A Bespoke reader has confirmed that the historic club call The Nest has been demolished. This block located between ACP/7th Avenue and Lenox at West 133rd Street used to be Harlem's main underground jazz block back in the years of the Renaissance. Most of the other establishments were basically hidden within brownstones along the block while The Nest at No. 169 was a more formal club where the likes of Mae West hung out. If any one block needs a special historic designation in Harlem, West 133rd should be the one for being the area where jazz was first integrated uptown. Check out the video on Harlem's Speakeasy Street in our past post:
LINK
Wow. Another piece of Harlem history bites the dust. What a real shame.
ReplyDeleteIts a shame because Harlem Landowners do not take care of these buildings and they refuse to sell to responsible people they see as outsiders. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteA bit more on the Nest Club, which was apparently in the basement of the building. In addition to Mae West, Paul Whiteman was also a regular, as were Duke Ellington's sidemen, and a fair number of downtown mobsters.
ReplyDeleteApparently there was also an after-hours club above the Nest Club called The Madhouse.