HERE’S 101-103 Union Street between Columbia and Van Brunt, at the west end of a very long street that goes all the way to Brownsville. The building currently serves as one of NYC’s hundreds of tattoo parlors, but it has a lengthy history…
It’s seen here in 1940 as the Barbaro ice cream parlor. Interestingly, and coincidentally (maybe), the building also hosted a barber shop. The building itself, according to Cinematreasures, has been here since the late 19th century and was originally a stables; in 1896, it became the Star theatre, hosting live vaudeville shows. For awhile, it also was a concert venue called the Star Theatre, a callback to its history, in the 2000s. In 1909, it was converted to International Moving Pictures, showing silents. In 1926 it became the Italian Marionette Theatre, and had closed by 1930, after which it was put to a number of uses including a motorcycle dealer.
The building next door at #97 is also something of a mystery because of some faded art on the roof structure; I’ve looked at it in this condition and in Street View when it’s a bit less faded, and can’t make out the wording. I can make out the fish at the bottom, though. That structure also shows up in the 1940 photo and I can’t identify its purpose, either. Comments, of course, are open.
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12/1/24
11 comments
Live poultry?
Yes, live poultry. At one time (until not that long ago) certain butcher shops had cages in the back where they kept live poultry, mostly chickens (but sometimes ducks and geese). These birds were killed upon request of a customer who really wanted their meat fresh (it would not surprise me if on occasion the customer bought the bird and took the live bird home and did their own slaughtering). Up until about 10 years ago there was a store on West Fordham Rd in the
Bronx (near the Major Deegan Expressway) that sold live poultry, now the space a vacant lot.
It must say Droid Sadue with 907 (going down with peace sign in the 0). I think it is two graffiti artists who both commonly use number 907 with their tags. You can search Flickr by their names (link below).
Did you notice the two windows put in the strange shaped third floor structure? Probably an early owner just built it to add space. Many did work themselves or with family in the 30s. More recently someone built it into a living space and improved with sunlight and perhaps a view.
https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=droid+sadue
Kevin:
Do you know this guy? Perhaps you could contact him & you could act as his tour guide if you could persuade him to slow down:
https://nypost.com/2024/12/02/us-news/inside-one-mans-coffee-fueled-mission-to-walk-every-single-block-in-nyc-you-can-never-truly-absorb-it-all/
Matt Green, Bill Helmreich (RIP), Caleb Smith and others have already done it, but mazel tov!
And good luck in the New Year to you, too!
I’d like to know wth they did to the building to the right of the tattoo parlor!
I remember 2 live poultry shops in Cobble Hill in the ’60s.They were popular
with practitioners of Santeria
Most people would be content with door/window grates for security, this owner decided to grate the entire building…
Cindy: This probably explains the owner’s motivation
https://nypost.com/2024/12/03/opinion/hey-eric-adams-kathy-hochul-dont-let-58k-criminal-migrants-use-new-york-as-a-sanctuary/
As H. Ross Perot was fond of saying: “If you have a problem with snakes, the solution is to shoot the snakes”
There was a live poultry shop on the north west corner of west 20th street and Neptune avenue in Coney Island when I was a child ( we lived on west 19th). I remember going there with my mother and being amazed at how little time it took from choosing the bird to receiving the plucked wrapped chicken!!