Throwback Thursday "Cooling off in Harlem"

With all this heat we have been dealing with in the Northeast (and horrible rain) I thought this was a great shot for August which is usually one hot month! Children getting cool in Harlem with a sprinkler - the photo actually makes me feel cooler already! The photograph is by Todd Webb taken around 1946 and really shows the fun neighborhoods had in those days. It for sure seems like a much more simple time.

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Lunch at The Monkey Bar at Hotel Elysee

During my stay at Hotel Elysee, I decided to do lunch at The Monkey Bar. It is located inside the hotel, and has a very long history with New York. 

We know many of you choose to visit New York City to experience fine dining at its best. Among all the hotels in NYC, Hotel Elysee boasts one of the hottest and most world renowned restaurants, the Monkey Bar, which has been featured on 'Sex in the City" as well as "Mad Men".

Graydon Carter, the editor of Vanity Fair and an owner of the Waverly Inn along with partners, Hotelier Jeff Klein and Jeremy King of The Wolseley in London are the new owners of the Monkey Bar.

Hotel Elysée has been home to the Monkey Bar since it opened in the depths of the Great Depression. The Monkey Bar became known as “the place to go” especially for those who enjoyed off-color jokes and double-entendre songs spun by such performers as Johnny Payne (1934-1944) and Mel Martin (1945-1983). Starting out as just another dimly lit hotel piano bar with mirrored paneling, patrons started to mimic one another (“monkey see, monkey do”). The tiny room was formally named The Monkey Bar in the early 1950’s when the mirrors came down and were replaced by wrap-around hand-painted murals of monkeys by caricaturist Charlie Wala. In successive years, other artists have added to the tableau, keeping the Monkey Bar as polished as it always was in days gone by.

When you walk in, you definitely feel like you are going back in time. Think Frank Sinatra music playing in the background. 

The most amazing hot rolls I ever enjoyed! 

Next to my table was actually former New York Govenor Eliot Spitzer with a group of people. 

I had a crab cake sandwich which was really quite tasty 

Wonderful chocolate mints after your meal 

If you are looking for a really vintage New York restaurant, this is for sure the place. You will enjoy the atmosphere just as much as the meal! 

The Monkey Bar 

60 East 54th Street 

Sunday Closed

Monday 12–1AM, 11:30AM–1AM

Tuesday 11:30AM–1AM

Wednesday 11:30AM–1AM

Thursday 11:30AM–1AM

Friday 11:30AM–1AM

Saturday 5:30PM–12AM

 

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Throwback Thursday " 42nd Street in 1967"

Very cool shot here from 1967 on 42nd street. Packed with so many people and tons of theaters. I love the fact that most of the folks look dressed up. It must have been a great place to catch a movie or a play. It shows just how much Times Square has changed in 50 years!

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Throwback Thursday "Berenice Abbott"

Berenice Abbott

Pike and Henry Streets, Manhattan

March 6, 1936

I felt pretty lucky to find this photo for our Throwback Thursday edition. So many little details. This photograph is actually owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I think New York City is so great to photograph because every place you turn, there are details all around. I could look at this photo for a good hour seeing so many interesting things. I love the Manhattan Bridge in the background. What a time it must have been to be alive in New York City in 1936. If only the streets could talk.

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Throwback Thursday "Happy Thanksgiving Masking"

Lots going on in this vintage photograph from Thanksgiving. There was such a thing called "Thanksgiving Masking" where mostly homeless/poor children would wear masks and went door-to-door asking for handouts. Sounds pretty crazy to me, but I guess it made sense to them. I love the fact you can get a whole Thanksgiving dinner for .40 ! And how about the "Tables Reserved for Ladies" sign? I really love when a photograph such as this one has so much to tell. Before you know it, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving but again. Where has this year gone?

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Thowback Thursday " The Wonder City"

This is a very unique postcard that was from around the time of 1944. I guess it was sent by people who came to NYC via Ellis Island to their family back home. I love the idea of New York being The Wonder City! I just started watching a documentary on the city titled New York: A Documentary Film and it's quite interesting! My grandparents came to Ellis Island, but much earlier than 1944. I think from now on, I will call it The Wonder City, and see what people think!! This would be so great in a frame and hanging on a wall in my home!

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Throwback Thursday "Columbus Circle"

This amazing photo of Columbus Circle was taken in the 1920's! What a very cool shot, and how different it looks from today. Columbus Circle was completed in 1905 and renovated a century later. Named after Christopher Columbus, it is a great area of the city to explore. I love the trolley car, wouldn't it be cool to take a trolley through New York City! I could stare at this photo for hours, couldn't you ?

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Throwback Thursday "Street Cleaner in NYC"

I am  not sure what year this was taken, but can you even imagine this in New York City? I wonder how much exactly of that street was cleaned? I really would love to be able to go back in time and see some of these things in person. Wouldn't that be oh so cool? Hope you have the best Thursday possible!!

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Throwback Thursday "The Lannier Hotel, 1921 "

The Lannier Hotel, 1921

The original black and white image at the Library of Congress

Colourisation from a black and white photo, courtesy of Shorpy.com Tuesday, July 5th, 1921, New York, United States of America, by George Grantham Bain's Bain News Service

Proprietors Alex and Sigmund Fuerst stand outside their hotel and associated restaurant in what is now modern day Chinatown in New York City, opposite the old Bowery Theatre. The Fuerst family, consisting of five brothers, owned several restaurants along the popular theatrical strip along the Bowery, including the now demolished address at 15 Bowery, 109 Bowery and 221 Bowery, which has very similar architectural detailing to the buildings on 15 Bowery.

The surrounding area in what is now Chinatown attracted residents and transient visitors at the lower end of the economic ladder, staying in numerous lodging houses, or the more pejorative 'Flop House', where for 5 cents, one could literally 'flop over' in quarters about the size of a standard office cubicle. The Lanier Hotel as pictured was substantially more expensive (although very cheap by modern pricing), offering a small private room with clean sheets, somewhere between a capsule hotel and a bed and breakfast. The Lanier Hotel eventually closed down, though the Fuerst brothers remained in the substantially more profitable restaurant business.

Meals were also cheaper by today's standards, with meals working out about half the price of the same meals today, subsidised in part by eliminating the need to print menus as it was written on the street facing window in flowing script. **

Can you imagine getting a room in New York City for .25 ? This photo is really just so cool and I just love the history behind it as well. I love the fact that photography allows you to visit places from another era. Another classic New York City image!! 

**information on photo from Reddit.com

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