REMEMBER: THE PINK ANGEL ON ST. NICHOLAS AVENUE

Harlem Bespoke: In celebration of Pride Month, HB will be revisiting some of the great history of uptown's LGBT legacy that goes back to the Renaissance years. This article was previously published back in 2015 and reveals the range of diversity in Harlem seldom covered by the mainstream media.  Since the article was written, St. Nick's Pub was gutted and demolished soon after a fire destroyed most of the townhouse building 4 years ago. 

REMEMBER: THE PINK ANGEL ON ST. NICHOLAS AVENUE

Harlem Bespoke: In celebration of Pride Month, HB will be revisiting some of the great history of uptown's LGBT legacy that goes back to the Renaissance years. This article was previously published back in 2015 and reveals the range of diversity in Harlem seldom covered by the mainstream media.  Since the article was written, St. Nick's Pub was gutted and demolished soon after a fire destroyed most of the townhouse building 4 years ago. 

REMEMBER: THE PINK ANGEL ON ST. NICHOLAS

Harlem Bespoke: In celebration of Pride Month, HB will be revisiting some of the great history of uptown's LGBT legacy that goes back to the Renaissance years. This article was previously published back in 2015 and reveals the range of diversity in Harlem seldom covered by the mainstream media.

Before it was known as St. Nick's Pub, the storefront at Number 773 St. Nicholas Avenue was formerly called the Pink Angel in the 1950s.   This fanciful name change from the original Lucky's Rendezvous might have happened because the jazz establishment by 148th Street was a major LGBT hangout during the post Renaissance years.  Harlem gay icon James Baldwin was known to frequent the joint on Sugar Hill and local papers mentioned that male couples would often be seen together inside.

By the time the 60s rolled around the legendary establishment would become St. Nick's Pub but would once again close again once the aughts finished up in the next century.  Word on the street is that the owner of the building and club does not want to sell so it might be some time before St. Nick's opens again.  More on Lucky's can be found in our past post: LINK

HarlemBespoke.com 2017

REMEMBER: THE PINK ANGEL ON ST. NICHOLAS

Before it was known as St. Nick's Pub, the storefront at Number 773 St. Nicholas Avenue was formerly called the Pink Angel in the 1950s.   This fanciful name change from the original Lucky's Rendezvous might have happened because the jazz establishment by 148th Street was a major LGBT hangout during the post Renaissance years.  Harlem gay icon James Baldwin was known to frequent the joint on Sugar Hill and local papers mentioned that male couples would often be seen together inside.

By the time the 60s rolled around the legendary establishment would become St. Nick's Pub but would once again close again once the aughts finished up in the next century.  Word on the street is that the owner of the building and club does not want to sell so it might be some time before St. Nick's opens again.  More on Lucky's can be found in our past post: LINK

LOST DECADE: ST. NICK'S PUB

Harlem Bespoke:  As we enter 2020 there is a lot to look forward to but also some reflection on the past years.  There have been great gains for historic Harlem since two new additional landmark districts were extended but some of the legendary buildings did not do so well.  Churches that sold to developers mostly threw away the past but a couple of the protected landmark sites did fare better.

First up is St. Nick's Pub at 733 St. Nicholas Avenue which had to be demolished in 2018 because of a fire caused by a Hollywood production company filming a period piece that was just released this winter.  A fireman tragically died in the efforts to put out the inferno and the structural damage was too great to let what was left of the building to remain standing. This iconic club just south of 149th Street has been in this location for decades with ties back to the Renaissance years and James Baldwin favored visiting the bar when it was called The Pink Angel back in 1950s.

There might actually be some good news here since the building is an official landmark within the Sugar Hill Historic district and could be rebuilt to replicate what was lost.  This has actually happened before in Harlem and this is a smaller structure which requires less financing to achieve such an endeavor.  Since St. Nick's was the last remaining club on the hill to still be intact, redeveloping the empty lot to restore what was lost still makes a lot of sense in this new era.  More photos of the building during the week of the fire in our original post: LINK

HarlemBespoke.com 2020

SEE: FILMING AT OLD ST. NICK'S PUB

Harlem Bespoke: We received a couple of tips this week that mentioned some activity over at the former St. Nick's pub by 149th Street.  Those who have been in the neighborhood more than a minute know that the jazz lounge shuttered back in 2011 and was a sort of an unofficial landmark of the neighborhood which had been running since the Renaissance years.  One local resident actually took a photo of the interior on this occasion and sent it over to be published.

CONSTRUCTION: ACTIVITY AT FORMER ST. NICK'S PUB

Harlem Bespoke: We walked by the former site of St. Nick's Pub recently and noticed some activity at the lot on St. Nicholas Avenue by 149th Street.  Earlier on in the year there was a lot of scaffolding and netting placed between the two buildings shown but now only one support beam remains.  A digger vehicle was at the location earlier on in the season but is unclear to whether any new plans have been put in place to restore the landmark Sugar Hill architecture.  There are no new permits on the DOB site but sometimes those filings take time to be posted online.  More about St. Nick's Pub can be found in our past post: LINK

HarlemBespoke.com 2020

REMEMBER: ST. NICK'S PUB ON SUGAR HILL

Harlem Bespoke: The above photo shows the former address of St. Nick's Pub which was eventually demolished after a tragic fire back in March.  Now only memories remain but there has not really been a lot of documentation on the evenings at the jazz joint which has been opened at this location since the late Harlem Renaissance years.  With that said, one photographer did capture some of the nightlife in the late 90s and the Times has published several images in a short, pictorial essay back in May.  It is unclear if St. Nick's or the building will ever be rebuilt but those who want to take a step back in time should check out the article: LINK

HarlemBespoke.com 2018

☞ REMEMBER: Boudoir Houses of St. Nicholas

Christopher Gray of the Times recently reviewed the history of the beautiful bay front townhouses found at St. Nicholas Avenue on Sugar Hill and yet did not mention the notable establishments that would eventually be set up in some of the storefronts found there within. Number 757 to 775 St. Nicholas Avenue were all built in 1895 as mostly single family estates with elegant stoops but those said structures would later be replaced by storefronts. This row of homes located between 148th and 149th Street housed mostly wealthier white families in the earliest part of the 20th century and eventually ushered in a couple of iconic establishments once the neighborhood demographics shifted during the Renaissance years.

Within the 1940s, the famous Jimmy's Chicken Shack would debut on the hill at a former stoop and the first incarnation of St. Nick's Pub would come about.  Jimmy's Chicken Shack was at Number 763 St. Nicholas and was apparently Malcolm X's favorite restaurant and the young Harlem resident reportedly lived in the building.  At number 773 St. Nicholas, Lucky's Rendezvous would also open up by the 1940's and evidently served as a gay-friendly jazz spot for the first couple of decades of its incarnation but eventually would become today's St. Nick's Pub by the 1960s: LINK

Read more on about the history of this block in the Times: LINK

☞ REMEMBER: The Lost Clubs of Sugar Hill

UPDATE: St. Nick's has since burned downed after this article was originally written: LINK

The Sugar Hill Historic District in Hamilton Heights probably has the largest cluster of old Harlem lounges still intact but no longer in business.  Just west of St. Nicholas Avenue on 148th Street, one will find the old sign for 400 Tavern but that storefront evidently has been abandoned since the 70s.  Then there is Lundy's on St. Nicholas and 147th Street which still has the signage up also but has long been empty.  Out of the 7 bars that used to be on the hill in the upper 140s, only St. Nick's Pub has survived in recent times but was shuttered a couple of years ago because of management issues.

We have also heard of Jimmy's Chicken Shack of which was frequented by Malcolm X  but have not heard the names of the last three.  Does anyone know the rest of the missing Sugar Hill pubs?

REMEMBER: THE LOST CLUBS OF SUGAR HILL

Harlem Bespoke: Our original article from 2013 reveals how Sugar Hill in West Harlem had quite a few clubs back in the day.  These were located within townhouses commercial spaces in Hamilton Heights and were not huge venues like Small's Paradise or the Cotton Club in Central Harlem.  St. Nick's has since burned downed after this article was originally written and only two major signs are left in the neigborhood.

REMEMBER: THE LOST CLUBS OF SUGAR HILL

Harlem Bespoke: Our original article from 2013 reveals how Sugar Hill in West Harlem had quite a few clubs back in the day.  These were located within townhouses commercial spaces in Hamilton Heights and were not huge venues like Small's Paradise or the Cotton Club in Central Harlem.  St. Nick's has since burned downed after this article was originally written and only two major signs are left in the neigborhood.

☞ REMEMBER: Sugar Hill's Poosepahtuck Club

The space at the shuttered Sugar Hill jazz joint known as St. Nick's Pub was the oldest jazz spot in Harlem which has stayed open over the decades.  Number 773 St. Nicholas Avenue was originally called the Pooseepahtuck Night Club back in 1935 which debuted on Sugar Hill a good 4 years earlier than Lenox Lounge on Lenox Avenue.  St. Nick's Pub closed a few years back and apparently the owner plans for a comeback but the deteriorating state of the facade over the years does not bode well for the future of the space.  If a new owner came in to revive the spot, that probably would be the best thing to happen to keep the place running but it is unclear if the current proprietor would ever make this move.  More about the various names of St. Nicks can be found in our previous post: LINK

READ: FIRE AT ST. NICK'S PUB

Harlem Bespoke: Filming started for a 1920s period piece at the site of St. Nick's Pub on St. Nicholas by 149th Street in the past week but last night a fire ripped through the local landmark.  We walked by the address this morning and saw that the surrounding block had been sectioned off by firetrucks and police vehicles.

☞ REMEMBER: Lucky's Rendezvous

The venue known today as St. Nick's Pub originally started out as a jazz venue called Lucky's Rendezvous and was apparently very popular with Harlem's gay community in the 1940s.  Lucky's was opened by Lucky Roberts who had the distinction of being Duke Ellington's piano player.

This spot at 773 St. Nicholas Avenue and 148th Street had all the jazz greats stop by and perform but the boîte also had one notable publication of the time pointing out that "male couples are so commonplace . . . that no one looks twice at them." Rumor has it that Marlon Brando frequented Lucky's quite often after James Baldwin introduced him to the spot.  Lucky's Rendezvous would later become the Pink Angel in the 1950s and then finally St. Nick's by the 1960s.

☞ LISTEN: Progress at St. Nick's Pub?

St. Nick's Pub up on Sugar Hill has been shuttered since this past summer for various violations but the jazz venue might be opening again soon.  A Bespoke reader sent in a tip that they walked by the establishment located between 148th and 149th Street on St. Nicholas Avenue and saw work being done to the interior. A gentleman on site was asked if there was any new development and our reader was told that they plan to open once more in the near future.  The music venue planned to open again sometimes last year and when that did not happen, most imagined that another Harlem icon would vanish soon. Does anyone have any other updates?

☞ LISTEN: Will St. Nick's Pub Open Again?

With this week's news that Minton's will be opening again hopefully by Spring 2012, a reader inquired about the shuttered St. Nick's Pub up on Sugar Hill and how might one help out in this particular situation. The jazz joint between 148th and 149th Street on St. Nicholas Avenue is one one of the oldest continuously running Jazz venues uptown (albeit under various names since the 1930s) and was closed by the Health Department in February of this year.  Reports had it that the owners met with the city agency to discuss the fines but another inspection has not been rescheduled according to this article: LINK.  Based on the clubs Facebook site, the proprietors last mentioned that they were still renovating back in June and will be open soon: LINK.  So it does seem like something will eventually happen but progress appears to be coming along at a slow pace.

☞ READ: St. Nick's Pub in the Times

The Times has a follow up on the closing of St. Nick's Pub on Sugar Hill and provides a little background on why the historic jazz club has failed to open again.  Basically everything ended back in 2011 when the city shut down the business on 149th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue because it was operating without a liquor license.  Back in 2010, the owner passed away and her son took over but was not able to renew the license. Talks of renovating the space and opening in fall has been floating about but without a liquor license, there does not appear to be hope that the venue will open anytime soon.  This family business also owns the building so the overhead does not seem to be the problem here: LINK

☞ LISTEN: What's Up with St. Nick's Pub?

A reader mentioned that St. Nick's Pub up on St. Nicholas Avenue and 149th has had a "temporarily closed" sign out front for the past week or so.   The live music venue has been open since 1940 and doesn't appear to have been renovated in the past couple of decades so let's hope they are just reorganizing at this point. Does anyone know what is going on with the this Harlem jazz institution?

☞ READ: The Japanese Gentleman of St. Nick's

We had covered the new Japanese jazz musicians that were playing in the clubs uptown, but the New York Times had a story today on the more famous Japanese jazz enthusiast that has lived in Harlem for the past 25 years. Tommy Tomita, now 71, has a reserved table at St. Nick's Pub every Friday night, and Amy Ruth's has a chicken and waffles dish named after the ex-pat. Mr. Tomita had owned a chain of jazz clubs in Japan, but closed shop in the 1980's and eventually moved to Harlem (right above Perk's jazz lounge, second photo). The Japanese gentleman today provides Harlem jazz tours for other enthusiast who are visiting from his home country. We found the article also interesting since it talks a little about the tough years when Mr. Tomita first moved to Harlem and was not so welcomed by the public at large. Read more in the NY Times: LINK. See our past post on the Japanese talent in Harlem: LINK. Photos by Ulysses