Home Brew

A Flickr friend shared this Brooklyn photo with me. They wrote: "Back in my day, this used to be Lauterbach's, later on it was referred to as the No Name Pub. They used to have live music, even though the bar was in the basement of a row of residences. They uncovered the "Pub" sign from the No Name days... There used to be so many bars in this neighborhood, between 4th Avenue all the way up the hill and down to Church Avenue. Years later it became a day care, but that seems to have closed."

Bizarre.

Lost City: Seattle Edition: Showgirls

Whenever I visit an American city for the first time, I usually find a place like this close to my hotel, right  in the center of downtown. Big, bawdy and kinda wonderful in its antiquated signage. In Seattle, the place was called Showgirls, a festival of purple and pink that was, I'm sure, named long before the Elizabeth Berkley film gave showgirls a bad name.

It's actually called Deja Vu Showgirls, for reasons I can not fathom. ("Wait a minute! I feel like I've seen that pole-dancer before!) I have no idea what the history of the place is—strip clubs aren't generally big on nostalgia. And I don't know what it looks like inside; ain't gonna happen, folks. I just like the big cheesy sign. And the old building it's attached to. And that the Military get free cover on Sundays. And that you can't buy alcohol inside owing to Seattle law.

Far Rockaway in 1970

This wonderful old photo (borrowed from the wonderful blog Rockaway Memories, which is a treasure trove of, well, Rockway memories) was taken at the corner of Mott and Central, looking south. Sigh. If that Chop Suey joint was there today, I'd go right now. What a great line of shops. Great cars, great bus, men still wearing hats.

But you know what? Where the King George is—it's still a coffee shop! The Corner Donut Coffee Shop. In the same exact building. It's called the Smith Building. Before the King George, it was home to Cushman's Bakery. So something's always been baking in there.

Dickensian Courtyard Off Freeman Alley

Off Freeman Alley, the narrow little street off Rivington near Christie on the Lower East Side, just to the right as you approach Freemans, the unbearable and always busy hipster chow house and swilling den, is a hidden courtyard right out of Dickensian London. It's home to the gallery Mulherin and Pollard, and the entrance happened to be open when I passed one afternoon recently.

Read more »

Rockaway Beach Mystery Solved

In response to my query about the past of this interesting Rockaway Beach building, a reader writes in:

The building housed one of the best bars in Rockaway, Gilroy's. It was owned by Felix Gilroy who was there every single day it was opened. He served freshly cooked Roast Beef sandwiches that I've never tasted better anywhere. The tapped beer and bottles, the coldest. Bar was immaculate with, what was considered important, the greatest stacked juke box in the Rockaway's. I worked as a bartender at Gilroy's and Felix, from Ireland, was a "gift!"

Lyceum Theatre Elevator Will Still Be Running When You're Dead

The Lyceum Theatre, erected in 1903, is the oldest continually operating theatre on Broadway. And one of the most beautiful, to boot. It was built by showman Daniel Frohman, who kept his offices on the top floor, above the high-ceilinged lobby. (The chair Froman used to ruminate in is there still. So is a trap door through which he could spy on the action on stage.)

The Shubert Organization bought the W. 45th Street theatre back in 1950. For some years, they've made Frohman's office the home of the capacious Shubert Archives, a peerless resource of theatrical documents and photography.

To get to the archives, you have to take the hand-operated private elevator that was once only accessible to Frohman and his guests. (You still need an appointment with the archives to visit.) It's a small, old Otis elevator, and is extant, having been installed when the theatre was built. It's a bit on the shabby side at this point, but still has a faded grandeur, what with its mirrors and moldings. And it's still operated by hand. (See the lever below.) An elevator inspector recently gave it the once-over. He said, the way it was built, it will run forever.

Read more »

A Good Sign: Golden Styles Salon

"The Science of Hair," Man! Check out the beakers. And who the hell is named Hubert anymore?!

In Rockaway Beach.

Remembering Hotalings News Service

This shuttered storefront on W. 42nd Street, just off Broadway, once contained the Hotalings News Agency. In the days before the Internet changed everything, Hotalings was an essential cog in the New York media machine. It was where citizens and journalists alike went to find foreign newspapers and magazines. Hotalings carried daily editions of publications from across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and elsewhere. If, for instance, you were an agent wondering how your client had fared in a play that had opened in London the day before, the only way you could read the reviews was to run to Hotalings. I went there often, and I know I wasn't the only reporter to do so.

It was founded in 1905—from a perch in Times Square since 1926—and run by three succession generations of Hotalings. The advent of the Internet killed the business pretty swiftly in the late '90s. It closed June 30, 1999, and moved to a small kiosk in the newly opened Times Square Visitors Center. After a few years, if left there, too. There's still a listing for a Hotalings News Service on W. 52nd Street. Not sure of the level of their business these days.

Beautiful, Mysterious Rockaway Building

This is a building at 90-01 Rockaway Beach Boulevard that quickly captured my imagination. I think the mid-century architecture—part pragmatism, part stylish modernism—is fantastic. The oval, aquarium-like windows alone are amazing, particularly the one on the corner.

Something about the design tells me this was a dinner club or fancy restaurant once upon a time, though I can find no proof to back this up. Today it's the Seaside Senior Center.

I'm become somewhat fascinated with Rockaway lately, partly because so little of its past remains, partly because that past was so glorious, as interesting and bountiful as the more familiar story of its sister beach community, Coney Island. I have a friend down there who owns one of the few remaining bungalows. How this community must have looked when there were rows upon rows of these lovely huts.

Brooklyn Post Office Lookin' Nifty

The grand downtown Brooklyn Post Office and Federal Bankruptcy Court has been swathed in scaffolding and netting for what seems like forever. But lately the encasements have been coming down and the work beneath is lovely to behold, both in its sparkling hue and delightful details.

It's taken a while. A renovation of the landmarked General Post Office building on Cadman Plaza was announced in 1999. The Postal Service had decamped a decade before, leaving the structure empty except for a post office branch in the ground floor. The government declared it would be expanded for Federal courtroom uses at a cost of $129 million.

The costs since then have tripled. And a schedule completion date of 2002 passed long ago.

The Romanesque Revival structure was built in 1892 as a Federal courthouse, from a design by Mifflin E. Bell, when Brooklyn was its own city, with an extension constructed in 1933 built by James A. Wetmore. Its historic features, including a skylight in the older section and the interior atrium that it overlooks, plaster columns, ceiling paintings, mahogany doors, signage, wainscotting and marble floors, have been restored to their original condition.