We walked by the old Lenox Lounge space today and noticed some new graffiti on the doorway that sums up the way many people feel about how some of the new businesses have been handling the entire historic preservation situation. Granted in the Lenox Lounge situation, the new owner of the lease actually wanted to restore the facade but the old tenant removed everything from the building before that could happen. Check out our past post for more on what happened at Lenox Lounge:
LINK
This is a very interesting situation. I saw that grafitti earlier and I must say that it was "arresting." I'm not easily impressed but this stopped me in my tracks and I just stared for a long time. Old time & younger Harlemites are not pleased with how this has played out especially since the current owner of Lenox Lounge is a true Harlemite (born & raised). He grew up with my dad & his siblings on West 133rd Street and my late father's siblings have a special place in their hearts for the Lenox Lounge. Its sort of the "local boy done good..." cliche at work. I know the new arrivals to Harlem, especially the young ones have very little room in their personas and their hearts for sentiment but there are so many of us old timers and old, old timers here who remember these old institutions and when we see things like this and reminisce about these things it makes your heart bleed to see it shuttered. I remember when the Baby Grand went, I almost cried 'cause thats the spot my parents had their wedding reception in 1955. An uncle had his wedding reception at the Renaissance Ballroom in 1957 and I remember it as if it was yesterday cause I was the ring bearer. One of my greatest joys was being able to point these spots out to my own kids and say; "...thats where your grandparents were married., etc."
ReplyDeletePart of all this dysfunction is partly our fault but historically we've been a people without much of a voice and without much of the requisite "heft" to be able to affect any significant change on our own behalf. Some of this dysfunction has its genesis in slavery; a pernicious institution for which we, generations later are still adversely affected by and hold on to the vestiges of. Yes, there are those who say, and say out loud, "...well you should have bought when you had the chance." And they are right, but even then the deck was stacked against us. And those that did buy when it was do-able aren't really fairing that much better. So one goes forward and hopes and prays for the best. But the best never comes and this is the result. The "hard heartidness" and inhumanity of some of the new arrivals is just hard to absorb. Its situations like the Lenox Lounge where I truly believe that Harlem has lost its soul. It really did have one once upon a time.
Looks like James Weldon Johnson has finally got his question answered.
Thank you Greg. Everyone always appreciates your insight since you have generational family history in Harlem. There appears to be two types of newcomers to Harlem. Those who appreciate the history and those who just want to "move things foreward." Somewhere there is a balance which does not seem to be happening. Unfortunately as you mentioned, many of the historic Harlem landmarks were torn down or dismantled even prior to this past decade of change. Somehow folks in Harlem talk about the history but not much has been done to protect the cultural landmarks. The Cotton Club, Renaissance Ballroom, The Lafayette Theatre, The Savoy (just to name a few) all had been torn down for progress many decades ago. Even The Nest, which could have just been an adaptive reuse project, was torn down for a communty center in recent years. Maybe a lot of newcomers are indifferent in their attitudes but the majority of the landmarks disappeared before their arrival.
ReplyDeleteI've been in Hamilton Heights for four years now (so I would most certainly be considered a 'newcomer'), but it made my heart bleed (thanks for the perfect wording, Greg--and the rest of your beautiful post) to see St. Nick's and then Lenox Lounge close. So many newcomers not only appreciate the history, but dread seeing it go just as much as the old timers do.
ReplyDeleteI read the comments and while I appreciate your comments Greg, I do not think it is fair to say that newcomers have no room for sentiment and the US vs Them is a bit hard to take at times, "newcomers" have not ruined Harlem, Harlem ruined Harlem. I have been here almost 10 years now and I can remember when to get vegetables I had to go downtown. When I moved here just about every street had crumbling decrepit, empty brownstones now many of those streets have occupied rehabilitated brownstones. Families of all races actually want to live in Harlem, how is this a bad thing?
ReplyDeleteRe the old establishments, I went to Lenox Lounge many times and the food was awful, the service was crap and let's be honest as a venue it was not stellar. The previous tenant chose to rip the place apart to spite the new tenant who wanted to refurbish the space and bring back some of its splendour, just another case of Harlem ruining itself not newcomers ruining Harlem.
I have met quite a few folks who maintained their homes and businesses during the blight and on the whole they are happy to see what is going on because they have great supermarkets, good places to eat and they feel a zillion times safer.
David, perhaps a more critical re-read of my post will assist you. In the meantime your comments are appreciated.
ReplyDeleteIf one reads my post critically you will see that I clearly say; "Part of all this dysfunction is partly our fault but historically we've been a people without much of a voice and without much of the requisite "heft" to be able to affect any significant change on our own behalf." I'm "putting it out there." And yes, Harlem was a bad place once upon a time. But it was not grassroots, everyday Harlemites who made it that way. A lot of it has to do with the poor excuses we have for leadership. A lot of the change that we see in Harlem has been coming since the 1970's with the arrival of the State Office Building.
ReplyDeleteLets take the example of St. Thomas The Apostle Church on West 118th Street. The good parishioners of that beautiful Church had been complaining to the NY Archdiocese for years, going back to Cardinal Terence Cook about the deteriorating condition. It seems that as soon as the surrounding complexion of the parish began to change the Archdiocese closed its ears to hue and cry of the parishioners. St. Thomas the Apostle has been described as an architectural marvel by noted architectural historians but was never put on the city's list of landmarks to be voted on. Tourists from around the globe came to marvel at the Gothic exterior and marbel interior. The son of the artist who designed the stained glass in Germany even wrote a letter of appeal to save the Church and especially the stained glass. But the Archdiocese and the City dragged its feet. Initially the LPC suggested that it was too late to save that church, then weeks later said they might be able to be swayed. At the same Commission meeting that made 2 other Harlem churches landmarks, the overwhelming support for St. Thomas' outnumbered the others. But in the end St. Thomas' lost and Harlem as a whole lost and was poorer for it. If they had only listened to the parishioners some 20 years earlier, the repairs could have been done, care taken and the church saved. So now, its to become housing for the elderly poor. Certainly there should be housing for the elderly poor but do we really need to sacrifice such heritage for it? This is a prime example of the "two Americas" at play. Ask yourselves this question; Why is it that people in "one" America can have their landmarks and cultural icons, beautifully turned out schools and affordable housing, but the "other" America--where the "people" of Harlem live are asked to compromise or "split the baby."
The Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone & the Landmarks Conservancy could have saved St. Thomas' Someone ought to hang their head in shame.
Another legacy of St. Thomas the Apostle is that Father Peter O'Brien who was manager to Jazz Pianist Mary Lou Williams was a priest at St. Thomas The Apostle Church. I clearly remember in the Spring of '68 being given the assignment to go to St. Thomas the Apostle Church to hear Mary Lou Williams perform her "Mass for the Lenten Season" which was commissioned by the Archdiocese. It seems a strange irony that the very institution that helped in Mary Lou Williams comeback, would years later ignore her legacy within the Church
ReplyDelete