BOGIE’S NEW YORK, Upper West Side

by Kevin Walsh

Though his characters ran nightclubs in Morocco, piloted rickety boats on African rivers and were mutinied on by Van Johnson, Humphrey Bogart was a Manhattanite, born in December 1899 and living his first 23 years at 245 West 103rd Street between Broadway and West End Avenue, the son of a surgeon and a magazine illustrator. After a WWI stint in the Naval Reserve, he got  a job at World Films where he tried screenwriting, directing, and production. His true successes were on stage and later, film, appearing on Broadway 17 times between 1922 and 1935, and in 77 films from 1930 to his death in 1957.

 

Bogart’s boyhood home on West 103rd is marked by a small plaque.

 

The block of West 103rd  where he lived was subtitled Humphrey Bogart Place in 2006.

 

2701 Broadway, at the corner of West 103rd, was built during Bogart’s time here (1899-1923) and is one of may large apartment buildings along this stretch of not only Broadway but also the parallel West End Avenue and Riverside Drive. Recently, something quite interesting was revealed on the first floor after a local grocery moved out.

 

The neon awning sign for a ‘Delicatessen Sandwich Shop” that may have been here during Bogart’s era, though I believe this stylized Deco-ish lettering would be from the 1930s or 1940s.

 

A close look at the sign reveals a palimpsest, or overwriting. This deli had been in the Hudes family, which was famed for operating the Carnegie Deli in 7th avenue and West 56th Street for several decades. The Carnegie’s original owners (1937), Izzie and Ida Orgel, sold it to Max Hudes, who operated it until selling it in 1976.

Now, on this sign, it looks like “Hudes” is wearing off to reveal an earlier name underneath, beginning with “BR.” Any ideas what BR could stand for?

 

The sign’s manufacturer, Neonette (which sounds like an early 2000s rave band name) and phone number, EV for Evergreen, is emblazoned on the sign in a stylish font. The shop was evidently in Brooklyn, since the EV exchange was used in that borough.

Info from West Side Rag (which has better photos of the sign) and Mitch Broder’s Vintage New York.

7/2/14

7 comments

Liz July 2, 2014 - 7:41 pm

Looks like the BR might be the start of Broadway. The partial letter after the R definitely looks like an O to me.

Reply
Kevin Walsh July 3, 2014 - 9:28 am

I think you’re right about Broadway.

Reply
Joe Fliel July 2, 2014 - 11:13 pm

Neonette was located at 883 Bedford Ave., between Myrtle and Willoughby Avenues, in Bedford-Stuyvesant. There is an auto repair shop occupying the building now:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.693571,-73.95594,3a,40.8y,77.36h,89.13t/data=!3m3!1e1!3m1!2e0!6m1!1e1

Here is a classified page from the Brooklyn Eagle, Sunday, March 21, 1943. Neonette has an ad for a typist/receptionist:

http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%205/Brooklyn%20NY%20Daily%20Eagle/Brooklyn%20NY%20Daily%20Eagle%201943%20Grayscale/Brooklyn%20NY%20Daily%20Eagle%201943%20Grayscale%20-%201852.pdf

Neonette’s phone number, EV 7-1800, is presently assigned to a home healthcare service on Berry Street.

Reply
Ed Newman July 3, 2014 - 1:07 pm

You might mention that Bogie went to Trinity School (still there) on West 91st between Columbus and Amsterdam.

Reply
Andy July 9, 2014 - 6:40 am

Right after Bogart was born the first IRT subway line was built, including the line under Broadway, which opened in October 1904. Note the subway entrance in front of 2701 Broadway, which accesses the 103rd Street Station. Originally the entrance was a Beaux-Arts style building in the median of Broadway, similar to the one on the south side of 72nd Street and Broadway. The original entrance was removed in 1970 and replaced with the sidewalk stairs.

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Al June 30, 2018 - 7:05 pm

I lived in 109 W. 103 st. in the 1940-50’s between Columbus and Amsterdam Ave. I went to Holy Name School on 95th St. In the summer at nite, all the neighbors would sit on the stoops and socialize. When it was really hot, my parents would walk down to Riverside Drive and cool off with the breeze from the Hudson . They even had square dancing there. We played stick ball on 103rd St. street with the pink “spaldens”. Fire hydrants would be opened for the kids to cool off. They would also spray the cars with doubly opened beer cans. I skated past Boogies house with my roller skates. We also made skooters from old skates and wood milk crates.

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Hugo Toledo February 11, 2020 - 2:10 am

I lived in that very building at the corner of Broadway and 103rd between 1965 and 1968, when we moved to Elmhurst in Queens. We emigrated to the U.S. from Colombia. I remember the view out the window across Broadway was to a brick wall which was higher and a bit past the building right across the street. On that wall was a fading pawn shop symbol. I was 6 when we moved out.

Reply

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