Text and photographs by Stephen Harmon
I am both a contributor to and a reader of West Side Rag. Recently, I noticed Gary Martin’s wonderful cartoon about how WSR readers miss vanished establishments. I pulled together a series of photos, some you may have seen before, that I have taken over the years to remind us what was once here.
Steve
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While there are obviously dozens more that could have been added, the two most prominent (in my mind) are H&H Bagels and Babka, followed closely by the original Shakespeare’s Books and Loew’s 83rd Street movie theater.
Having lived here for 60+ years, I could make a list several pages long.
Never loved H &H bagels but I know they were loved by many.. Sad they gone.
The Shakespeare and Co on 81, or wherever it was exactly? Yeah, it was great. And the Barnes and Noble across the street was so small it want competion.
I thought H and H was not that amazing but my sister would buy soooo much there.
The original Shakespeare & Co. was on the corner of 81st and Broadway, and was an absolutely amazing place. Long before B&N, they had regular guest readings on the second floor. I went to one by James Earl Jones and even got him to autograph my Star Wars poster!
Anyone have a photo of Wings clothing on Broadway and 93/94? Used to buy quite a bit there in my youth
I was watching Seinfeld, and you could see part of the window on the background. I almost cried It was so great. Then and Morris Brothers – so much clothing there
Morris Brothers dressed my kids gor many years. They even had a nametag service for the sleepaway camp shopping.
In the 1970s the Regency Theater played classic movies.
I loved the Regency, even though I had to play musical seats to escape the icky perverts there when I was a teenager.
I saw lots of Astaire and Rodgers musicals and Laurence Olivier films. They had great discount tickets deals.
sure haven’t vanished from my memory
Tacita de oro, Rosita’s, Shark Bar, Bahama Mama’s, Cosmopolitan, The Marlin, Artie’s deli.
Williams BBQ – my mom used to take us there. The free chicken drumstick! And the OTB on 72nd. I was convinced I would get murdered whenever I walked by.
I remember getting a free chicken drumstick when I went in to trick-or-treat! Great times!
Yes! The free chicken drumstick that they gave to my kid . . . which they called a chicken lollipop !
I got my first haircut at the Broadway Barber Shop in 1965, probably. All the barbers had phtoographs of themselves in uniform and pictures of their kids adorning their little cabinets, and each of them had a note saying Off Wednedsays or Off Tuesdays
I remember the owner had photos of the self-proclaimed first Beatles-styled haircuts on the UWS.
I remember Williams BBQ and I don’t know why I never went in there. Also Merit Farms, although I did frequently visit that place.
We went to Williams BBQ all the time. Great fried chicken! Perfect for picnics in the park.
The Broadway Barber Shop was a tragic and unforgettable loss. If it were still there it would be a destination point. So beautiful and classic.
Yes. We need a comeback for Tacita de Oro , Riositas and La Casita! Upper West Side glory days and 12th Street.
How about the Royale Bakery and its heavenly cream cheese squares?
There used to be a bookstore near Broadway and 94 that specialized in murder mysteries. Another one called Nine Lives Books (the owner’s name was Encarnita Quinlan).
The original Murder Ink was on 87th Street between Broadway and West End.
“…. the 87th Street store was situated in part of the landlord’s garage. The mystery book store had two house cats, a “black and white tuxedo cat named Clouseau (relating to fictional character Chief inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther) and a Maine coon cat named Humbleby (relating to an Agatha Christie character.)….
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.”
Murder Ink. And its sister store next door, Ivy’s books. I miss them both dreadfully.
I have a Murder Ink shopping bag!
I have a Murder Ink mug and a bookmark!
Murder Ink? I had to pick up books for my boss on a regular basis. Not positive, but I think it was at Broadway and 92nd. 🧐
Murder Inc.
Workbench was the IKEA of its day (though you didn’t have to assemble anything). When you got your first real job and solo apartment, and were ready to graduate from cinder-block bookshelves and Indian bedspreads, you went there or Conran’s.
Lived in Chelsea and my studio had workbench furniture made to size. Not very costly and so well made. On UWS now 37 yrs. Miss Williams chicken,Edgar’s cafe on 83rd, Mirabelle on 86 bt WEA& Riverside as a sweet hideaway and the unique stores with character that once made the neighborhood special. Even Starbucks on 87th & bway that was cozy. Not changed for the better.
I still have the wonderful gate leg table that I bought at Workbench 30 years ago!
The storefront that always sticks in my head is Fowad on 96th and Broadway
me too! excellent designer clothes at terrific discount prices. i still have a few things from there.
Fowad was our neighbor and we liked him and his family very much!
I love these photos of our neighborhood. More please!
I remember seeingThe Turning Point and Agatha at the Embassy.
I wish we still had places like Pandemonium. Fashion is so humorless and utilitarian now.
Did there used to be a tiny independent designer hat shop on Columbus Ave in the 1980s or is that wishful imagining?
I still miss Betsy Johnson and Charivari.
Anyone have any photos of Alice Underground?
How about the butcher at the corner of 73rd and Columbus with the sawdust pouring out onto the street where the Starbucks is now?
Only Hearts used to be where the Central Art Gallery is now, but back then it was all hot pink and red to match the name and it catered to the disco crowd (lots of body glitter).
yes! Charivari is so missed by so many as are the wonderful high end shops on 72nd like shoe store Stephane Kelian, also Gracious Home and 1st class re-sale Off Broadway, Loehmann’s, Century21, CP Shades Clothing and of course the original Flea Mkt. when only 10 or so vendors were in the school yard. I have sterling rolling rings that one woman vendor created i wish i had bought more. And so now the UWS is a creative desert with only Columbus Avenue holding on sort of.
Off-Broadway had singular fashions….
Eclair on West 72nd St. Known for St. Honore birthday cake, Opera cake, and outstanding coffee
And everyone spoke German and Hungarian.
Startling how the neighborhood landscape has changed. I recall so well the Thalia, and the Embassy theater next door to Workbench. And Pandemonium. Williams Bar-B-Q was a great favorite of my family’s, I couldn’t have imagined then that it would ever close. Thanks for these vivid reminders, Stephen.
I feel like it’s startling how I myself (MY ‘landscape’) has changed! So happy to see Royale Bakery in there. Do you have any shots of Weber’s?! Notice in the photos — no cell phones or dogs or coffee cups in hand. Remember when life was more like LIFE?!!! Miss that SO much.
Dogs for me- add life. In bldg on 85th & WEA. Moved here in 1992, half my prewar bldg had dogs.
Ah, Weber’s. There WERE dogs.
The neighborhood wasn’t overrun by dogs — and they weren’t in shopping carts in Whole Foods (etc etc etc). You could sit on a clean park bench where a dog (with poop butt) had just sat. The good old days@
I lost track of how many presents I bought for schoolmates at Pandemonium, affordable on my allowance !
Thanks for the photos. Great trip down memory lane.
Sad trip down memory lane for me. Character mostly gone.
I love the photos! Especially the Thalia which often carried foreign films with subtitles, a boon to a Deaf child, me!
I still think about the Big Nick’s turkey burger on a frequent basis. Also, anyone remember ps i love you on Broadway around 81st? It was our go-to birthday present place in junior high (when we used to go to Big Nick’s on our lunch break and eat a slice)
SIGH…. Pandemonium… sigh
And just to wax tragic – – – FOWAD!!!!
Thanks, Stephen. Beautiful photos.
Anybody remember a wonderful little storefront on the east side of Broadway around W 79 that dished up inexpensive ready made home style Indian curries? A staple of my student days.
And Al Buon Gusto on the north side of W 72 between Amsterdam and Columbus? And a wonderful old school Central European cafe in the same block that served square meals and Viennese coffee and pastries.
Thanks for the great photos! I fondly remember the Cherry Restaurant, a regular haunt for me and a dear clarinetist friend lost to AIDS long ago. I’d always order an Asian vegetable clear soup that would arrive in a huge covered steel vessel. The place was right near a dive bar where we’d waste many quarters playing PacMan.
Indian Kitchen, still missed! Thanks so much for the wonderful photos!
I lived in the Bretton Hall so of course I knew Williams Bar-B-Q. My other earliest memory was Bridies Luncheonette (she was a character!) across the street at the southeast corner of 85th & B’way, next to Morris Bros which was next to Szechuan Taste. The whole area was very shabby and grimy but I loved it!
Szechuan Taste looked like a real Chinese restaurant.Best shrimp with lobster sauce made Cantonese style. Ollies changed- awful more times than not. Any good Chinese places left?
Lenny ‘s Bagels 98 & Bway… ❣️🙄
Back in the ’70s, Murder Ink was on 87th Street, between Bway and WEA. Going way back to the early ’60s, gone but not forgotten: the Nemo Theater, on the east side of Bway, just south of 110th. Horn & Hardart was on the corner, later Orange Julius.
Back when there were three movie theaters betweej 96th and 110thy….
From north to south: at 110th – the Nemo; at 107th – the Olympia; at 104th – the Edison; at 99th – the Midtown; at 97th – the Riviera; at 96th – the Riverside . . .
P&G Bar and Cafe and Big Nick’s were my absolute favorite spots even when I still wasn’t an UWS resident over three decades ago. Thank you for sharing the memories. P.S. Wings Clothing, noted below, was a shop that my dad used to always pick something up from when he visited me when I moved into the 90s Street neighborhood.
On 72nd, between Amst and West End, FAMOUS dairy restaurant.
great red cabbage soup!
I’m remembering WEBER’S on Broadway around 69th St. You could find a lot of treasures there among the junk. I still love the gorgeous glasses i found there in the early 90’s.
Chick-Teri on 72nd near Bwy had the most wonderful to-go chicken meals, better than any supermarket rotisserie or Chick-fil-A type place. And who can forget Al Buon Gusto, which was first located on Columbus (73rd?) and then in a nicer space on W. 72nd Street which featured a piece of wall art: an amazing wooden map (was it a map?) that had come with the space.
I frequently frequented the featured Cherry Restaurant and Royale Bakery, and then there was Ruelles, Dobson’s, Tuba City Truck Stop, Diane’s, Miss Grimble’s, Gleason’s, O’Neal’s, Anita’s, the Tap-a-Kegs, Cantina, Lenge, just so many venues that fed us and watered us and did not seem all that expensive.
Thanks for the memories
The photographs of vanished Upper West Side storefronts sound like a fascinating way to look back at how a neighborhood has changed. I appreciate local history stories because familiar streets can hold memories and stories that might otherwise be forgotten as communities continue to evolve. https://www.wyalusing-wes.com/
Agree but don’t feel anything has evolved. In fact, much of the charm and uniqueness gone.
BTW the family that ran an Indian restaurant on the West Side (forgot name) now runs a barbecue place in Riverdale – The Barbecue Pit
“…Rani Vaswani was raised in Riverdale, attending public school and then running down to her parent’s restaurant on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where she and her three younger siblings worked seven days a week…”
https://www.barbecuepitbronx.com/
These are wonderful! Thanks for sharing
Believe it or not I miss Philenes. It was so convenient!
I have an Etsy shop filled with a section of Vanished New York. It’s sad how mom & pop shows are almost nonexistent.
Williams BBQ had THE best barley and mushrooms EVER.
Such wonderful old pictures. Thank you for sharing. I especially love the one of the Royale Bakery. Nowhere is such delicious cake to be found anymore, that I know of. What a pity that it’s gone. Young people don’t even know what a good birthday cake tastes like.
I’m intrigued by the masterful photo of the dignified gentleman in the hat and overcoat who can’t wait to sample the treat he just bought in the pastry shop. There’s a story there…. Anybody know which bakery that was?
Carmella – thank you for all your kind comments. That was the Royale on W. 72nd. He was not looking to taste what he bought. He was counting his change to make sure it was all there. I call this photo “The Pensioner>”
Love these!
Lincoln Stationers, 1889 Broadway
Ah, it was wonderful. I so miss Liberty Clothing on Broadway and 84th. They moved up to 112th St. and Broadway…..don’t know if they’re still there. And one of the most missed was Price Wise – also on Broadway and 84th.
When I was much younger, my friends and I would go to a movie at Rivera or Riverside (96&b’way) . Then stop by Phil’s Pizzeria (94th&B’way) for a slice and soda. We would then follow this up with a strawberry topped custard from the pastry place down the block. All this for the 2 dollars we would save for the weekend. Also have fond memories of the wonderful food at Al Buon Gusto.
Miss the good ole days. So many wonderful places to eat.
And delicious affordable Italian food around the corner in Genoa on Amsterdam Ave.
FOWAD < on 96th and Bway! I miss it.
What about Teachers and Marvin Gardens?
Thanks for that wonderful blast from the past!