☞ REMEMBER: Connie's Inn Circa 1923

The building that housed the legendary Connie's Inn, at the corner of 131st and ACP/7th Avenue, probably looks the same as it did in the early prohibition jazz years of the the 20's and 30's. One can see the famous jazz club at the far right of the top photo with the Lafayette Theatre at center (click to enlarge). The current photo shows the supermarket that resides at number 2271 7th Avenue, the same site of the former speakeasy owned by Conrad Immerman, and one can see that the church that took over the Lafayette Theater removed all the original facade details on that famous institution (far left of lower photo).

The Cotton Club, Small's Paradise and Connie's Inn were probably the most famous clubs during the jazz golden years of Harlem but there's not much left to indicate their former glory. The original Cotton Club was demolished sometimes in the mid 20th century to make way for public housing, Small's Paradise is now an IHOP and Connie's is a C-town. Archival photo courtesy of NYPL. . Current photo by Ulysses