ARCHITECTURE: GLASS AT THE MINK BUILDING

Harlem Bespoke: More progress is happening over at the Mink Building located just east of Amsterdam on 126th at the end of the year.  This entire block used to be part of a massive brewery complex a hundred years ago but Prohibition shut everything down in the earlier part of the 20th Century.  Legend would have it that a storage facility would come about by the Depression years and mink coats had been found within at one point in time.  Now a massive adaptive reuse project is underway and several stories are being added on top.  Glass for the windows have been installed in the past month and the aesthetic of the day is definitely old-meets-new.  There had been reports in the past that a boutique hotel will be the main anchor tenant but nothing has really been officially announced as of late.  More on the Mink Building can be found in our past post: LINK

HarlemBespoke.com 2018

☞ WALK: La Granja Live Poultry Market

A Bespoke reader inquired about the live poultry market on Amsterdam Avenue and 126th Street after perusing our post about the nearby Mink Building. The top two photos show the market in 1934 as the Antzis Brothers' Amsterdam Poultry Market. The business might have originally started in observance to the Jewish population in the early years of Harlem because of religious dictates. The top photo shows the Mink Building in the background while the center photo is a close-up of the same image. Today, the market is called La Granja ("the farm" in Spanish), where one can not only find chickens, but also goat meat, alluding to the Hispanic population that settled in this part of Manhattanville in the latter half of the 20th century. For those who are curious, one can actually peek into the business on warm days, at the 126th Street side of the building, and see the livestock. The nearest subway is the 1 train at the 125th Street station. To read more about the Mink Building, see our post early this week: LINK.  Archival photo via NYPL

INTRODUCING: NEW SIGN AT THE MINK BUILDING

The Mink Building on the corner of West 126th and Amsterdam now has a new sign out front of the iconic Manhattanville facade.  As the story goes, this huge industrial area was basically the site of brewery over a century ago but when Prohibition shut things down, the middle class used the building for storing such items as mink coats during the change of seasons.  This area also encompassed the former Taystee cake building which has been completely demolished but we not seen much progress on the site since then.  Another mention in the press was that a boutique hotel was coming to one of the buildings but the timeline is also still unclear for this concept: LINK

☞ SEE: Live Art at the Mink Building

Wednesday, March 2nd, 12:00 Noon at the Mink Building, 1361 Amsterdam and 126th Street. There will be a live art installation at the Mink Building where viewers will also become part of the exhibit by learning the traditional Gumboot Dance of South Africa. Participants will be taught choreography by a trained dancer, change into the uniforms provided and have the entire piece videotaped as a visual art record of the event.

Gumboot dancing was born in the gold mines of South Africa at the height of the migrant labor system and during the oppressive Apartheid Pass Laws. The gumboot dance (or Welly Boot dance) is performed by dancers wearing Wellington boots. Sometimes the boots had bells added, to ring as the dancers stamp on the ground. This dance was often used as a code or system of calling to say something to another person a distance away. It acted in place of language among those working in the mining grounds.  Gumboot dancing can be seen today in the tourist areas of South Africa and viewers of this unique exhibit will be able to participate in the long standing tradition. Admission is $35 for this event and may be purchased on TicketWeb: LINK

CONSTRUCTION: NEW HEIGHTS AT MINK BUILDING

Harlem Bespoke:  A huge crane is now hovering over by the Mink Building just east of Amsterdam on 126th Street and construction has really been picking up.  It has been a couple a months since we last checked and another level appears to have been completed.  If all goes to plan, there will be 9 floors total when everything finishes up and a boutique hotel has been rumored to be part of the development.  More on the Mink Building can be found in our past post: LINK

HarlemBespoke.com 2018

ARCHITECTURE: MORE AT THE MINK BUILDING

Harlem Bespoke:  Another major construction boom is happening uptown in 2018 and many developments that have taken years to plan are finally moving along.  The new addition on top of the Mink Building located just east of Amsterdam by 126th Street is one such endeavor and now can be seen at many vantage points.  Viewing the construction from the 125th Street train station on Broadway, one can ascertain that the structure has become one of the more visible buildings within the West Harlem skyline.  It is still unclear if this new addition will become a hotel but rumors still persist: LINK

HarlemBespoke.com 2018

REMEMBER: THE BERNHEIMER & SCHWARTZ BREWERY

Harlem Bespoke: We are reposting one of the original Bespoke articles from a decade ago with updated photos since the Mink Building has become one of the Harlem developments to look out for in 2021.  Note that the archival image is an exclusive to the blog and should not be reproduced without permission. The mention of the brewery is also outdated since that development did not eventually happen.

CONSTRUCTION: NEW ADDITION AT THE MINK BUILDING

Harlem Bespoke:  There had been some facade work at the corner section of the Mink Building on 127th and Amsterdam in the past year and it appears that some of that work has been revealed as of late.   New windows seem to be the order of the day but not everything is exactly the same as the original.  Black brick have been placed over the most west facing section and two windows have also been consolidated in the mix.  We are not sure of why all the mismatching details have been installed since the red brick is pretty standard to fix up on any give day. Check out the only existing old render of the former brewery building in our past post: LINK

HarlemBespoke.com 2020

☞ REVIVE: Renovations at the Mink Building

The Mink Building in West Harlem went through some major renovations on the east wing this past year and now all the scaffolding has gone down.  Walking past this section of 126th by Amsterdam recently, we noticed that brand new arched doorways have been installed on the lower floors.  An art studio called Chashama has been housed here for several years but now the installation can be seen in full view.  There's still a lot of space to be rented here but nothing major has come along as of yet.  Check out the old images of this historic building when it was Harlem's major beer factory over a century ago: LINK

☞ REVIVE: A Boutique Hotel for Manhattanville?

The area over by the Mink Building has big plans for it already but could a boutique hotel be arriving soon on West 126th Street?  We had a tip come in over the weekend that a deal had closed for a building connected to the main Mink Building warehouse on Amsterdam.  Seeing that we have been by the block many times, it was odd to us that any hotel could arrive at the relatively low rise structures that were attached next door.

After walking by the area again, we noticed a couple of permits that might verify that a large establishment could be arriving soon.  DOB paperwork approved in the past few months for 461 West 126th Street show that two of the smaller (possibly former stables) are currently being combined and the height will almost double to 9 stories.  Currently about 48,500 square feet exist between the buildings and the pending vertical addition will set the final total at 88,400 square feet.

One of the very notable downtown boutique hotels had been connected to the project but we could not find any details online to confirm this information.  With that said, we alway thought that the industrial sections of Manhattanville looked like the Meat Packing District and could eventually be revitalized as a destination spot if the right businesses arrived.

As previously reported, the empty parking lots across the street were recently sold to developers with talks of a hotel rising also: LINK

Then there is that beer manufacturing center planned just across the street from this intersection: LINK

This of course is all a couple of blocks away from Columbia's new $6.3 billion campus currently rising over on Broadway and 125th: LINK

CONSTRUCTION: THE MINK BUILDING 2018

Harlem Bespoke: There has been more activity over at the Mink Building at 461 West 126th Street as of late but we still do not know what is going on with the former beer factory building by Amsterdam Avenue.  Another floor has been rising over at the annex and more scaffolding has been placed up on site which might mean that some ambitious plans are finally happening.  Past DOB permits had mentioned that 9 floors will be completed when all finishes up but it is unclear if this and the rumored hotel will actually be coming about: LINK

HarlemBespoke.com 2018

REMEMBER: THE BERNHEIMER & SCHWARTZ BREWERY

Harlem Bespoke: We are reposting one of the original Bespoke articles from a decade ago with updated photos since the Mink Building has become one of the Harlem developments to look out for in 2021.  Note that the archival image is an exclusive to the blog and should not be reproduced without permission. The mention of the brewery is also outdated since that development did not eventually happen.

CONSTRUCTION: SCAFFOLDING AT MINK BUILDING

Harlem Bespoke: What is going on with the Mink Building on Amsterdam and 126th Street?  We walked by the former brewery on the eastern border of Manhattanville and noticed that some major scaffolding had been installed out front.  Since the site has never been made an official landmark, this might mean some drastic alterations might be happening so we checked out the DOB website.  It turns out just minor infrastructure alterations within and some window upgrades are being made at this point in time.  This is now the only intact industrial building on the block since the Taystee factory site was demolished a few years ago to make way for a new glassy addition to the neighborhood: LINK

HarlemBespoke.com 2019

INTRODUCING: A COFFEE ROASTER IN MANHATTANVILLE

Harlem Bespoke:  We just received a press announcement that a major anchor tenant will be arriving to one of the storefronts by the Mink Building in Manhattanville.  Plowshares Coffee Roasters, one of the leading specialty coffee roasters in the New York Metropolitan region, has relocated its headquarters and operations from Hillburn, New York in Rockland County to the Manhattanville Factory District in West Harlem.  The location is actually next to the poultry shop on Amsterdam by  126th Street and heralds the return of commercial industry to the area.

This 3,600 square foot space, located at 1351 Amsterdam Avenue between West 125th and 126th Streets, will open soon and includes over 1,100 square feet for retail customers with ample space for seating and community overlooking a 1940’snewly-refurbished vintage 22 KiloProbat roasting operation and espresso lab. Rich maple walls, tables, stools and benches within the cafe were repurposed from the new Malt House development across the street. The West Harlem community and many new tenants of the Manhattanville Factory District will enjoy what appears to be the most beautiful café in New York.

Jerry Salama, Principal of The Janus Property Company, developer of the Manhattanville Factory District, said Plowshares is a wonderful addition to the neighborhood, which includes the Sweets and Mink Buildings, as well as the 200,000 rsf Malt House and 350,000 rsf Taystee Building, both now under construction and scheduled for completion in 2019 and 2020, respectively.   For Plowshare Coffee employment opportunities, visit: jobs@plowsharescoffee.com

HarlemBespoke.com 2019

☞ REMEMBER: Bernheimer & Schwartz Brewery

We are reposting this article from a couple of years back with updated photos since the Mink Building has become one of the Harlem developments to look our for in 2013.

 A rare old illustration from around the turn of the last century shows Manhattanville's Bernheimer & Schwartz Brewery building as it stood in full capacity on the blocks between today's West 126th and 128th Street over on Amsterdam Avenue. What's fascinating about the surrounding block are the stables which remain intact in various sections on both side streets.  The brewery was apparently also a major distributor and thus the horse stables on both sides of the street would have made sense. Later on, the brewery would shutter and the building would become a storage warehouse for furs and thus has been named the Mink Building in more modern times.  Interestingly enough, a new brewery will be opening up in Harlem across the street from this location in about a year's time.

So what ever happen to Mr. Bernheimer and Mr. Schwartz?  Looking back at an old New York Times article from 1911, it appears that the beer barons made their exits in a dramatic fashion before the factory would shut down during the Prohibition years of the 1920's. The unmarried Simon Bernheimer was part of a wealthy brewing dynasty but six years after his Harlem factory opened, he died of a stroke at the age of 62 while taking the opportunity to play the bass drums at a social event. Bernheimer's  partner Anton Scwhartz evidently committed suicide the year before after the untimely death of his 24-year-old-son. More details in the Times from 1911: LINK.

ARCHITECTURE: MORE GLASS AT THE MINK BUILDING

Harlem Bespoke:  The glass was just starting to be installed the last time we checked on the construction at the Mink Building complex in Manhattanville and now everything looks like it will be completed soon out front.  From what we can see thus far,  it appears that on a couple of levels at the top remains unfinished at the adaptive reuse development in Manhattanville.  With that said, it is still unclear on what the end use will be for the modern mix of architecture located just east of Amsterdam on West 126th Street.  More on this development can be found in our past post: LINK

HarlemBespoke.com 2019

READ: SOHO HOUSE STYLE IN MANHATTANVILLE

We mentioned a year ago that a boutique hotel was arriving in Manhattanville based on an insider conversation and it now appears that a couple of former executives of Soho House will be replicating a similar hospitality concept in West Harlem.  This new development will part of the Mink Building complex over on 126th Street just east of Amsterdam and will be called Uptown House.  Amenities will include a restaurant and also the rooftop swimming pool that has made the downtown location quite famous.  No timeline has been established yet for the 40-room hotel but this could really be a dramatic change for this old  industrial part of Harlem in the upcoming years.  More in the New York Post: LINK

REVIVE: CONSTRUCTION AT GAVIN BROWN

We walked by the industrial area of Manhattanville by the Mink Building last week and noticed quite a few construction workers within one to the street level storefronts adding on drywall to the interior.  A passerby mentioned that this would be the Gavin Brown gallery in Harlem which made some headlines several months ago.  This block on 126th Street just east of Amsterdam has been slowly over the past decade changing into what might just one day be the next West Chelsea and the arrival of the famous Gavin Brown gallery could be the game changer.  For those who are not in the art world, this move by the iconic downtown establishment is basically akin to Barney's moving uptown for retail.  Mr. Brown has been a Harlem resident for several years and with downtown retail spaces now being too expensive for even the bigger names in the art world, it only makes sense to head further up north.  More on Gavin Brown's move to Harlem can be found in our past post: LINK

☞ DRINK: Coquito Masters 2012 Qualifier Event

Saturday, December 8th, 6:00PM-8:30PM, Hosting International Coquito Masters 2012 Qualifier Event at The Mink Building, 1361 Amsterdam Avenue, corner of 127th Street, Suite 340. Who makes the best coquito? Coquito is often referred to as Puerto Rican eggnog, but it is a global drink rich in all things coconut. Cinnamon from India, vanilla from South America, nutmeg and cloves from the Banda Islands and rum from the Caribbean. It is a distant cousin to posset (England) rompope (Costa Rica, El Salvador and Mexico) rompopo (Guatemala and Honduras) punch de crème (Trinidad and Tobago) and cola de mono (Chile).

It is a metaphor for Puerto Ricans who themselves are a blend of indigenous Taino Indian, African and European heritages. Traditionally the beverage is served during the Christmas and Three Kings Day holidays. For the past ten years Coquito Masters founder, Deborah Quinones, has been holding an annual coquito making contest that seeks to find the best coquito maker in the region. The event continues to grow each year and is held at community based centers in the tri-state area. Help bring in the holidays by joining us at this year’s Coquito qualifiers’ contest at SoHarlem; Creative Outlet. Come taste and be the judge of who goes on to the final competition or join the competition if you have your own special coquito by contacting: COQUITOMASTERS@GMAIL.COM

READ: ONLY DESIGN STUDIO IN MANHATTANVILLE

There was a great article recently on the blog High Snobiety about one local business that ended grow so large in the past few years that they now have a whole facility in far west Manhattanville.  ONLY NY design studios, showroom and warehouse shipping are all located in whats left of the factory district by 12th Avenue.  Columbia University has demolished most of the area for a new campus so this sort of business just lucked out on getting such a space in Manhattan. With that said, there are still a few factory warehouses east of Broadway and over by Amsterdam by the Mink Building.  Maybe one day, more organic growth local startups like ONLY can continually build up the local economy in the future within this traditionally industrial part of Harlem.  More on the article can be found here: LINK