The signs announcing that a new pharmacy will be arriving at the corner retail of the Malcolm Shabazz Mosque at 116th Street and Lenox have us wondering if that really is a good use for that particular space. Considering that CVS Pharmacy is directly diagonal to this location, how will having two similar businesses work out in such a close proximity? The mosque was built in 1965 and the former shop at the corner store looks to have been from that time period also. The news is great that the storefront will finally be renovated but success might be difficult since the new business will be competing against a mainstream drug store with more competitive pricing. Photos by Ulysses
The signs announcing that a new pharmacy will be arriving at the corner retail of the Malcolm Shabazz Mosque at 116th Street and Lenox have us wondering if that really is a good use for that particular space. Considering that CVS Pharmacy is directly diagonal to this location, how will having two similar businesses work out in such a close proximity? The mosque was built in 1965 and the former shop at the corner store looks to have been from that time period also. The news is great that the storefront will finally be renovated but success might be difficult since the new business will be competing against a mainstream drug store with more competitive pricing. Photos by Ulysses
It doesn't make any sense and a bit of a disappointment. A diner, or something along those lines would have been great.
ReplyDeleteThere's also a small pharmacy just up the road between 117 and 118.
ReplyDeleteYeah, its harder to figure. On many streets once you get uptown you have sometimes 3 or 4 bodegas on one block. Why do you need 3 and 4 of the same business on one block?
ReplyDeleteI sometimes wonder whether these operations are fronts for other businesses? There is a deli that opened near me that is constantly out of stock of basic items (i.e. fridge 3/4 empty of most drinks). I don't even bother going there anymore. How do these places stay open?
ReplyDeleteYes, I have my suspicions of these operations as well. I went into one once at a reasonable hour-about 12 noon and he had no change in the cash register and couldn't break my $5 bill. And you have to ask yourself, why 3 and 4 on one block? Why 2 and three beauty parlours who cater to the same clientel demographic on the same block?
ReplyDeleteAlthough, I must say there is considerable difference b/t CVS & Duane Reade.
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteTo the extent that you have some possibly well-founded suspicions about a particular business, it might be worth sending a tip for the Manhattan DA and/or New York AG offices to investigate the operation. Having a local front for criminal enterprise is obviously negative for a number of reasons -- including the loss of real estate for legitimate use in the community.
you all are getting a bit carried away here and it's a function of you being newcomers. you live in harlem, period. lots of merchants run their stores in an awful manner, it's that simple and not uncommon....in harlem. Such a naive crowd (this blog) & you Harlem newcomers. You come here and apply your knowledge and awareness of other places, to Harlem. Always a mistake. Listen up.
ReplyDeleteThis Pharmacy will make a ton of money. That tiny city of Projects almost across the street and down a block running the Length of Lenox...go check the numbers & density of public assistance & seniors.
Tax payer money fueling entitlement programs will flood this pharmacy, via those fellow Harlemites living in those projects.
90% of the revenues will come from some form of entitlement (tax payer) program, through the welfare class. When you don't have to pay for your medical care, you get lots of perscriptions, and pills for anything. This is how Harlem works. The kick backs go in lots of directions, There will be opportunities and incentives (under the table) to deter from CVS. Plus, people are lazy and don't want to walk one extra step.
Reynolds, you know what, that makes sense for the pharmacy. How do you explain hair/beauty places though, sometimes two or three within a block of each other? Maybe legit, but wonder how they all stay in business. Same goes for the Deli that never has anything in stock.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't make sense for the pharmacy. None of the pharmacys in Harlem are packed as Reynolds "knower of all, seer of all, expert in all things Harlem" 93 proposes. When will the rest of us on this blog learn...dont feed the troll!
ReplyDeleteI always assumed that some of the delis in the city are just fronts so that they can run drugs. They stack non-perishable items all the way up so that nobody can see through the windows and they probably aren't too careful about re-stocking the inventory of legal items that serve as their front. Don't think this is unique to Harlem, but maybe it explains some of the experiences people have had.
ReplyDeleteChris--your deli is either dealing drugs out the back or laundering drug money. Same ad our little "Brite Light" barbershop that gradually stopped cutting hair and then was padlocked by the DEA.
ReplyDeleteReynolds, it's the waning days of Summer. Go out. Go to a pool. Go for a walk in the Conservatory Garden or the waterfall in Morninside. Do something, man. Your brain is too dark a place to be healthy on such a sunny day.
I hope you all will forgive me for continuing to believe that our willingness to "apply knowledge and awareness of other places" is a positive thing.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, when it comes to addressing the kinds of longstanding dysfunctions that can become entrenched by social inertia, "outside" thinking is precisely the factor that is needed most.
To Chris, Greg, Barney, Polyanna, and all others: If you think something illegal is going on, call in a tip. Provide weekly updates with new information, if need be. Eventually, perhaps, the illicit purveyors in the neighborhood will have an opportunity of their own to build "awareness of other places" -- such as prison, or at least someplace outside Harlem.
Not even going to waste my time. 119th between Fifth and Lenox is an open crack market with gambling as an add on. Cops know it. Hell, the precinct is only two blocks east. Every now and again they roll through and harass for loitering. And every now and again they do a half assed bust which usually IS a bust. Saturday I came out of house and the gang was hooting and laughing their heads off--cops came and couldn't find the stash. Hell--even I know where the stash is.
ReplyDeleteIm willing to guess by pharmacy they me 99cent more or less store. They might have pharmacy they might not. also I think especially in that area there is a huge push to buy black.
ReplyDeleteI can't speak for the hair salons but I like having all the bodegas. You have your local one on the corner. The one with the best breakfast, the one that sells Sapple for 1.25. People uptown are loya to there bodega. I guess some of them could sell drugs but even if so that is not there primary business. There not sotcked because there not good business people. You get used to it. It's much better then being on the East side and looking for a diet Snapple under 3 bucks.
Corey Jace--real pharmacy. The awning is now up.
ReplyDeletePeople downtown are loyal to their bodegas too. This is not a revolutionary concept.
ReplyDelete***a reminder that user names must be posted for comments to remain on current threads.
ReplyDeleteRe the same sorts of businesses one the same block:
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember a New Yorker article two or three years ago about how this phenomenon is so common because it's so successful. Even more than the creation of a district (Museum Mile, Restaurant Row, the old Times Square, Harlem's own Jungle Alley back in the 1920s, etc.), apparently having two or three "Ray's Original Pizza" places per block downtown, for example, seems to draw more total customers...
Jonathan, I know. . .
ReplyDeleteTrust me, more than one crack dealer on my block.
But Pharmacy Corner just doesn’t do it for me.