Harvey's Chelsea House Recalled By Former Waiter

Two weeks ago, I reminisced about the long gone Harvey's Chelsea House. One week ago, I published the reminiscences of a couple readers who remembers the bygone Chelsea landmark. Now I have a lengthy memory shared by a former Harvey's Chelsea House waiter! Here it is:

Thanks for covering one of the great NYC institutions of the 70's and 80's. I was a waiter at Harvey's from 1977 into the early 80's. Some more details that you might not be aware of - or might enjoy remembering:

Sandy Dennis did come into Harvey's regularly. In fact, I remember working a late lunch shift on one of those cloudy Manhattan days when the sky suddenly opens up and a wall of water descends suddenly and with very little warning. Sandy Dennis must've been in the neighborhood and totally got caught in the downpour. She came running into Harvey's practically drowned holding a newspaper (fast becoming paper mache) over her head. In her haste she practically ran into me and we both started laughing like school kids. I said "Honey, I am sorry, but you look just like you did in 'The Out-of-Towners.'"

We also had a number of other celebrity regulars in those days... I remember waiting on Rock Hudson, the late great Lynn Thigpen, Pamela Reed... the costume shop Brookes Van Horn was located around the corner. And a lot of those people ate lunch at Harvey's Norma "the bead lady," Academy Award-winning designer Ann Roth, designer Gary Jones. 

Dick Harvey was one of the best employers and restaurant owners I have ever met in my life. He was fair, generous and once you had proven yourself, you were part of his family. And that family was diverse—most of the waiters (all men) were gay, the kitchen was Chinese, the bartenders were straight and the busboys were Egyptian.

Oh, a bit of historical detail—I believe 108 W. 18th St., aka Harvey's, was one of the original Annhauser-Busch bars. The first floor was the original space, then Dick opened up the basement as a private event dining room (JFK Jr. came to a bachelor party held there one night). Dick loved historical detail—and there was a barbers' chair in that area that Louis B. Mayer had gotten his regular haircut in. (I think Dick also purchased Gloria Swanson's classic Rolls Royce which he drove and his wife would sit in the back). Dick also expanded onto the second and third floors of the building recreating the look and feel of the main floor—paneling to match the honduras mahoganny, brass fixtures and beveled mirrors. The second floor was regularly used for dining and the third floor was used mostly for private events. Dick had an elevator put in to expedite getting the food up to the third floor and to save the waiters' and busboys' backs.

Hope you've enjoyed this trip down memory lane your article inspired.

Peter L.

Bring Out Your Dead: 2012 Roundup of Lost New York City Landmarks

Every year since I began this blog has seemed like a bad year for New York landmarks, with too many classic restaurants, bars and stores falling under the steamroller of progress. But somehow 2012 feels like one of the worst. Maybe that's because of the exceeding quality of the places that have closed. Any year that includes the exit of such irreplaceable establishments as Bill's Gay Nineties, Prime Burger, Donovan's Pub, Lascoff Drugs, Colony Music and Manganaro Grosseria Italiana has to be counted a black year. So, here is the final sad and sorrowful tally. 

Read more »

Final Images of the Lost Lenox Lounge

Harlem's historic Lenox Lounge—Manhattan cradle of jazz and deco—closes on Dec. 31. A circumstance of infinite regret. If you didn't make it up there during the boite's last weeks, please enjoy these photos from my final visit.

Read more »

Heimesch Coffee Shop

The individuality of New York's many neighborhood is one of the City's great strengths. Only in Orthodox Jewish Borough Park (and maybe a couple other areas) would the coffee shop arm of a gas station be called the Heimesche Coffee Shop. For those who don't know their Yiddish, Heimesch (also spelled Haimish) means cozy or homey. This particular coffee shop doesn't look very cozy. But what the hell. It's the intention, right?

Harvey's Chelsea House Remembered by Readers

I posted last week about the bygone Olde New York restaurant Harvey's Chelsea House. Since then, a couple readers have shared their memories of the place. This has been gratifying, as I had assumed that nobody remembered the place. (I've never seen it written about since it closed twenty years ago.)

Maximum Bob wrote:

This used to be my main hangout. I used to work out at a gym a block away and would hit the bar afterwards for a burger and a beer. It was an elegant, grownup place. The night before I got married, my best friends and I came here for dinner and drinks.This was the 80's. I will never forget Harvey's and that time in general. If I could go back in time I would jettison this age of mediocrity in a nanosecond.

And Lionel said: 

It was a great place with one of the finest bars I spent time bellying up to. It had two old fashioned cash registers that were functioning and used. Some very talented artist did an oil painting that depicted the bar and was beautifully accurate. I was heartbroken when it was no more. I would occasionally see the actress Sandy Dennis in the back having a sandwich. Interestingly, many of the bartenders, and or owners, always referred to the bars that they worked at as ‘the store,’ kind of a holdover from old New York. It was a truly beautiful barroom.

Sandy Dennis was a regular?! I love the memory of the place even more now.

A Perfect Storefront: Elias Shoe Repair & Shine

It's a bit a of given in my universe that shoe repair shops often make for perfect storefronts—because they are compact; because they pack a lot of visual stimuli in their windows and doors; and because they rarely change over the decades (there is little business incentive to refurbish such a humble business.) Elias Shoe Repair is on W. 72nd Street on the Upper West Side.

Christmas in Kensington

This rather elaborate display of lit up angels and trees lines the borders of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Kensington. It's quite a sight at night.

Scary Christmas

The residents of Cobble Hill know well the house on the corner of Kane and Strong Place's habit of impaling dozens of small jack o'lanterns of the spikes of its wrap-around cast iron fence every Halloween. And they know how the owners of that house leave the pumpkins there to slowly decompose as the days dwindle down to a precious few. Jack and his brothers are looking pretty haunting these days, some eight weeks after Oct. 31. Still, I'd like to put a Santa hat on each and every one of them.

Gargiulo's at Christmastime

I recently went down to Gargiulo's, which was damaged by Hurricane Sandy, to show some support and have a meal. The century-old restaurant was shuttered for a few weeks, after flood waters soaked the property, which lies just a block from the boardwalk in Coney Island. The lobby was deluged and the water reached as high as a foot above the elevated dining room. But the owners worked fast to open up, not wanting to lose out on holiday business.

The lobby bar is still under renovation, hidden behind a wall. This gives the foyer a more truncated look, taking away from the expansive feel you expect at Gargiulo's. But the dining room is in full working order, complete with lavish Christmas decorations. The service and food was excellent, as always.

A Good Sign: Gramercy Cafe

Get rid of the awning. The neon sign is all this cafe needs. In Gramercy Park.