Tag Archives: 10026

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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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Come to Land Yoga Harlem Grand Opening Celebration, discounts to be offered

Land Yoga in Harlem at 2110 Frederick Douglass Blvd has been open for about a month and like most new businesses in Harlem, it hasn’t had a slow day since. Their schedule is in full swing, students are showing up in large numbers in LED classes and specialty teachers are in place, such as a health and wellness counselor. With these building blocks in place, it is now time to celebrate with a grand opening celebration. Land Yoga Harlem invites you to their grand opening this Saturday, July 23 from 4-7:00 pm. Lots of cool stuff are planned. Here is the lowdown:

  • There will be yoga demonstrators doing yoga in front of the building!
  • Packets of material will be available that includes schedule, regular and one day only party rates, and information on wellness practitioners: Ed Genece, Serena Dawn, and Candice Taylor!
  • All retail will be 10% during the party!
  • Free reiki or wellness treatments and henna will be offered!
  • The yoga room will be decorated in a moody world theme with flowers and candles by Franz James Floral and accented with music design by DJ David Chang.
  • There will be a sampling of all natural, no cal sokenbicha tea by Anita Bryant.
  • Food and Drink will be provided by 5 and Diamond, 67 Orange, bier international, Harlem Tavern, Lido Italian Restaurant and Bar, Nectar, Red Rooster Harlem, Society, and Zoma.
  • Land Yoga will announce one day discounts, which can be added to any existing package.
  • A PERKS program will be launched, which will offer gift cards from bier international, Lido, and Society for 3, 6, and 12 month Land memberships. 3, 6, and 12 month members also get in-house perks such as 5%, 10%, and 20% off wellness services and retail discounts too!
  • Also, Land Yoga will introduce a Friday night interactive workshop series, a workshop on Mindful Eating hosted by wellness guru Candice Taylor and based off the book Savor, which is sold at Land Yoga.
  • Special guests include the local Daily Troop. They will be in attendance in uniform. Land Yoga is a site sponsor for the local Daisy troop.
  • And most importantly, Land Yoga will be raising money for a local food bank.

So a lot is happening for Land Yoga’s celebration. Come out Saturday afternoon and have some fun with us. I will be there as well as some of my fellow yoga classmates! Hope to see you there!

Lido Harlem joining sidewalk seating club soon?

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Back in May, I told you about how Lido Italian Restaurant and Bar was petitioning Community Board 10 to receive approval for sidewalk seating. It appears they have received the green light based on these photos! Walking by the Harlem establishment, located on the southeast corner of Frederick Douglass Blvd and 117th, last night there was white metal fences on display perfectly lined up outside the Italian eatery. The way the fences were placed it’s an obvious signal that Lido Harlem are joining the sidewalk seating club very soon, which includes bier international, 5 and Diamond, Harlem Tavern, Les Ambassades Red Rooster Harlem, Settepani, Nectar, Chez Lucienne and more! Maybe they will open the sidewalk seating to patrons this weekend?

This is good news. Harlemites have another place to hang while dining that offers outdoor seating! Congrats to Susannah, her business partner, chef and their entire team! Way to go!

Next time I stop by Lido Harlem for dinner, this chica wants the seat right outside on the sidewalk. Can’t wait!

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Harlem real estate progress report: Gateway Towers seventy percent sold

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Recently, I blogged about how some condos in Harlem were meeting their mark in terms of sales. There is another condo development that has achieved similar success. The Gateway Towers, located at 2098 Frederick Douglass Blvd. and also known as Gateway Condominiums, is 70 percent sold. I have confirmed this with two sources. There are only a limited number of properties left in this two-phase condo development.

I am surprised by this figure. It took a while for the Gateway to be completed. One would think buyers would just forget about places that take forever to be finished. However, this is not the case when it comes to New York real estate. There seems to be about 12 apartments left on the market according to Streeteasy.com. My guess is the apartments on the upper level of the tower were snapped up first and then the lower level next. The apartments on the higher floors have unobstructed views. The rooms are also big and spacious and like most new developments, the Tower has washer and dryers in the apartments.

The 70 percent sales were also probably achieved due to location and the rooftop views I have been on several rooftops in Harlem, such as The Douglass, 2280 FDB, Parc Standard, Fifth on the Park and Livmor. However, Gateway Condo has one of the best rooftops in Harlem. It has a clear shot of Central Park and Morningside Park from the roof. Also, the view of St. John the Divine is just that…divine. The view of East Harlem is nice as well. That view offers seeing brownstones from overhead.

I had the opportunity to take some photos from the rooftop at Gateway. I could not resist. When the real estate agents show the apartments, they take visitors up to the roof. Hopefully, these photos give you a sense of why the roof at Gateway Towers is one of my favorites!

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Harlem’s Honeycomb Burgers aiming to open by end of summer

I was at Chocolat recently enjoying their happy hour (more on that later) and while there I inquired about the status of Honeycomb Burgers, located on Frederick Douglass Blvd between 119th and 120th Street. The word is they are hoping to open the place by the end of summer. Harlemites can hopefully expect a new burger joint around August or mid September. We all know the drill when it comes to opening these establishments. Deadlines are very fluid. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the hamburger prices will be reasonably priced at Honeycomb Burgers in Harlem!

Leon Ellis, the owner of Moca and Chocolat, owns Honeycomb Burgers. He is clearly expanding his restaurant business in Harlem and will soon dominate this particular block in Harlem once his third business opens. Good for Leon and best wishes for continued success! Can’t wait to have a burger there!

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New yogurt store and nail salon coming to Frederick Douglass Blvd in Harlem


Have you walked by the Gateway Condominiums lately, the condo building located at 2098 Frederick Douglass Blvd., and noticed how the majority of its retail space on the first floor has been vacant for a while? Well…that block on the eastside of FDB is about to change. Word has it that a yogurt store and a nail salon have signed a long-term lease with the developer who owns the large portion of commercial space, located right next to Society Cafe.

Apparently the leases were signed recently for a yogurt store and nail salon to move in, and work has already begun by dividing up the space for these two new businesses in Harlem. Notice in the photo, there are two separate doors on the commercial space. For the longest time, that commercial space only had one door to enter.

No exact confirmation on the names of each business yet. As soon as I know, I will pass along!

This portion of Frederick Douglass Blvd from left to right will eventually appear and operate as Society Cafe, which most of us know is owned by Karl, then next to Society Cafe will either be the nail salon or the yogurt place. After the nail salon and yogurt place is the lobby of the Gateway Condos. Next to that lobby is vacant space. A Metro PCS use to be there. However, we hear a shoe repair is hoping to move in there. And finishing out the complex is Express Dry Cleaners.

The new yogurt store will join the recently opened Chill Berry at 414 Lenox Avenue. And the nail salon joins stiff competition. There is Polished FingerTips on FDB and 118th, and Z Nail Salon on 116th between FDB and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.

Overall, I personally like that these two new businesses will be moving into Harlem. I like eating yogurt and I definitely like getting my nails and feet done. I just wish someone would open a 24 hour diner around this portion of Harlem! Don’t you think so as well?

Rent spikes in Harlem

Harlem is a Nike symbol or an arrow shooting straight up on a graph when it comes to the rental market for apartments. According to The Wall Street Journal, Harlem, along with the Financial District, share a statistic at the moment being that they are seeing the largest rent increases during the last year. Rental prices in both of these Manhattan areas are up more than 15 percent year-over-year.

The article states “the average Harlem apartment rent was $2,055 a month during the second quarter, up $333 from a year earlier. These rent averages include dwellings of all sizes – studios, as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.”

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Want to work at Harlem Tavern?

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If you are looking for work and have experience in high volume restaurants, head on over to Harlem Tavern, located on the corner of 116th and Frederick Douglass Blvd., with your resume! They are looking for people with 2 to 3 years of experience in working in the restaurant business.

Please pass this along to anyone who know who is looking for work and would like to work at Harlem Tavern! Have a great weekend!

Shop farmers market and practice yoga in Harlem

Friends of Morningside Park, Community Markets and Land Yoga are putting the tag terms, health and wellness, community and grocery shopping in action. This weekend (July 9th) they are starting outdoor yoga in Morningside Park. From 4 to 5 pm, you can practice yoga under the big blue Harlem sky with Lara from Land Yoga at the 110th St and Manhattan Ave entrance. This free class will be held at the same time every week, weather permitting. So bring your own mat and dristi (focus) to the park.

And also bring your grocery list! The Morningside Farmers Market opens at 9 am sharp!

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