Text and Photographs by Stephen Harmon
The publication by West Side Rag over the past several weeks of some of my photos from the 1970s and 80s has brought me much gratification and pleasure. I have been gratified by the positive reactions to the photos and the exceedingly kind words people have posted in the comments. I have had great pleasure because I have had to peruse my files of negatives and slides from those vanished times, and I am discovering things in the photos that make me smile. Here is another group of UWS businesses you may have used or remember. I hope you find something to enjoy.
Love your photos. These are terrific Thank you!
I loved The Sacred Cow and ate there often!! I also loved the “waitress” that worked there for years, she was special. Wonderful photos….please keep them coming Steve Harmon!!!!!!!!!!
Curious, what is the restaurant in the third one?
Thanks again for your photos! I can’t imagine going through boxes of negatives and slides–kudos to you!
I LOVED bowling at that bowling alley–it was old-school even then!
I was walking down Amsterdam in the 90s on Monday and saw another shuttered tiny hardware store
They are almost all gone. This picture reminded me how ubiquitous they used to be.
Also. Fischer Brothers.!
Pretty sure that Supreme Hardware was on Columbus.
Anyhow it moved to 73rd Street and then new owners changed its name only a couple of years ago.
In other words it’s still there.
Laundromats and dry cleaners are closing as well, not to mention shops where you could get a spool of thread or have your TV fixed. When I moved to my block 30 years ago there was a drugstore on the corner, a fish store next to it, a repair shop and a laundromat across the street, a hairdresser, a framer, a hand laundry, an accounting office and a great bakery up the block. Not to mention Radio Shack. It was one of the most incredibly convenient locations in the city. What do we have now? Dueling coffee shops, a couple of pizzerias and acres of nail salons, plus yawning empty retail spaces. Not an improvement.
Throwback photos are such a beautiful treat. LOVE THEM! Keep them coming please…
When the work week has knocked me to the ground, I can always count on Mr. Harmon’s Throwback Thursday series to give me the strength to make it through another day. Thank you for sharing your/our memories Sir.
Is that the same Tap A Keg on Broadway between 104 & 105?
Weber’s!!
These are the best. I hope you don’t run out of these Throwback Thursdays photos anytime soon.
More great photos!
What hits me first is the number of individually owned businesses where you could walk in and see the proprietor.
Due to rent gouging we get mostly corporate businesses with bland, homogeneous products that don’t really reflect the diversity of the area; or, tiny closets trying to open as businesses.
We need commercial rent control as well as stronger rent control for housing.
Hi Stephen,
these photos are beautiful, thank you so much for sharing them. I’m wondering if you have any prints for sale? I would be interested in the photo of Fischer Bros.
Tap-a-Keg A Hell Of a Joint
WOW, love these! Supreme Hardware, went there often! Fisher Bros & Leslie–went there for the Jewish holidays. Bowled in a very fun league at that upstairs bowling alley–the snacks were things like sandwiches on white bread that the owner made, it was one step up from needing human pin-setters, retro even in the late 70s! Keep these photos coming, please!
Mama’s is still cooking! I go there twice a week.
And Dublin House is still there too.
While Supreme Hardware simply moved around the corner and down Columbus where it remained until new owners changed the name to 73rd Street Hardware just a few years back.
That XXX video store on Amsterdam was there well past the year 2000.