “that bank” used to be a different bank. For example, The New York Bank for Savings –> Goldome –> Manny Hanny –> Chemical –> Chase –> JPMorgan Chase.
That bubble teas store used to be
Empty
A weed store
A bodega
A pizza place
A “Love Store”
A candy-nut store
And a long time ago, a Chinese Cuban restaurant
Another change is our new mayor is a pro-Maduro clown. What a surprise!
https://nypost.com/2026/01/04/us-news/mayor-mamdanis-comrades-in-dsa-demand-trump-release-nicolas-maduro/
When “we” invade Greenland, Mayor Mamdani can be a pro–Jens-Frederik Nielsen clown, too.
It’s so easy to be a clown these days — all one need do is speak out against evil publicly and you’re ready to join the circus.
Juan,
It’s generally a good stand to be against kidnapping even if the kidnappee dances.
Absolutely! And one need not even be pro-dancing to be against regime-change and extralegal invasions.
Yep, denouncing lawlessness doesn’t earn one much respect in 2026 America. Just ask Mark Kelly.
Why politics
I keep misreading “Pottery Barn” as “Poetry Barn”. Is there any hope for me?
The only hope for you is God, cause God is hope. If you give up on hope, you give up on God!!!!!
Are you the Pottery Man, who makes things all right?
I think the better question is, is there any hope for those of us who have never read it that way?
I’d rather have a Poetry Barn. Like the old days in the Village… Or even in Hell’s Kitchen. Sigh…
I’m more the Poetry Depot type myself.
That’s why you don’t throw out your favorite clothes from the 70s. The ones that still fit!
Vintage. Worth a LOT now!!
Sad but true!
Oh Gary, I so enjoy the giggle I get every Sunday. I used to be a bank, too.
Barnes & Noble used to be Red Apple supermarket, which used to be Schrafft’s, which used to be the NY HQ of Bobby Kennedy. Does anyone know what it was before that?
P.C. Richards used to be DSW, which used to be Filene’s, which used to be Woolworth’s.
But!…
Zabar’s used to be Zabar’s, which used to be Zabar’s, which used to be Zabar’s. (Though I’m sure it used to be something before that.) Nice to have at least SOME consistency.
Only the third store in has been a Zabar’s forever (which means before I moved to the UWS in 1973).. The store next to it to the South was a pharmacy. I can’t remember what the corner store was or the store to the North. Zabar’s only began to expand in the mid-70s.
Wasn’t Schrafft’s on the *south* west corner of 82nd Street, which then became Burger King (and is now … shudder … a bank)? Not where the Red Apple supermarket was and Barnes & Noble is now?
I don’t remember Schraffts being on the West side of Broadway…there was a Tip Toe Inn on the East side of Broadway, I think beteween 85th 86th I recall there was a Barricini on the west side between 85th and 86th, and a store called David’s on 84th Street on the corner,west side of Broadway,
And before woolworths it was KiddiesRUs
that P.C. Richards corner also used to be… Lionel Toy Corp., a short lived chain loosely descended from the Lionel Train Corp. Kind of like a smaller version of “Toys-R-Us”
And what was The Cottage before it was The Cottage at Amsterdam & 77th?
No, wait–Carvel was on Broadway, I think on 78th?
No idea what was before the Cottage on Amsterdam. It’s been on Broadway for a long while. And it used to be so much better.
This much I know: just before the 1982 arrival of The Cottage, it was some sort of of Spanish or Mexican or Cuban or who-knows-what place that made great huevos rancheros and might have been named Ernesto’s, La Maravilla, Rancho Alegre, Los Dos Hermanos (after a diagonal move from the current Chirping Chicken site), or even, in its early days, La Caridad. Or something else. Ernesto’s is my top theory because it was there in 1973, but I’m not sure it was still around in 1979, when I discovered it.
I think it was Carvel.
Very clever! Always enjoy Gary’s stuff. (And he is a great guy, too)
So true.
Hahaha – so true
OMG! My entire neighborhood has turned over!!! No drug store but plenty of banks!!
And this luxury condo used to be affordable housing. Sigh.
As long as its not a Pep boys!
Yes! And sometimes your “new” bank now yields all those things: good CD rates, a latte, an everything bagel and a fresh pair of Hokas.
Perfect commentary on the current situation in the country today! Thank you!
Live here long enough and everything comes full circle!
I’d prefer that it was a favorite and much-loved bagel shop…oh, wait!…
I once took a class in college where the teacher told us, “Drive into any city and look at the largest buildings. 10 to 1 they will be either a bank, an insurance company or a hospital.” I’ve always remembered that and darned if he wasn’t right!
Yet the theory falls apart in the case of NYC! Consider the city’s ten largest buildings (floor space in ft.²):
One Two World Trade Center (1972)†: 4,300,000
Two World Trade Center (1973)†: 4,300,000
55 Water Street: 3,680,320
One World Trade Center (2014): 3,501,270
111 Eighth Avenue: 2,900,000
50 Hudson Yards: 2,900,000
The Spiral: 2,850,000
MetLife (orig. Pan Am) Building: 2,841,510
3 World Trade Center: 2,800,010
225 Liberty Street: 2,667,220
10-to-1 would be a losing bet around here.
Not that this theory is perfect or anything, but almost all these buildings have or had banks/financial industry members or insurance companies as major tenants.
True, but then that’s doubtless the case with most sizable buildings here. I was looking for buildings built FOR members of those concerns.
And the next ten after that? The professor’s theory remains on shaky ground:
30 Hudson Yards: 2,600,000
One Penn Plaza: 2,586,520
4 World Trade Center: 2,500,000
270 Park Avenue: 2,420,610
Paramount Plaza: 2,359,150
Starrett-Lehigh Building: 2,300,000
One Chase Manhattan Plaza: 2,299,980
Empire State Building: 2,248,350
One Liberty Plaza: 2,200,000
1221 Avenue of the Americas: 2,199,980
(I was rather surprised to find One Vanderbilt boasts only a paltry 1,750,212 square feet. It certainly looks more voluminous to me.)
The real problem is the abandonment of local business . We face more spooky empty streetscapes, no place to get needed items, and possibly the end of Saks Fifth Avenue following the closure of too many other iconic NYC retail landmarks. WE NEED LEADERSHIP TO RESPOND NOW and encourage local shopping — NOT AMAZON!
STOP THE EVISCERATION OF OUR NEW YORK.
Saks, which isn’t independent, is suffering from a few things:
The over mallification of the 1980s, + an only narrow recovery from the 2008 financial crash, then an even more limited “recovery” from the Covid downturn. Look what happened to Brooks Brothers.
Everything old is new again . . . except me.
anyone remember Webers? and the 99-cent store and the no frills brand? Miss those days. And without Woolworth I don’t know which holiday is coming up in 4 months! lol
Seasoned WSR readers may recall *I* remember Weber’s Closeout (floreat 1977–Jan 15, 2010; https://michaelminn.net/newyork/urban-renewal/upper-west-side/webers/2004-03-07_15-14-16_corrected.jpg), along with its fairly near neighbors to the north and south Star Magic and Bagel Nosh, respectively.
The end of Woolworth was an irreparable loss to the nation, though one could scrape by for a while thanks to W.H. Lamston. I had to find a new source for clothes, miscellaneous hardware, small appliances, office supplies, Rubber Uglies … practically everything. (And this reminds me I’ll have to head over to Max Deals soon for a 2026 desk calendar.)
Weber’s got away will selling a lot of subpar handtools; that’s a category where paying for at least B quality is important if you expect to keep the tool/s for more than 48 hours.
Tee shirts and cheap extension cords (that pass safety tests) are a different matter.
Webers was THE BEST. They had unusual things, too. Nowadays everything seems to be same same…. Miss it!
Webers was great and I miss it so much! It was a place (as Woolworths once was) where I could afford virtually everything. There is no place like it anymore, at least in our neighborhood. It’s so depressing.
Love it.
everything old is new!