New York Songlines: Delancey Street

with Kenmare Street

Lafayette | Centre | Mulberry | Mott | Elizabeth | The Bowery | Chrystie | Forsyth | Eldridge | Allen | Orchard | Ludlow
Essex | Norfolk | Suffolk | Clinton | Attorney | Ridge | Pitt | Columbia

Delancey Street was originally a lane that ran near the northern edge of the Delancey estate, one of the largest pieces of property on Manhattan, covering what are now some 120 blocks on the Lower East Side between Bowery and the East River. The Delanceys, a French Huguenot family that was perhaps the richest in pre-Revolution New York, took the king's side during the conflict and were forced into exile when their side lost. The estate was carved up by more patriotic land speculators.

Delancey Street was once a high-rent shopping district--though by 1922, when Lorenz Hart wrote, ''It's very fancy on old Delancey Street, you know,'' he may have been joking. Through much of the 20th Century, the street went through some hard times-- which is why rapper Dana Dane's 1987 hit ''Delancey Street'' is about being held up at gunpoint while shopping for clothes--but seems to be in a process of hipification. It's perhaps best known today for Crossing Delancey, a film about a Jewish woman finding love on the more authentically ethnic south side of the street.

Kenmare, the street's name west of the Bowery, is a village in Ireland's County Kerry, and the birthplace of the mother of Big Tim Sullivan, a local Tammany leader.








S <===     LAFAYETTE ST     ===> N

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Cleveland Place

A little triangular park where Lafayette and Centre intersect is named for Grover Cleveland, the only president with two non-consecutive terms, and the only Democratic president between 1869 and 1913--making him popular with New York City's Democratic establishment. He was a former New York governor as well, and he lived and worked in Manhattan during a couple of periods in his life.

S <===     CENTRE ST / CLEVELAND PL     ===> N

South:

100 (corner): Hoomoos Asli, Israeli









Corner: Was Nolita's--oddly, because this is the edge of Little Italy proper.

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Corner (17 Cleveland Place): Eileen's Special Cheesecake is said to be some of the best in town; Bar Veloce is an Italian wine bar that people seem to like-- though I think this is something else now.

Storefront for Art and Architecture

97: Exhibit space whose facade pivots to open the gallery to the street.

85: Allstate Glass has been here since 1923.

Corner (195 Mulberry): Paul Frank Store; stuff from that guy who who invented that monkey-face logo.

S <===     MULBERRY ST     ===> N

This intersection was the "Curb Exchange," where from 1920 to 1922 bootleggers would barter for preferred brands of liquor. It was dominated by Joey "the Boss" Masseria, whose lieutenants included such future heavyweights as Lucky Luciano, Frank Costello, Vito Genovese and Thomas Lucchese.

South:

Corner (188 Mulberry): Go East, stylish Chinese gifts

72: East Boat Restaurant

70: Lye Yan Inc.




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S <===     MOTT ST     ===> N

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41: Yee's Farm

37: Nee Fi Trading Corp




S <===     ELIZABETH ST     ===> N

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19: Little Charlie's Oyster Bar









S <===               THE BOWERY               ===> N

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Corner (173 Bowery:) Lighting Craftsman boasts the biggest selection of Tiffany lamps on the East Coast.
















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Bowery Ballroom

6: This Beaux Arts building put up in 1929 to replace an earlier theater on the site remained vacant for years because of the Great Depression, and then was used as a retail outlet, notably by Treemark Shoes. In 1998, it reopened as a music venue, rapidly becoming one of New York's best places to see indy rock--the likes of PJ Harvey, Elliott Smith and Tricky have played here.

Corner: Here was the mansion of James DeLancey, a colonial landowner whose estate took in most of the land between the Bowery, Houston Street, East Broadway and the East River. One of the wealthiest men in New York, he was a staunch supporter of the crown during the Revolutionary War, and consequently had his land confiscated and distributed to more patriotic rich people.


S <===               CHRYSTIE STREET               ===> N

South:

Sara D. Roosevelt Park

Named for FDR's mother, a formidable woman who took credit for her son's political success, and who was something of a terror to her daughter-in-law Eleanor. The park is the result of massive slum clearance in 1929; it was supposed to be replaced with public housing, but corrupt city land deals made the price prohibitive. One block wide and seven blocks long, this park is cited by Jane Jacobs as an example of unappealing park design, though it's been improved lately.

Wah Mei Bird Garden

In this community garden, established by the Forsyth Street Garden Club, Chinese men gather early every morning to give their songbirds a daily dose of fresh air.

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M'Finda Kalunga Community Garden

The name means "Garden at the Edge of the Other Side of the World" in the Kicongo language, commemorating the Second African Burial Ground, which lay just to the north.













S <===               FORSYTH STREET               ===> N

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S <===               ELDRIDGE STREET               ===> N

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S <===               ALLEN STREET               ===> N

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77 (corner): A.L.L. Sign & Storefront

79: The building with the Corinthian columns was the Bank of the United States, which surprised the many depositors who thought it was a government institution when it failed in 1932. That year the Hebrew Publishing Company moved in, a leading publisher of literature and religious works in Hebrew and Yiddish. Now Winda Restaurant Supplies.

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80 (corner): Smile Dental Group










S <===               ORCHARD STREET               ===> N

South:

85 (corner): Petland Discounts

95: Schachner Fashions, lingerie; Delancey Discount Store; Triangle Optical; Delancey Dry Cleaners; A and A Deli and Bagel










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86 (corner): Jimmy Jazz; upscale hip-hop boutique

88: Skylight Electronics; Vicmar Stereo & TV

88A: Elco Jewelry

90: Diamond Planet; Adler's Men's Wear

90A: Planet Gold

92: Everything $.99 or Less; Do It Sportswear

98: Morel Jewelry

Corner (109 Ludlow): Suba, pricey Latino


S <===               LUDLOW STREET               ===> N

South:

101 (corner): Happiness Deli; Stetson Hats; Jackson Hewitt Tax Services; Dalmations Nail Salon

111: American Choice Deli






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100 (corner): Bunnies, children's clothes

106: Alchemy 106 / Lan Labs; Downstairs is a premium coffee bar and cybercafe; upstairs is a state-of-the-art computer gaming center.

110: Rainbow




S <===         ESSEX STREET         ===> N

South:

115 (corner): Olympic Restaurant

123: Jade Fountain, liquor store

125: Original site of ABC No Rio, art/activism collective and internationally known punk venue founded in 1980 by Colab (Collaborative Projects). It was here that a sign with missing letters said read "Ab[ogado] C[on] No[ta]rio"--"lawyer and notary republic."









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Essex Street Market

116 (corner): These buildings were put up in 1938 to give pushcart vendors a home when pushcarts were forced off the street to make way for the automobile. While most of the vendors did very poorly by the transition, one of the market buildings is still in use. This end holds Roma Pizza & Pasta.

118: Amigo Mini Mart, newsstand

120: Top Secret Outlet; New Rock Footwear & Sportswear

122: Richies

124: Fabco Shoes; Ritmo Latino

128 (corner): Gem Supervalue Stores


S <===               NORFOLK STREET               ===> N

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132: Solid Gold Jewelers; San Juan Jewelry

134: Banco Popular

Ratner's

138: From its birth in 1905 on Pitt Street until it closed in 2002, one of the great old Jewish delis--famous for its blintzes, rugelach and onion rolls. It was also noted as a hangout for the Jewish mob, with Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel doing business in the back room. Capitalizing on Mafia chic, the owners turned the back into the speakeasy-themed Lansky Lounge--now Ratner's is just the lounge's entrance.

140: Bate Records. This used to be the Loew's Delancey Theater, a cinema from 1912-77.

142: Cee & Cee Department Stores

144: BootHill; Soft Touch Shoes; Dynamite, women's clothing

146 (corner): Hyperactive; Outrageous Look, women's clothing


S <===               SUFFOLK STREET               ===> N

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S <===               CLINTON STREET               ===> N

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Corner: Was for more than 70 years the 7th Precinct police station.







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168: The Delancey, newish three-level rock club with a fish pond on the roof. Also known as Delancey Lounge, though that sounds too much like ''Lansky Lounge.'' Bjork deejayed here at an opening-week party.






S <===               ATTORNEY STREET               ===> N

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S <===               RIDGE STREET               ===> N

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Esther Schoenfeld High School--no longer here?









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198 (corner): Live Poultry Market. Exactly what the name says. They generally stop being live when you buy them.







S <===         PITT STREET         ===> N

Williamsburg Bridge

Constructed in 1903, this was the second bridge to connect Manhattan and Brooklyn. By allowing Orthodox Jews to walk to Lower East Side synagogues on the Sabbath, it created the Jewish enclaves in Williamsburg. Now it also allows Williamsburg hipsters easy access to the newly re-hip LES. Robert DeNiro's gang hangs out under this bridge in Once Upon a Time in America.

South:







S <===         WILLET ST

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S <===         COLUMBIA STREET         ===> N

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S <===         CANNON ST

285: PS 110: Florence Nightingale School (K-6). Though best remembered for ministering to wounded soldiers during the Crimean War, Nightingale's real achievement was in using statistical analysis to show the benefits of sanitation efforts.


S <===         LEWIS ST

Corlears Hook Houses

ILGWU cooperative housing built in 1956, named for the southeastern corner of the bulge in Manhattan that creates the Lower East Side and Alphabet City. This area was owned by the Van Corlears family in Dutch colonial times.

Corlears Hook was the site of a massacre on February 25, 1643, when New Amsterdam's Gov. Willem Kieft ordered his men to kill Munsee Indians who had fled from warfare to the north. Along with another massacre in Pavonia, New Jersey, the same night, some 120 Indians were killed, including many infants and children.

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Baruch Houses

Public housing named for financier and presidential advisor Bernard Baruch.













BARUCH DR         N ===>
















S <===     FDR DRIVE     ===> N

East River Park

Created in 1939 by Robert Moses when he put through the FDR Drive.





EAST RIVER


Is your favorite Delancey Street spot missing? Write to Jim Naureckas and tell him about it.

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