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