what about the plastic animals?

Neighborhood News

Two news items from the neighborhood this weekend.  Whoever does the market analysis for USA Today decided that our corner of Harlem now has enough people within their target market to distribute the paper here.  Several new boxes appeared along 116th sometime Saturday, including this one in front of my building.

Not that I am suggesting untoward behavior, but that box is not secured and would make an interesting end table/conversation piece.

The construction fence surrounding The Kalahari came down last week and a big sign went up on the building.  Gravel is in on the sidewalk and the concrete should be poured soon.   I think the doors pictured here will be the entrance to the movie theater.

On the negative side, the vendor that sold fruit on the west side of Lenox disappeared a couple of months ago.  The coffee and donut cart is still there, and has been joined by a second coffee and donut cart on the east side of the street.

Around the Neighborhood, Part 2

Graceline Court

Fifth on the Park

A couple more building sites from a New Year's Day walk. 

When I take photos from my apartment while facing west Graceline Court is the building under construction behind the mosque.  It will have 32 market-rate condos when completed.  Their website is horrible so look here for more information.

Fifth on the Park also has a crappy website so, once again, look to Wired New York for more information.  The first four floors will contain a church (which is now located next door).  The remaining floors will have 147 condo units, 47 rentals, and way too many parking spaces in an underground garage.

Around the Neighborhood, Part 1

Purple Reign reigns no more on Lenox Ave.

Might there be work being done on the long empty Lenox Ave. buildings?

Across 116th from the Kalahari, future home of SOHA Style.

The Kalahari

It has become somewhat of a tradition of mine to walk around the neighborhood on New Year's Day to see what's changed over the past year. 

Purple Reign was an upscale children's shoe boutique.  It was open for a year or two, and I'm surprised it lasted that long.  Up a block and across the street from the shoe store is a row of beautiful, mostly empty buildings.  Three were renovated several years ago, and now it looks like work has begun on a fourth.  The apartments in the new building across from the Kalahari, and down the block from me, have been occupied.  There's a sign in the ground floor window that SOHA Style, a home furnishings store, will be opening soon.

The Kalahari is expected to open this year.  It looks to me like the interior walls of the apartments are finished.  The ground floor commercial spaces are still under construction.  According to the Kalahari website, there's an open house this weekend.

Regun Theatre

You would never guess it is an old building but according to PropertyShark, the building that houses the fish market across the street from my apartment was constructed around 1913, possibly earlier.  One bored evening this summer I came across a Flickr photo of the storefront.  The picture is crap but the photographer is a movie house buff.  In an earlier life the Sea & Sea Fish Market was the Regun Theatre.

The Regun Theatre is known to have operated between 1916 and 1950.  On May 22nd, 1923 the theater hosted Annie Mathew's "Kiddies' Day", an event sponsored by the Register of New York County.  It was estimated that over 3000 children saw two performance that day.  According to the Times the kids were treated to "a first-class orchestra" as well as showings of "Daddy's Boy" and "The Little Church Around the Corner".  The highlight of the day was a performance by "Miss Rita Hogan, the youngest child actor in the "movies" who sang and danced for them [the kids] at both performances".

A couple months later the Regun was involved in an ugly incident next door.  The Regun screened movies on the roof during the summer.  The July 12th, 1923 issue of the Times reports that Jacob London, owner of the two six-story walk-up tenements next door filed suit against a number of his tenants.  The tenants, Mr. London alleged, were inviting friends over to watch the movies next door from the roof of their building.  Actually he asked for a restraining order to prevent his tenants from

congregating on the roof at any time to witness moving picture performances; from holding meetings or assemblages on the roof; from gathering collectively ion the roof for social or amusement purposes; from occupying windows connected with the common halls to witness moving picture performances; from inviting, soliciting, encouraging or urging persons to assemble with them, either on the roofs or in the hall windows to witness moving picture performances or for any unlawful purpose...

Up to 200 a night were congregating on the roof, possibly causing the roofing to sag.  The headline of that article is "Brings Suit to Keep Tenants Off Roof".  The scanner must have had a hard time distinguishing U from H as the headline in ProQuest when I did the search was "Brings Shit to Keep Tenants Off Roof".  Anyway...

A shorter article a day later sheds a more familiar light on the situation.   Max Klein an attorney for the tenant claimed that the landlord was using the roof issue as an excuse to get rid of the tenants.  The tenants named in the suit had lived in the building for 6-10 years and were protected from increases by rent laws.  Mr. Klein said the landlord was trying to get rid of the tenants so he "could get new ones who would have to pay $15 to $20 a month more" in rent.

On June 24th, 1930 five Hispanic men were arrested after they tried to storm the Regun in protest of its showing of "Under a Texas Moon", directed by Michael Curtiz. who later directed "Casablanca", and the first western filmed in color.  The news article is sketchy on details but it refers to the neighborhood, which was primarily Jewish at the time of the rooftop lawsuit, was now a "Latin-American colony".  On the night of the arrests about 100 protesters marched upon the theater carrying placards that read "Down With Under a Texas Moon.  It is a reflection on the women of Latin America."

The most recent article concerning the Regun that I could find in the Times was on November 10th, 1936.  Four people were injure when plaster fell from the ceiling of the theater.  The rooftop projection booth (the article says the building had formerly shown outdoor movies) sat on iron stilts.  The stilts rusted away from lack of maintenance and gave way on the night in question.  About 150 moviegoers "stampeded from the auditorium".  The story did not mention what movie was playing.

Harriet Tubman

There's a new Harriet Tubman statue at the intersection of 122nd St., St. Nicholas Ave, and Frederick Douglass Blvd.  In looking up information about the sculpture I've seen that intersection referred to as Harriet Tubman Square, Harriet Tubman Triangle and Harriet Tubman Plaza.  I've yet to hear anyone actually call it any of those names.  What was just a concrete triangle earlier this year is now an attractive, landscaped triangle of stone, granite and a sculpture.  I believe the sculpture is part of the mayor's plaNYC program to wrest more green space from the city's streets.  It's a well-done sculpture.  The several people that walked by while I was taking these photos mentioned how much the liked it.

I don't have a clever transition to this next item.  As I usually do on Wednesday mornings on the walk to the bus, I bought the paper from the woman at the "news stand", that is stack of newspapers on milk crates, across the street.  Unlike most mornings there was a guy aggressively panhandling.  He waved an empty coffee cup in my face and asked for change.  He had a really nice haircut.  Really nice.  Like a hundred dollars every few weeks kind of nice.  I did not know what to make of that but he did not get any change.

No More Adoptions

This isn't too timely because the sign disappeared months ago, but the Adopt-A-Rat sign at 115th and Frederick Douglass is no more.  While the sign's disappearance might be symbolic of a changing Harlem, it's actual cause of erasure was the filming of a Rescue Me scene.

Tenacious Tree

A chain link fence is no obstacle to these scrappy staghorn sumac trees.  Did you know you could make wine from the berries of a staghorn sumac?

Mysterious Cat Signs

These three signs are on 117th Street end of a community garden that fronts St. Nicholas.  It appears that the sign writer is taking care of feral cats in the back of the garden and someone keeps disturbing the caretaker's work.  Note:  the bottom photo was highly photoshopped to make the note readable.

I guess there's not much cross-readership between this site and the Village Voice.  Only one reader, someone who is obsessed with another construction site in the neighborhood, mentioned that I was quoted last week in an article about the Kalahari. 

Other Harlem news in last week's Voice:

1. Mara Altman meets Mr. Crack aka Bobby Paige, whose van, Mr. Crack 2, can often be seen around the corner from the signs above.
2. Robert Sietsema visits Zoma, the new Ethiopian place at 113th and Frederick Douglass.  Finds the food not spicy enough for his taste.

Nearly Completed Neighborhood Construction

Casa Loma, 116th between Adam Clayton Powell and Frederick Douglass

The Fitzgerald, 117th between St. Nicholas and Frederick Douglass

Morningside Park Condos, Morningside Ave just below 116th

Three buildings nearing completion along 116th Street. 

Casa Loma is being marketed by Warburg Realty.  It's a gut-renovated pre-war building.  This used to be the most disgusting spot on 116th St.  The building was empty, the super of several nearby buildings used to dump their garbage in front of this building, where it would sit for days stinking and attracting rats.  The building is looking good now.  It has been renovated into ten one-bedroo and five two-bedroom apartments.  All with 11' ceilings.  It'll be interesting to see what retail goes into the ground floor.

The Fitzgerald, featured here last summer as Ed's Auto Body and Fender, has been converted from an auto storage facility into 47 one- and two-bedroom apartments.  The website claims "no expense has been spared to maintain the buildings original character."  So if you ever wanted to live in an apartment that reminds you of a parking garage the Fitzgerald is the place for you.

Morningside Park Condominiums also made a brief appearance here last year.  This is a new building right across the street from Morningside Park.  Prices ranged from $1.0 to $1.6 million.  All eight units are in contract.  Kitchen appliances were being delivered this morning!

What is it with the maps on these building websites?  Probably half the neighborhood amenities listed on both the Fitzgerald and Morningside Park Condo sites are incorrectly located.  There is clearly not a library in the middle of Marcus Garvey Park and the Jewish Theological Seminary is not located at the West End.

Speaking of the Jewish Theological Seminary and 116th Street (this is what we blog professionals call a clever segue), I was walking home this evening along 116th Street, right around the corner from the Morningside Park Condo, when an Orthodox guy jumps out of a van, runs up to me and asks "Are you Jewish?"

I said I wasn't.  He looked dejected, so I asked what he was looking for, thinking I could direct him somewhere, and he replied "Just looking for Jews in the neighborhood.  Do you know where I can find any?"  He got into the van before I could answer him, which was probably good as I really didn't have an answer.

The Kalahari Begins to Zig and Zag

Brickwork has begun on the Kalahari! 

Plus their website has been updated.  The construction blog with one entry has disappeared.  In its place is a form for sales information.  Luxury hybrid 2-4 bedroom condo apartments from the mid-$600,000s.  What is a hybrid home?