A couple of days ago I took these two photos to tie together Harlem Hybrid's look at 110th Street with NYC The Blog's look at Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Both streets recently saw tire repair shops close up. Frederick Douglass had the 8th Ave Rim and Tire, and 110th had General Tire. General Tire was a personal favorite, as they let cyclists use their air hose for free.

At the time, I was thinking of matching up the photos with some by-now-trite Smart Car joke, maybe even enhanced with a rim job double entendre. But after the absolute punishment Wall Street has taken these past few days, I'm wondering if loosing them wasn't a mistake for a couple of reasons. I mean, potholes still plague the streets, and where are you going to sell tires to when you need a little extra cash?

For those of us looking for comfort in the familiar, I have a new Smart Car photo after the jump. It has a Semper Fi Marines license plate frame, just for the calming sense of incongruity.

Continue reading "Times Changed, Tires Not" »

Posted by Chris at 11:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Adding a bit of recent news to the The Harlem Tea Room's complications and questionable service long tracked on UptownFlavor, a reader sends in his sighting of a different kind of tab:

So on my way to work this past Friday at about 8:30AM what do I see taped onto the front door of the place but a LATE RENT NOTICE. It was in the amount of $13,300 and change. The wave of schadenfreude that swelled up inside me would have been less intense had my wife and I not had so many mediocre experiences at that place. Anyhoo, just couldn't resist sharing.

I wonder if that includes an 18 percent gratuity?

Posted by Chris at 12:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Like the leaves that bud in spring, the Aphrodite cleaners that filled the Harlem street scape begin to drop off in the fall. It seems that the Frederick Douglass Aphrodite Cleaners has merged with the 117th Street Aphrodite Cleaners.

Is this a rash decision of a fickle beauty, or the punished hubris of those with an irrational longing for a clean, pressed shirt?

It could simply be that a dry cleaners on every block is a bit of market saturation.

Whatever the reason may be, we hardly knew this location. At least not like a certain other location.

Posted by Chris at 05:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The sky is blue, water is wet, and Emperor's Roe is closed for good.

Per a creditable tipster today:

As you probably know, Emperor's Roe on Lenox @ 120th has been "renovating" since last September. I've been speaking with the people involved occasionally, and they really were making a go of it during this time. However, the weekend before last a lien notice was placed in the window, and I have heard from an extremely reliable source that the show's over. This source also informed me that a few experienced downtowners plan to open a hip lounge in the space before summer.

Personally, we at the Fur were pulling for place, if for nothing other than the sheer ridiculousness of being able to say we live in Harlem, "just down from the champaign and caviar bar." I mean, outside of maybe Moscow or Dubai, it is a concept out of place basically anywhere on earth.

Here's hoping that the soon-to-be lounge doesn't fall prey to over-shooting the neighborhood like so many other places. Instead, we hope it gives that corner just what it needs: a solid middle-of-the-road nabe hangout that spills onto the sidewalk in the warm months, and offers plenty of window space during the cold ones.

· Yes, There Is Caviar In Harlem [Harlem Fur]

Posted by Chris at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

First, the bad news.

UPTOWNflavor reports that the Sugar Shack closed. Boo. The Strivers Row place once "the site of impromptu gatherings, first dates, comedy shows, poetry readings and down and dirty dancing," is now home to an open lease sign. Moan.
· Closed - Sugar Shack [UPTOWNflavor]

Then, the medium news.

Jeremy from City Specific stops by the reformed women's prison cum condos and checks out one of the few Manhattan residences that opens directly onto the side walk. He ponders boob-flashing recidivism. (Photo is of an actual 10 MMP bedroom from which boobs may be flashed.) This would be a great post if it was not for this text: "I stopped by a part of Harlem I haven't visited as much in the past year, and which I probably won't be seeing much of anymore after Saturday..." What the hell, this is right near the Fur! Are you snubbing us? Come on man, we just washed the cat.
· 10 Mount Morris Park West [City Specific]

Now, on to the good news.

Today, Central Park's Bethesda Arcade is re-opened. It's not Harlem exactly, but Central Park serves as our collective backyard, so it makes a valid entry. After a $7 million renovation, the intricate, custom-made tiles are restored to their original glory. Given the weather today, the Intelligencer points out that, luckily, it is one of the few places in the Park one can enjoy in the rain.
· Central Park Restoration Delivers Ornate Detail, Potential Nookie [Daily Intelligencer]

Tomorrow, the Friends of St. Nicholas Park will be moving wood chips to prepare for the dog run's new permanent entrance, and they need your help. Stop by beginning at 11am. It's a great chance to meet your neighbors.
· Woodchip Workday at Dog Park Scheduled for March 3rd [Friends of St. Nicholas Park]

And an ongoing story we are sure to watch, Curbed highlights coverage by Dwell and Joyce Cohen on David Alan Basche and Alysia Reiner's green Harlem townhouse renovation. The acting couple's new home will have a bunch of environmentally conscious stuff and four dual flush toilets. Oh please, oh please, oh please invite us to the housewarming. Please.
· Going Green (and Going Zen) in Harlem [Curbed]

Posted by Chris at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Harlem Fur tipster Sebastian from Street Easy wrote in yesterday to say that Elle & Lui, the Moroccan restaurant on 119th and Frederick Douglass, closed. Although Cheryl and I expected this to happen, as the place was almost always empty, it still put a pain in our hearts. Elle & Lui was by far our favorite restaurant in the neighborhood.

This restaurant should have stayed open. The dishes were expertly prepared; different olive flavors would come through in the homemade hummus, the fragrant lamb tangines was amazingly tender with robust accent flavors from the honey nutmeg sauce and caramelized prunes, and even the tea had an air of being carefully selected by the chef.

Cheryl and I talked with the owner and chef on a couple of different occasions and asked why he thought attendance was so low. He said, in his opinion, people still see Harlem as a bedroom community. There may be many people here with million dollar plus residences, but they still work and go out in other neighborhoods. It's not like he didn't do his groundwork in promoting Elle & Lui. The owner attended community and police precinct meetings and came to know the heads of at least two neighborhood home owners' associations, one with more than 400 members.

As for the restaurant moving into the space opening June 23rd, Sebastian says it will be serving gourmet soul food. Uptown flavor dug up the low down on the details. Billie's Black is the name of the new restaurant. They have kept the same phone number and have a website up here. In all seriousness thou, I would like to echo Uptown's sentiment that another soul food restaurant, gourmet, pedestrian or otherwise, is not what Harlem needs.

Here is to hoping that Elle's chef will soon be using his talents somewhere new.

Posted by Chris at 11:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)