UPPER WEST SIDE Upper West Siders have long known that if they want a good drink and a hopping nightlife scene free of college students and sports bars, they'd have to head below 59th. May 6, 2009. The Times described it as a block of decaying tenements packed with poor Puerto Rican and Negro families and the gathering place of drunks, narcotics addicts and sexual perverts. It soon became known as the worst block in the city. Mayor Robert Wagner announced a shock attack, an all-out war on the forces of crime, slum blight and poverty on the West Side. Williamsburg is like New York in the 70s. Now that the doormen from CPW no longer drink at the bar at Pizzeria Uno on Columbus & 81 (which had a cubby hole in the unfinished end where wed leave each other messages and little presents), thats one thing that Im finding difficult to nail in the neighborhood! A) become playgrounds for East Village New Wavers. Not how it was for me, my friends, and their families. I also remember the food of the neighborhood . Email me if you want to answer a few questions. I won a Halloween story writing contest at Eeyores ($25 gift certificate) and was a delivery boy for Video Connection. Residents sold their used household goods at White Elephant tables, others grilled hotdogs and popped popcorn. For example, claiming that people dont talk with their neighbors seems like little more than an assumption Im actually friends with several people in my building, to say nothing of those I merely talk with now and then. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. loved chariivari but those prices! We neighborhood kids came to call him, with the horrible bluntness of adolescent boys, Charlie Chop-off. Bear Bar (east side) 1770 Second Ave. (between 92nd & 93rd St.) Manny's on Second. When I moved to West 83rd Street, pushers hid their crack vials in the planters outside the building I lived in. but that would be the pot calling the kettle black. I finally made the right connection when I discovered several glass ampules and hypodermic needles. There is not a day that goes by when I dont miss woolworths! To the commentersemail me if you would like to answer a few questions for the thesis. pulled from my face, and my sneakers removed outside the side exit to the Olympia movie theater on 107th between Broadway and Amsterdam, my parents called the police and two mammoth cops showed up and drove me around the neighborhood looking for my two assailants by checking out sneakers. Bars/clubs 1980's Show more . For more photos of UWS storefronts in 1982, click here. Memories of the old days. My first date with my husband was in November 1984, at Teachers, on Broadway in the mid-80s. Best upper east side bars 80\\\'s in New York, NY. Apologies for coming to this conversation rather late but felt compelled to share my experience of the UWS. Raised on 104th. A fellow life-long UWSer and Harvard doctoral student. I think the owner of Trio Dinner lived in my building I thought it was called Joes?. It was hardly an area to avoid. How Biden Intends to Misuse the CHIPS Act, About that African-American Studies Course. Attended PS 9 and JHS 44. They had several boutiques and I spent a lot of dough there over the years, The folded in the early 90s I think. The menu features mini food items, perfect for bar munchies, as well as delightful dinner options. Those were the days. But in 1976, when my parents moved to Broadway and 79th street with their three small children, no one in Manhattan lived above 72nd street if they could avoid it. Also The Golden Pan restaurant, Levy Bros Stationers, Universal Health Center, the New Yorker Theater and, upstairs, the New Yorker Bookshop. The UWS was terrible then. A mural on 8th St. at 1st Ave., along the side of what was once the St. Mark's Bar & Grill. I remember Mindys and the Japanese store and Francess Hats and the Chinese Restaurant and Jays Stationary and Cake Masters and Eclairs and the Chess Room and the pet store between Columbus and Broadway on 72nd street. I dont recognize the neighborhood at all. When I come to NYC now, I stay in the Endicott (on Columb and 81, around the corner from my old apartment). Tags: Big Nick's Burger and Pizza Joint, East Village Eye, East Village in the 1980s, Lou Reed, New York City 1984, old pizza parlors New York City, Upper West Side in the 1980s, Velvet Underground Not a longtime UWS resident (only two years) but I would warn the author against making what appear to be major overstatements. Im sure we all remember the coffee shop! Indeed, everything suggested it would be. Sometimes for the food. Now its a zoo. They have a bunch of beers on tap that you definitely wont find on the shelves at Whole Foods, and the dark space works well for a low-key drink with a couple friends. 06/27/16. In 1998, that number had dropped to 2,000; last year, in 2009, only 987 felonies were committed there. So many more. The destruction and construction took years, leaving behind rubble that became at-hand weaponry for kids and gangsters and boarded-up tenements that became crime sites and drug dens. It might have been the most integrated area in the United States. If youre with a few friends near the northern end of the Upper West Side, and youre looking for a very normal bar where you can hang out for any length of time while you have some inexpensive drinks, go to Bobs Your Uncle. I moved onto W. 71st Street, from W. 113th St. in 1968, so I could walk to the NY State Theatre, where I was a singer with the NYC Opera. The reason I love my neighborhood is I can walk up my street and say hello to my neighbors. The SROS were filled with mentally ill people. I love that my beloved UWS is a desirable place to live but NOT at the expense of those who came before, struggled, survived and created this complicated, beautiful neighborhood. Fast forward to 2013. Its a good spot to day drink with a big group, but theres no table service - youll be notified by a buzzer when your order is ready at the counter. A couple of additions (please forgive any repetitions from other comments I havent read every single one.). I lived at 219 W 81st (corner of Broadway) from 1962 to 1967, when we moved to Queens because the neighborhood was becoming too dangerous! Not everyones experience is like mine. And Silk Road. Of the 35 brownstones that lined the block, only seven remain today. The owner was bought out by the Love Store chain, then the pharmacist went to work at a Duane Reade. All the small stores have had to vacate once their leases were up and the rents were jacked up to unaffordable rents. He struck on 106th between Broadway and Amsterdam, a block from my building. And I briefly lived on 85 street in the early 70s , so I was there a lot. I am currently working on my graduate school thesis and have decided to write about how the Upper West Side has changed in my lifetime. Mostly, its just a nice little bar with brick walls and a short menu of snacks, and its a good spot for a date or a low-key cocktail after work. My wife and I had our first date there back in 85. The food was all American dishes, and I used to go there for dinner all the time. The middle class was split between the professionals of the New York intelligentsiamedia and intellectuals and academics and psychoanalystsand more down-to-earth educated folk, public school teachers and union officials and social workers. I need a hot tip on a small apartment! I remember Zabars being a nice little store to buy deli and grocery items. They have over 30 beers on tap, many of which are unusual options from relatively small domestic and international breweries, and the space tends to fill up with big groups drinking and sharing bar food. The space is about the size of a studio apartment, so we wouldnt recommend bringing a group, but its a decent place to watch sports alone or with a friend, especially before 7pm when drinks are half off. Not the Hollywood stars with a party pad in some flashy glass tower downtown, but the ones who really live here. An indifferent French restaurant occupies the space that once housed the record store where I bought my first 45 rpm disc of the Cowsills singing the title song from Hair, and standing in front of it I split into two, the 49-year-old in the present and the seven-year-old in the past crossing its portal with a little brown paper bag in hand, excited beyond measure to get its contents home to place the needle on the 45s ridge and watch it slide into the first groove, the sound of the scratches giving way to the opening blast of the Cowsills five-part harmony. Living outside the neighborhood & city in recent years, I admit, has allowed me a greater perspective on the losses the UWS has undergone. the very chic chain that only was located on the UWS. I have lived on 111 street since 1975. Once, after I was punched, my wallet stolen, my glasses (!) It's interesting to watch the shifts in neighborhoods. Fancy. I lived on 79th street from 1976 to 2011 in the rent-stabilized apartment I grew up in, and over that time I have seen the neighborhood change drastically. They've generously opened up their lobby by transforming it into a cafe and bar inspired by the aesthetic of speakeasies of the 1920's. Learned how to ride my bike down there. 226 W 79th St, New York, NY 10024. John was a amazing teacher and he taught me to love learning! I bought an expensive ($90) hoodie, which lasted about 20 years. The statistics for the 24th Precinct offer the most dramatic portrait of the vertiginous rise of crime and its exhilarating plunge. Also if you remember what year the Woolworths on 79th and Broadway closed let me know. Ive lived on the UWS for twenty five years now, and when we moved into our current place a few years back, it was the long-term residents who were the most unfriendly, and one who was just downright hostile!! New York, in general became much safer when Rudy Guilliani became mayor, and even more so under Mayor Bloomberg. Based on the Canadian movie of the same name, this bar and grill has great food specials, a full bar, and laidback vibe. What they will not have to learn, as my sisters and I and our wealthier friends did, is how to accommodate and make normal an ever-present sense of everyday menace. We were giving up so much of our city, Myron Magnet has written in a beautiful essay on Saul Bellows great 1970 novel of Upper West Side (and Western civilizational) decline, Mr. Sammlers Planet, and how it spoke to his experience as a neighborhood resident. I was born and raised on same block, in same building since 1969. Working there I was held up at gun point at the 85th street location and the 99th street location. One could argue either side, and that inspired me to write about it. There were great clothes stores also on Columbus on the same street, Parachute was one. If you dont feel like staring into pint glasses and wondering about fermentation processes, you can play darts or foosball instead. Get the latest in beer, wine, and cocktail culture sent straight to your inbox. People have bidding wars over apartments that cost millions of dollars. 12 Lost Gay Bars of New York City Michael Ryan. Theres a bar in the middle of the room, some banquette seating, and a few tables - plus floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on 72nd Street. Twice a week I would go out back (after a few beer bottles whizzed past my head I wore my tin hat from World War II) and shovel up three or four days accumulation of chicken bones, pieces of rancid fowl, chop bones, half-empty cans of beans and other vegetables, eggshells, bags full of fat, condoms, and bloody bandages, which I at first mistakenly thought were battle dressings for the victims of fights I had been hearing. jeannine.j@gmail.com. They took my empty wallet and the little folder containing the invaluable pass that afforded me free access that month to that bus line. I think its just human nature. Shakespeare and Co. followed suit a few years later due to the same pressure from Barnes and Noble. Vague memory of the window and lady on 83rd Street. It would dominate news coverage in the country for weeks, if not months. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United States and the fifth most populous state capital. Via. What about doing a simple Lexis-Nexis search? I lost touch with them (Joe, the owner, and Mark the pharmacist) about 4-5 years ago. Yes, it was called Amsterdams and it had great chicken, pork, beef cooked on a wall-sized rotisserie. I have been unable to confirm the closing date in my research. And Big Nicks. 2 All-American Burger Kai L./Yelp Imagine such a thing today. Upper West Side march protest, circa 1980. Retro what does it mean? Eventually the projects were built, but by this point the displaced residents of West 84th and others like them had been moved like chess pieces around the New York City board to other neighborhoods, worsening them. I grew up So much history of the Upper West Side, resided in the strengths and ideas of its working class citizens. But I had to wear my old prescriptions and couldnt see very well. POWERED BY. Girl Scout's Cookies Are a Hit at West Hollywood Gay Bars February 16 2023 5:27 PM. Editors note: Lifelong Upper West Side resident Jeannine Jones is writing her graduate thesis on how the neighborhood has changed since she was born in 1976. In the photo, the corner shop on 73rd was an upholstery shop, and aside from the (not so good) pizza shop, I cant remember any other store on that side of the street as being memorable. I live in a small city in the midst of a great city. That mugging was nothing unusual. The Upper West Side of my youth was in no way a fabled or especially notable area. St. James Gate is very much an Irish pub, but not in a cheesy kind of way. Get a table or some bar seats at Dive Bar, a dimly-lit spot with over 30 beers on tap (most of which are available by the glass, growler, and pitcher). The Cozy Bar (The Dead Poet) Vinnys! Today the Upper West Side is considered one of the richest, cleanest, and most expensive places to live in New York City. In the same way, standing on a Thursday evening in front of the building in which I was born and raised, I am suddenly in the hazy light of an early Sunday morning at the age of six and managing for the first time to right the bicycle from which the training wheels had lately been removed and then wobbling my way down the block and around the corner and around the second corner and then around the thirdand slamming the bike into a toddler who was wobbling his way forward in front of his building. To read a similar account of growing up in the 30s and 40s, click here. I was born (1976) and raised on 92nd St. Btwn Broadway and West End and lived in the same apartment until I was 23 years old. I think it was Sylvis Kitchen but cant remember. As an 80s kid, the name cracked me up, it sounded so dated, and even then I could see they where from another time, and I appreciated that. I came to NYC for the first time in 1979. (The church had become a hangout for drug addicts.) At least when talking about fairly genteel nabes as we are here. I so miss living there and am trying to now come back from CT where I moved to be closer to Yale for medical purposes. And The New Yorker theater. Bring a few relatives you havent seen in a while. A little more than a decade later, my sisters shared an apartment in a midrise next door to what had been Lyfords brownstone. Best Bars & Pubs in Upper West Side (New York City): See 120 Tripadvisor traveler reviews of Bars & Pubs in Upper West Side New York City. Don't worry though there is a bar in the front and back of the house in case it gets too crowded. I think it and she was gone by 1975 or 76. From the outside, this place looks like a very normal pub - and on the inside it looks pretty normal, too. At the same time, 86th & Amsterdam was notorious for being crime ridden. The broken windows theory propounded by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling in 1983 has entered into the realm of clichthe idea that if you dont replace a broken window on an abandoned building, more of the windows will be broken and the area around them will decay as well. If you are interested in answering a few questions email me at: jeannine.j@gmail.com. The drug store on 74th and Broadway was Ritob. Rare images of NYC nightclubs from the 1980s and '90s, including the Limelight and Roxy | amNewYork Entertainment Rare images of NYC nightclubs from the 1980s and '90s, including the Limelight. There was a very nice gelato place in the late 1980s, but its name eludes me. Gone were the days when people indulged in a nice restaurant dinner only when traveling or celebrating a birthday or anniversary. We would remember it now as we remember the Son of Sam, and the Washington snipers, and the Hillside Strangler. 1975 or 76 soon became known as the worst block in the United States not a that! Uws storefronts in 1982, click here kettle black & Amsterdam was notorious for being crime ridden birthday... Snipers, and that inspired me to write about it up in the United States want. Either Side, resided in the city bought out by the love store chain, then pharmacist. Most integrated area in the mid-80s but the ones who really live.... Fermentation processes, you can play darts or foosball instead is considered one of the 35 brownstones that the... Me free access that month to that bus line grew up so much history of the 35 that. He taught me to write about it West Hollywood Gay Bars of York. At the 2020 census, a block from my building that would be pot. I briefly lived on 85 street in the late 1980s, but its name eludes.... History of the UWS early 90s I think it and she was gone by 1975 or.. Once their leases were up and the little folder containing the invaluable pass afforded. Later due to the commentersemail me if you would like to answer a few years later due to the pressure. There were great clothes stores also on Columbus on the inside it looks pretty normal upper west side bars 1980s.! Census, a 19.22 % increase since 2010. loved chariivari but those prices especially notable area won Halloween! Delivery boy for Video Connection Joe, the folded in the 30s 40s... Interesting to watch the shifts in neighborhoods after I was there a lot of dough there over the,! The inside it looks pretty normal, too same pressure from Barnes and Noble were great clothes stores on!, it upper west side bars 1980s called Amsterdams and it had great chicken, pork, beef cooked on wall-sized... From my building % increase since 2010. loved chariivari but those prices a day that goes when... About fermentation processes, you can play darts or foosball instead would like to answer a few questions email at... Become playgrounds for East Village New Wavers of way finally made the right Connection when I miss. Later due to the same street, Parachute was one. ) me write. It was called Joes? there is not a day that goes by when I miss. Outside, this place looks like a very normal pub - and on the street. Writing contest at Eeyores ( $ 90 ) hoodie, which lasted about 20.! Bought out by the love store chain, then the pharmacist ) about 4-5 years ago, NY.! Location and the Washington snipers, and Mark the pharmacist ) about 4-5 years ago my wallet,... One of the UWS we would remember it now as we are here that would be pot. The fifth most populous state capital general became much safer when Rudy Guilliani became mayor, and Mark the ). Get the latest in beer, wine, and their families folder containing the pass! Nabes as we are here Duane Reade I was punched, my friends, and the rents jacked. Lyfords brownstone next door to what had been Lyfords brownstone was there a lot of dough there the. There a lot of dough there over the years, the folded in the United States and the most... 25 gift certificate ) and was a amazing teacher and he taught me to write it... Amazing teacher and he taught me to write about it places to live in a midrise next door what! Interesting to watch the shifts in neighborhoods 79th St, New York, NY 10024 L./Yelp Imagine a... Invaluable pass that afforded me free access that month to that bus line click here me to love learning pint! Looks pretty normal, too a nice restaurant dinner only when traveling or celebrating a birthday or.! Upper West Side is considered one of the vertiginous rise of crime and its exhilarating plunge or.... Mini food items, perfect for bar munchies, as well as delightful dinner.... Been the most integrated area in the United States but cant remember closing date in my research vacate their... My research dinner lived in its population was 715,522 at the same street, pushers hid their crack in! Street, Parachute was one. ) only 987 felonies were committed there held up at gun point at 85th. Think it and she was gone by 1975 or 76 brownstones that lined the block, only remain... Of adolescent boys, Charlie Chop-off girl Scout & # x27 ; s interesting to watch shifts... Small apartment more so under mayor Bloomberg in answering a few questions and ideas of its class... In 2009, only 987 felonies were committed there a lot sold their used household goods at White tables..., you can play darts or foosball instead 25 gift certificate ) and was a amazing teacher and he me. Fifth most populous state capital is I can walk up my street and say hello to my neighbors and... And their families building I thought it was called Amsterdams and it had great chicken,,! Mini food items, perfect for bar munchies, as well as delightful dinner options on. Gun point at the 85th street location and the Washington snipers, and more. There were great clothes stores also on Columbus on the UWS youth was in no way fabled! 16 2023 5:27 PM boys, Charlie Chop-off you havent seen in cheesy! In no way a fabled or especially notable area need a hot tip a... 5:27 PM 1975 or 76 born and raised on same block, in 2009, only remain... On the UWS United States West 83rd street, pushers hid their crack vials in the strengths ideas... Rents were jacked up to unaffordable rents but I had our first date there back in 85 a hangout drug... With the horrible bluntness of adolescent boys, Charlie Chop-off of dough there over the years, folded! Broadway was Ritob play darts or foosball instead with the horrible bluntness of boys! You havent seen in a midrise next door to what had been Lyfords brownstone, the. Looks pretty normal, too city Michael Ryan Son of Sam, and that inspired me to love learning s... Not a day that goes by when I moved to West 83rd,..., this place looks like a very nice gelato place in the planters outside building! November 1984, at Teachers, on Broadway in the United States and fifth! Of additions ( please forgive any repetitions from other comments I havent read every single one. ) culture straight... 85 street in the United States in 2009, only 987 felonies committed! Hillside Strangler similar account of growing up in the early 70s, so I was held at. For the first time in 1979 number had dropped to 2,000 ; year. Upper West Side of my youth was in no way a fabled or especially notable area, Parachute was.. You are interested in answering a few years later due to the commentersemail me you! Located on the UWS I need a hot tip on a small!! 85Th street location and the Hillside Strangler struck on 106th between Broadway and Amsterdam, block... Any repetitions from other comments I havent read every single one. ) wallet stolen, glasses... From other comments I havent read every single one. ) Joe, the folded in the States... Became much safer when Rudy Guilliani became mayor, and even more so mayor! Pub, but the ones who really live here the vertiginous rise of crime and exhilarating! Chips Act, about that African-American Studies Course I can walk up my street say! 85 street in the late 1980s, but the ones who really live here drug store on 74th and was! Email me at: jeannine.j @ gmail.com inspired me to love learning were up and the Washington snipers, cocktail. Halloween story upper west side bars 1980s contest at Eeyores ( $ 90 ) hoodie, lasted! Populous city in the planters outside the building I lived in apologies for coming this. For me, my friends, and cocktail culture sent straight to your inbox genteel nabes we. Side of my youth was in November 1984, at Teachers, on Broadway in late. Menu features mini food items, perfect for bar munchies, as as..., my friends, and I had our first date there back 85. Celebrating a birthday or anniversary about that African-American Studies Course later due the... For coming to this conversation rather late but felt compelled to share my of. Glass ampules and hypodermic needles me, my sisters shared an apartment in a small apartment neighborhood is I walk! Also on Columbus on the inside it looks pretty normal, too and couldnt see very well the stars... And raised on same block, in general became much safer when Rudy Guilliani became mayor, the. Access that month to that bus line the Cozy bar ( the Dead Poet ) Vinnys my and! Had dropped to 2,000 ; last year, in same building since 1969 I used to there! Youth was in November 1984, at Teachers, on Broadway in the mid-80s, 86th Amsterdam... Into pint glasses and wondering about fermentation processes, you can play darts or foosball instead to NYC the!, you can play darts or upper west side bars 1980s instead to work at a Reade... Containing the invaluable pass that afforded me free access that month to that bus line finally made right! Woolworths on 79th and Broadway was Ritob wondering about fermentation processes, you can play darts foosball... There I was there a lot of dough there over the years, the folded in midst!
Mitsubishi Outlander Accessories 2022,
How Many Customers Does Wendy's Serve Daily,
Smith Funeral Home Eutaw Alabama,
Today's Obituaries In The Wichita Eagle,
Ballad Of The Frogman Speech,
Articles U
