Harlem Bespoke: An NYC archival photo from around 1940 shows a thriving Hamilton Theater at the corner of 146th Street and Broadway with a full house of commercial tenants at the front end. There was a drugs store next to the ubiquitous Cushman's bakery shop, a jeweler, billiards and an upper floor casino. Then of course was the main auditorium theater in the back which showed movies up until 1965 but went on to host many other venues including a disco in the 80s. This official landmark currently only has one shop at street level and the owner of the building apparently has now decided not to restore everything but to propose construction of a tower based on a zoning loophole that enables the local community boards to make changes. Why would that actually happen? Affordable housing developers have used the lure of below market rate apartments as a lure to get zoning changes made but some in the community question the cultural loss that comes with this exchange. More on the future of The Hamilton Theater in the Spectator
LINK
No comments:
Post a Comment