John’s Blog

Over at the corner of Amsterdam and 139th Street the lights have come on and the doors have opened for Hamilton Height’s newest Italian eatery, Coccola at 1600 Amsterdam Avenue. The menu offers all of your favorite Italian treats like homemade gnocchi with tomato sauce and mozzarella, baked lasagna, and almost two dozen different flavors of pizza which are cooked in the brick oven (yum!). To drink there is beer on tap and plenty of wine to choose from. The restaurant comes from Sebastiano Cappitta who has opened Buca at 201 W. 103rd, Bettola at 412 Amsterdam Ave, and Bettolona at 3143 Broadway. Obviously this guy knows what he’s doing so we are sure that Coccola will be another awesome success! The restaurant is just opposite the City College campus so be sure there will be brunch (the menu is already in place!)

Coccola @ 1600 Amsterdam Avenue

The Menu @ Coccola

The Gap Factory Store opened its doors in Harlem just a few days ago and it has received mixed reviews from the neighborhood. Some locals that we spoke to are in favor of the store opening, expressing that “finally” they have a store they would like to shop on 125th street. Others we spoke to had the opposite opinion that the Gap store was bad because it helps to drive the rents up and forces smaller mom-and-pop businesses out of the neighborhood.

To this point, rents are certainly starting to get real serious increases on 125th Street. Just a couple years ago I remember 125th street was calling for $80 – $90 / square foot. Since the Whole Foods announcement, most landlords I know are asking $110 – $150 / square foot depending on location. That’s almost twice the price in some places and it leaves me wondering what will happen next. Certainly, 125th street has what it takes to be a major commercial corridor in Manhattan, with some locals calling it “Times Square North,” although it is my thinking that it will resemble something more like 34th street in the future.

The Gap opening comes along with some other major movement on 125th Street recently including the announcement of Whole Foods on 6th Avenue and 125th Street as well as the loss of the iconic Lenox Lounge as it moves it’s doors up to 333 Lenox. Not to mention, a Red Lobster coming in next door to the Apollo Theater as well as a large retail development over on FDB and 125th Street which is just about completed and the Victoria Theater development which is in the works.

Harlem is certainly not what it used to be.

What do you think about the recent retail activity on 125th Street?

The New Gap Factory Store is located at 264 W 125th Street, between 7th Ave & 8th Ave.

The new Gap Factory Outlet is located at ____ next to the iconic Mart 125.

Sandwiched between a couple of co-op buildings on 152nd street is one of the most incredible structures in all of Sugar Hill. The three townhouses from 456 – 460 West 152nd Street is one of the best examples of nineteenth century architectural style that I have ever come across, and features a mix of Romanesque Revival Style and a Queen Anne Styles.

Taking from the Romanesque Revival style, the building is asymmetrical in that the two ends are different from each other, and it has massive stone arches in the windows and deeply recessed round arched doorway and a straight stoop. Taking from the Queen Anne style, the building has three-sided projected bay windows (pictured on the left side), and that impressive angled gabled roof featuring dormers and chimneys are very characteristic.

According to property records, this building is broken into three different townhouses today. 456 West 152nd Street, 458 West 152nd Street, and 460 West 152nd Street. All three homes have been updated recently (mostly in the early 2000′s) and each home is registered as a 2-family house although each has a slightly different configuration.

When I walked by that day, you can see there was a man working on the slate conical roof on the right side. Don’t worry, he was roped in for safety!

Go see this building for yourself one day, it is truly breathtaking!

The three townhouses located at 456 – 460 West 152nd Street

When: Best day to go is Sunday afternoon
Where: Brownstone @ 248 West 132nd Street
How much?: No cover or minimums. Food is $10 on Sunday for a plate of soul food, drinks are some of the best prices in NYC. Jazz show is free.

One of the best-kept secret in Harlem, this military vets’ post offers free music and amazing soul food Tuesday through Sunday. The best day to go is Sunday afternoon when you can get a plate of soul food for $10, enjoy cheap drinks and a live jazz show. There is no cover to enter, just sign into the guest book and you are good to go. This spot is one of the few ‘speakeasies’ in Harlem that have maintained an old-time charm. Head on over for a visit! Call to confirm show times/days by calling the legion at (212) 283-9701 or by visiting their website below.

AMERICAN LEGION POST 398 WEBSITE

While heading down Convent Avenue and 130th street today I spotted this crazy car with the craziest paint job I think I’ve ever seen. The interior is completely decked out in red velvet. The front has plastic dolls and sea shells glued to the front in foam. High heels and 35mm cameras glued to the back and the rear view mirrors have the peace signs. Uhhhhh whose car is this??!?

The New York Times just recently published an article about a new investor working on reopening Minton’s Playhouse at 208 West 118th St. According to the article, Robert D. Parsons, a former chairman of Citicorp and chief executive of Time Warner, is teaming up with celebrity chef Alexander Smalls to renovate and open the space. The plan is to create two brother-and-sister restaurants. Minton’s Playhouse will reopen in its original location, and a new supper club will open in the building’s St. Nicholas entrance. The article mentions that June 2013 is the target date at this point. This will be great to have a new music spot opening up in the neighborhood. Minton’s had been open on and off the past few years for special events like the Apollo Jazz Shrines, but never had a steady schedule. Who else is excited for this?? You can read the article on the NYT website here: LINK

Minton’s Playhouse at 208 West 118th Street

Minton’s is part of the National Registrar of historic places

Built between 1891 and 1893, the Harlem Courthouse at 170 East 121st Street is one of the most amazing structures in all of East Harlem. The structure itself is 100′ x 100′ and measures 5 stores tall. The city records state that the building is approximately 40,368 square feet. Huge!

The Gothic-Romanesque Revival courthouse was designed by the famous architectural firm Thom & Wilson who also designed many of the best row houses of the Upper East Side, as well as the Criminal Courts Building on Centre Street which was unfortunately demolished in 1994. Used for processing criminals through the judicial system as well as holding prisoners in its 40 jail cells from 1892 to about 1940, the Harlem Courthouse was also often referred to as the “Harlem Jail” for many years. Nowadays, the Harlem Courthouse is used as a space for the Harlem Community Justice Center where family, housing, and small claim civil cases are heard as well as some office spaces for the NYPD.

Take a look for yourself at 170 East 121st Street, at the corner of Sylvan Court and East 121st Street.

The Harlem Courthouse at 170 East 121st Street

The five-story corner tower is topped by eight small gables with two clocks below.

Biking down 3rd avenue on a windy Tuesday morning I began to work up a hunger and was on the hunt for something to eat. That’s when I noticed a large crowd huddled together in front of 300 East 116th Street, at the NE corner of East 116th Street & Third Avenue. Something smelled very good and everyone seemed to be smiling and enjoying, so I decided to indulge myself in whatever was being served over there. I was pleased to hear that the three woman standing there were serving up hot and fresh spicy tamales to the morning commuters, so I ordered one too. To drink on this cold morning, I also ordered a small hot cup of the sweet rice and milk. At a total of $2, the breakfast was a bargain.

I got to talking with Cathy, who was the youngest of the three women working at the shopping-cart now turned food-cart, and she told me that they have been running this business for a total of 14 years. Her mother, Lupita, who is about 5’1″ tall and radiates with a kind smile started the Tamale business and spent two years selling her products at 110th street and 3rd Avenue, before moving to 116th and Third. The women work 6 days a week, breaking on Monday to buy the ingredients they need and rest.

“We don’t know how many Tamales we sell every day,” says Cathy with a nice smile. “This is a family business and we don’t really keep track of that sort of thing. We just make as many tamales as we can with the ingredients that we have, and we sell out every day.” I was impressed that they have been in business for so long. “We also cater to parties and can make special orders,” Cathy added.

No wonder they were busy there that morning. Their product is very tasty, and certainly filled me up for a few hours. If you want to try it yourself, head on over Tuesday through Sunday to 300 East 116th Street. If you want to make a special order, call Cathy at 347-279-7443.

Lupita waves hello while serving up her homemade Tamales on 116th Street