Category Archives: NYC

Closing of Harlem’s St. Nick’s Pub still unknown

There is has been absolutely no drips or drabs of information about why Harlem’s St. Nick’s Pub, located at 773 St. Nicholas Ave.,  has been closed. It’s been like this for awhile…until now. According to NearSay.com, they are reporting there was an email from the NYC Health Department’s press secretary noting that St. Nick’s Pub was inspected and ordered to close back on February 16 for operating with an expired permit. Furthermore, the article states St. Nick’s owner met with a representative from the health department soon after in which the owner was informed “of outstanding fines for past violations that needed to be paid in order to reopen the establishment.”

Given this information, I guess the fines have not been paid or St. Nick’s would be open.  I sure hope this gets resolved soon. I want St. Nick’s Pub to be around for many more years to come!

‘Mama I Want to Sing’ will be singing longer in Harlem, musical gets extended


The lovely and amazing Vy Higginsen announced recently that Mama I Want to Sing:The Next Generation gets to sing a bit longer right here in Harlem. “The longest running off-Broadway black musical in theater history” is playing at the Dempsey Theater, located at 127 West 126th Street. Dates have been extended to the end of the year. Mama I Want to Sing is about a talented young gospel singer who embraces secular music despite the strong objections of her mother.

To order tickets, go to Smarttix.com

Money Series: Harlem spending for 10030 zip code dedicated to health and family



Yesterday, the Money Series gave a snap shot of how Harlemites spend, who reside in the 10027 zip code. Today, the Money Series continues by turning our focus on the residents of 10030.

The top three household spending areas for the 10030 Harlem resulted in health & family ranking first, with house & home next followed by shopping. The first two areas mentioned are identical to 10027 Harlem residents in terms of ranking. However, shopping ranks third for 10030 verses 10027 where it ranks fourth.

On a 12 month average, household spending for 10030 includes: $798 for health & family. Insurance cost make-up $277 with school & child care not far behind at $234. The next large cost is charity at $173. Healthcare, pets and personal care round the remaining total.

House & home follows with a total of $434. The majority of costs go toward utilities. Two-hundred and six dollars is dedicated to utilities. Next with $77 for home maintenance, $76 for home improvement and $75 for phone.

The shopping category came in third in terms of the top three spending areas. Harlemites from 10030 spend a total of $332. That figure is divided among general shopping at $150, clothing, shoes and outer wear at $113 and $69 goes towards electronics, office supplies and hobbies.

If 10027 and 10030 are compared in their two top ranking areas: 10027 spends $246 more than 10030 in health & family and 10030 spends $323 more than 10027 in shopping.

All figures are created from an online money management tool and based on ages from 18 to 65 years of age and above, all households (married with kids or without, male or female single with kids or without), and income starting at $20,000 to $125k and above.

The Money Series heads to East Harlem next. 10029 will be the focus!

Stop by Nike’s Boulevard Ice Pop Up Store in Harlem


A follower on twitter reminded HarlemGal that Nike’s Boulevard Ice Pop Store is open for business in Harlem. It has been open for about a week in a half now at the corner of 133rd Street and Frederick Douglass Blvd. The Nike store offers customers the opportunity to go in and experience a refrigerator feel, pick from a selection of ice treats and maybe design yourself some new basketball shoes. Interesting concept and very much in line with Nike’s impressive creativity! This chica can go for the ice treats, but I don’t plan on getting me any basketball shoes any time soon.

Who has checked out Nike’s Boulevard Ice located at 2490 Frederick Douglass Blvd? If so, tell us what you think?

Harlem Shambles plans to open in Livmor Condo

Looks like commercial retail space in Harlem on Frederick Douglass Blvd is slowing getting scooped up! It appears from the photo below that the Livmor has sold (or rented out) some of its commercial space to a business called Harlem Shambles. I have never heard of this business and looking online for information, the only item I could find is Harlem Bespoke blogging that Harlem Shambles is a butcher shop! Hmm. I wonder what type of products they will be offering? Just meat! Or seafood too? And what does this mean for Best Yet and Central Market that are not too far away?

This is certainly a different addition to the other businesses that have opened up on FDB and that are getting ready to open soon! Recently, I blogged about how a yogurt store and nail salon are opening up side by side in the Gateway Condo located at 2098 Frederick Douglass Blvd.

As always, stay tuned on when Harlem Shambles will be opening. I am sure it will be soon!

20110725-104449.jpg

20110725-104459.jpg

Money Series: How Harlem spends their money

Household Spending 10027 12 month avg

I have been living in Harlem since 2006 and have witnessed enormous change since then with new restaurants opening on every major avenue, buildings popping up throughout upper Manhattan, and more new faces lining Harlem streets. With all this change, I have always wondered about spending. How do we, i.e. Harlem locals, spend our money? Where does all of our money go?

I researched the topic and unearthed some interesting numbers via an online money management tool on how we spend. In the Money Series, I will share data discovered by zip code from shopping to health & family to food & drink and more! First up is 10027 of Harlem.

On a 12 month average, household spending for 10027 includes: $568 for food &

Food and Drink 10027 12 month avg

drink, $269 is for dining out and $299 is for groceries. Next on the list is health & family. Harlem locals from 10027 spend a total of $552. The majority of the figure goes to insurance and school & child care with $166 and then $156. The remaining total is divided among four other categories shown in the graph.

After food & drink and health & family, house & income rounds out the top three

Health and Family 10027 12 month avg

spending categories. This part of Harlem spends a total of $472. Two-hundred and six dollars goes to utilities. One-hundred and twenty-four dollars goes to home improvement and $122 goes to phone. The remaining $20 is for home maintenance. The graph below displays the remaining areas of spending for 10027.

House and Home 10027 12 month avg

All figures are based on ages from 18 to 65 years of age and above, all households (married with kids or without, male or female single with kids or without), and income starting at $20,000 to $125k and above.

Next up in the Money Series is how Harlem locals from 10030 spend!

A little bit of Poland comes to 67 Orange Street in Harlem

20110723-123949.jpg
20110723-123912.jpg
This past week I attended 67 Orange Street’s Cocktail Educational Series in Harlem and let me say, I have a new-found appreciation for that cocktail I order and for the person behind the bar making it. I had no idea what (or the hard work) that goes into a drink until I went to 67 Orange, located at 2082 Frederick Douglass Blvd. I had my cocktail breakthrough this past Tuesday where Zu Vodka, bison grass vodka from Poland, was the guest of honor.

Karl, the owner of 67 Orange and his guest from ZU, gave a quick presentation on ZU and then presented handcrafted cocktails with ZU Vodka. I had the Smokin Thyme, which included fresh raspberries with thyme, agave, lime juice,shaken with Mezcal, St.Germain and Zu. It was very good.That drink was right up there with my usual order at 67 Orange, the Baxter Street.  I gotta have that jalapeno flavor-even in my drink! If you like some caliente flavor to your cocktail, try the Baxter Street!

To learn more about what goes into a cocktail and find new appreciation like I did, check out the CockTail Educational Series at 67 Orange in Harlem. Their next series takes place August 2!

Cuban born and Harlem based Yosvany Terry performs in Marcus Garvey Park

Feel like listening to jazz in Harlem, but not sure where to go? The Jazzmobile has the answer.  As part of their summerfest,  Yosvany Terry will be playing tonight, July 22nd from 7:00 – 8:30 pm in Marcus Garvey Park  at the new Richard Rodger Amphitheater. Enter at 5th Ave & W 122nd St.

Atomic Wings in Harlem turns a page…for the better

By HarlemGal and Austin2Harlem
There’s that saying “give me a second chance.” Sound familiar? We
decided to act on that attage by giving Atomic Wings in Harlem another try recently. Why? Because we know for a fact that Atomic Wings, located at the northeast corner of Frederick Douglass Blvd and 113th Street, is entirely under new management (they have nothing to do with prior management) and their menu has changed. And we can confirm, Atomic Wings, which reopened May 13, is not anything like it was before. We know. We use to go there. Atomic Wings in Harlem has started a new chapter and it is definitely for the better.

20110722-122207.jpg
The new owners are David Singh and Bobby Singh. They are from Queens and the Atomic Wings franchise is their first endeavor into the food business. Don’t be alarmed that they are not seasoned food chain owners. From what we witnessed, they want to succeed in Harlem. They care about the customer and appear to be very focused on making the Harlem customer happy. What steps have they taken to try to please the Harlem customer? Plenty.

First, there is a decrease in prices on the menu. “The items on the menu are .50 to .75 cents less than the prior menu,” says David Singh. They want to offer some saving to their already affordable prices. A plate of chicken wings at Atomic Wings costs $8.99 for 10. At Rack and Soul, a plate of 6 wings will cost you $10.95 according to a takeout menu we have.

20110722-122156.jpg
There are signature salads on the menu. Instead of having a long list of salad options, Atomic Wings has narrowed the choices down to four options. The reason is they want to focus on quality not quantity.

Atomic Wings in Harlem now offers pulled pork sliders and chipotle fried shrimp sliders. No more hamburgers, folks! Their strategy is to focus on the quality. We tasted these two items and they are a home run! We highly recommend these items. The country buns are very fresh. The pork was tender topped with cheddar cheese. And the fried shrimp was very meaty. We recommend ordering these items with sweet potato fries. Each plate is $7.99 and plentiful.

If there are signature salads, there have to be signature sauces to go along with 20110722-122231.jpg
the chicken wings. Atomic Wings has new sauces. They have added honey mustard, jerk BBQ, sweet and tangy and chipotle BBQ sauces. Out of the new sauces offered, we tried honey mustard, sweet and tangy, and garlic parmesan. We both loved garlic parmesan the best. Not that the other sauces were not good. We just like the garlic taste! And we liked eating our chicken wings boneless. However, customers can order them either way-with bone or without.

I can’t recall if waffle fries were on the prior menu. However, the ones we tried at the new management Atomic Wings were excellent. They were big and crispy. Even after setting on the table for a while, the waffle fries remained crispy. They did not get lumpy and sloppy after while. We also recommend trying the waffle fries.

20110722-122257.jpg
Home delivery is available by Atomic Wings. Go on GrubHub or their website or call, and they will deliver. Their commitment is to deliver within 35 minutes with a 14 block radius.

If delivery is not your preference, dine in at Atomic Wings. They offer free unlimited wi-fi and they will soon offer beer. They have applied for a beer license and hope to get approval in the immediate future.

20110722-122307.jpg
While we have outlined all the improvements at Atomic Wings in Harlem and encouraging Harlemites to give them a second chance, readers are probably wondering, what happened to the previous place and why did Atomic Wings close? From what we have learned from various sources is that the place was poorly managed. The old management had five owners, there are only two now, and rent and taxes got backed up so much they could never catch up. Once rent and taxes become a challenge, the state and Feds come into the picture. And most of us who walked by the Atomic Wings saw the obvious signs on the wall.

We hope this restaurant review will give you a better understanding of Atomic Wings and that Harlemites do what we did, which was to put the past behind on the old and give the new Atomic Wings a second chance. We just did and are very pleased to report a second chance resulted in two happy bellies. The food was dee-li-cious!

20110722-122216.jpg

Celebrate Harlem Week with Marcus Samuelsson with Macy’s A-Go-Go Food Truck

I have more details about Marcus Samuelsson’s July 31 participation in “Macy’s Chefs A-Go-Go,” a national food truck tour showcasing the Macy’s Culinary Council. The Macy’s Food Truck is rolling into upper Manhattan-126th Street and Riverside Drive to be exact-with our fellow Harlemite during Harlem Week, a month long celebration of the culture, arts, civil rights, politics, religion and community education. Perfect timing! Love it!

From noon to 4:00 p.m., Red Rooster Harlem owner and Chef Marcus Samuelsson will be on board at the Harlem stop, cooking his signature recipes and dishing them out for free! And guess what Marcus will be cooking? He will be serving catfish sandwiches with fried caper slaw and sweet potato fries! Yummy! That sounds delicious for lunch on Sunday, July 31.

If you have not tried Marcus Samuelsson’s cuisine, here is your opportunity! And the best ingredient in Marcus’ food that day, it’s FREE! See you at 126th and Riverside, July 31 at noon! Cheers!

20110721-013600.jpg

20110721-013633.jpg