By Rob Garber for the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group
Welcome to another installment in the Rag’s Historical Photo Challenge. The image above was taken somewhere on the Upper West Side, sometime in the past. Can you figure out where, when, and what it shows? Look closely; this week’s challenge photo, like the others in the series, includes clues that will help you identify the scene, if you’re a dedicated UWS history sleuth. And even if you don’t recognize the picture—not to worry! Come back in two weeks and I’ll decode it, show you the clues that help identify it, and—best of all—tell you a story the image unlocks, because this column isn’t just a test of your neighborhood knowledge; it’s also a rolling celebration of the people, buildings and events that wove the tapestry of the Upper West Side.
Ready? If you think you know where and when the photo was taken and what it shows, post your answer as a comment on this column.
Solution to Historical Photo Challenge #32
Subject: Classic UWS commercial corner
Location: Southeast corner of Amsterdam and West 72nd Street
Date: December 13, 1964. Car buffs, is that a 1958ish Plymouth Fury with the big fins, and a white 1962 Fury at the curb? Yes, phil—the billboard ad is for the Fastback Mustang, introduced for model year 1965 but a big marketing campaign starting Fall 1964 around the tag line “Best Year Yet to Go Ford,” which you can just barely make out if you squint.
Image Source: New York City Transit Museum
Clues: Every building in this picture is still standing more than 60 years later, which made your identification challenge a breeze. That’s uncommon anywhere on the UWS, particularly with low, non-apartment buildings. At the same time, every business is different, which is no surprise. Yes, Sleepy’s is now Mattress Firm—I had to go back to 2009 to find an image where the sidewalk tree wasn’t blocking the Art Deco Citibank building.
This image was so easy to identify that I’ve got another challenge for you: How many UWS businesses can you name that are in the same location today as they were in 1964? Laytner’s! Oh wait. How about Apthorp Pharmacy! It moved? When? OK, The Symposium Restaurant on West 113th! No, it opened in 1969—it only seems like it’s been there forever.
The rest of the story: If there’s a story here, it’s the mashup of architecture and commerce. There’s something quintessentially New York about this busy scene. Cheek by jowl, we’ve got Art Deco next to a building where, as Tom Miller wrote, “Romanesque Revival coexisted with a touch of Flemish Revival, topped with a slate-covered mansard roof.” And the corner building is in what style—maybe Taxpayer Grotesque? OK, it’s Art Moderne somewhere under all that signage. You couldn’t call this combination of buildings harmonious, but imagine how we’re going to feel if they get replaced by a single building, no matter how tasteful.
The Horn & Hardart building was purpose-built to be an Automat—its Art Deco style is reminiscent of another Horn & Hardart survivor at Broadway and 103rd. It was an Automat from 1931 until 1967 and is remarkably intact today as a Citibank. The Romanesque building next door at 174 West 72nd has had its lower floors brutalized as a restaurant façade for so long that it looks natural. At the time of the 1964 photo, it was Donohue’s, an Irish bar. And the exuberant impact of a mattress store over Gray’s Papaya greeting you upon climbing out of the subway station—would we want it any other way?
…and that’s the story behind the image in the last challenge. Now scroll back to the top of the column and take on your next one, Sherlockians! If you’ve missed any pictures in this series, you can find the complete set on my author page. All photos in the Upper West Side Historical Photo Challenges used with permission.
About the author: Rob Garber has lived on the Upper West Side since the late 20th century and is a member of the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group. To learn more, visit their website at upperwestsidehistory.org.
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? Amiable Child Monument, Riverside Park, Riverside Drive north of 122nd Street
Barney Greengrass same location.
Gee what else?
Zabar’s. (1934)
Murray’s (1946)
Apparently smoking the fish preserves the business as well.
Ah, but the Sleepy’s was once the long-gone, long-missed Weber’s — a discount store where you could find really fabulous things!
Weber’s was located south of Sleepy’s where Fidelity offices now stands. It was a great browsing place!
Weber’s!!! I thought it was further up the street though.
Grave of the Aimiable Child (St. Clair Pollock) – I suspect the white frame building in the upper right hand corner may be the long-gone Claremont Inn.
So we got
Barney Greengrass (1929)
Zabars (1934)
Murray’s Sturgeon Shop (1946)
Is that it?
The fenced in trees are behind Grant’s Tomb on Riverside Dr. They were a gift of the Japanese people to commemorate Grant. The Claremont Inn can be seen in the back right section of the picture.
In the background is the Claremont Inn
https://www.westsiderag.com/2012/02/07/the-claremont-inn-a-lost-treasure-on-the-banks-of-the-hudson?fbclid=IwY2xjawTqNKFwZG9mBGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzQwOTk2MjYyMzA4NTYwOQABHi2oOBSbOzHw0EN8KEODBidFWrieQsM61KfcVsorHQUQAmZj-9zBzencrCXx_aem_axzxOUI5akTA21kkbDTWTg
Regarding historical photo #32 th3 white car by the curb was a 1962 Dodge Dart.
These pics are fabulous. They bring back my childhood! Keep them coming. I remember Webers! We bought mattresses at Sleepys!
Soldiers and Sailors Monument site? Riverside near… 88/89th(?) St
Wow, never knew that was an old Horn & Hardart at Broadway & W. 103d.
Neither did I! And I’ve lived here, nearly across the street, for 45 years! I remember Lamston’s and a few other of the old stores on the block, though. I LOVE that building, and whenever anything closes in it, I am afraid it will be torn down. It is gorgeous, but does need a little restoration. Also, the current picture is of the Amiable Child grave area, and view from that point (without the trees, etc., that are there now).
Picture taken in Fort Tyron Park near a building associated with the Old Billings Mansion on the right and the Hudson River on the left. Picture was probably taken in the 1940’s.
The photo looks much older than 1947, so it can’t be what I was first thinking: the Holocaust Memorial at 83rd Street in Riverside Park?
The grave of St Clair Pollock at 123rd St. Claremont Inn in the background. I’ll guess c. 1890 based on the lamps in the background that look like they may be gaslit rather than electric.
Businesses in same place (though some may have opened later than 1964)
Barney Greengrass
Dublin House
Zingone Brothers
Murray’s
Old John’s (?)
Symposium Restaurant
Gray’s Papaya
Zabars
Hungarian Pastry Shop
Tom’s Restaurant
V&T Pizzeria
Two that moved, but have remained mainstays:
Sal & Carmines opened in 1959 on Broadway & 95th, and stayed there until 1987, when it moved to Broadway and 101st Street.
Another is The Town Shop, which opened in 1937 on the West Side of Broadway, where it stayed until 2013, when it moved directly across the avenue.
Adding to mainstays-but-moved-a-block-away:
Janoff’s, 1933
Columbia Hardware, 1938
From that list the ONLY ones at same location and since 1964
Are
Dublin House (1921)
Barney Greengrass (1929)
Zabars (1934)
Zingone Brothers (1935)
Tom’s (1940’s)
Murray’s Sturgeon Shop (1946)
V&T Pizza (1951)
Hungarian Pastry Shop (1961)
Must be some hardware store no?
122nd and riverside dr. amialble child monument?
The gravesite of the Amiable Child on Riverside Drive a little south of Grant’s Tomb. I can’t remember the name of the child .Now there is a stone monument there.
Is this the original
Soldiers and sailors monument?
This is the site of the memorial for “an amiable child “.
Mondel Chocolates. 1943
Crown Machine Services, 1965 (sorry, I squeaked it in there)
This is the original burial site of Ulysses S. Grant who passed away in 1885. Until Grant’s Tomb, his grand memorial, was built 12 years later, this was his original resting place in Riverside Park, very close to Grant’s Tomb. The Hudson River on the left and the slopping hills of upper Riverside Park were the clues; that, as well as being a nearby resident sealed the answer for me. The original temporary gravesite is still located on the grounds with a plaque presented by China.