Fanelli Cafe: In Business for 178 Years!

From Dave Brigham:

Located at 94 Prince Street in New York City's SoHo neighborhood, Fanelli Cafe has been in business since 1847 (!). I knew nothing about this historic eatery when I walked by, trailing my wife and daughter as they window-shopped. I saw the sign, pointed my camera up because I liked the looks of it, made a photo and moved on.

This is the final post in my series of quick hits about a trip to NYC last fall. Links to the previous six are at the bottom of this post.

"Herman Gerken leased the wooden building at 94 Prince Street in 1847 and became the proprietor of a grocery on the site," per the cafe's web site. "In 1853 [John] Hance’s heirs, Edna Brown, Mary Sarles, and Sara McIntosh, sold the lots to Herman Gerken. In 1857 Gerken built the present day (sic) handsome five story (sic) brick building that still carries the 94 Prince Street address. This corner building was interconnected with his adjourning (sic) building at 135 Mercer Street by at least 1891."

To read the history of this property, starting with a Dutch farm in the 1640s to its status during Prohibition as a speakeasy, check out this page on the cafe's web site, which quotes from an article originally published by New York Art World.

Here are links to the previous six posts:

March 15, 2025, "Globe Slicers May Rip You to Shreds"

March 8, 2025, "House in Flux in SoHo"

March 1, 2025, "Hoofin' It to the Bowery Ballroom"

February 22, 2025, "Shoot Your Shot at Amsterdam Billiards"

February 15, 2025, "Webster Hall Was Right Across from My Hotel"

February 8, 2025, "The Carl Fischer"

Globe Slicers May Rip You to Shreds

From Dave Brigham:

I love it when I make a photo of a place simply because I'm captivated by its grittiness, and the subject of the image turns out to have played a significant role in music history.

Located at 266 Bowery in Lower Manhattan, Globe Slicers has served the restaurant industry since 1947. What, you may be wondering, does a 78-year-old company that sells and repairs slicing machines, mixers and meat grinders have to do with music?

Does that name Blondie mean anything to you? No, not the 95-year-old comic strip featuring the titular character and her bumbling husband, Dagwood, master of the massive eponymous sandwich. Neither am I referring to the delicious dessert confection.

This Blondie:

When I posted the photo above to Instagram, one of my followers clued me in that "Debbie Harry and Chris Stein lived above Globe Slicers and their apartment was Blondie's practice space." Thank you, Joe Schumacher!

The apartment was just down the street from the late, lamented CBGB, the club where Blondie and other artists such as the Ramones, Television, Talking Heads and Patti Smith created a seminal punk rock and New Wave scene.

Here's the thing, though: Globe Slicers wasn't located at 266 Bowery back in the Blondie days. There was a liquor store in this space at that time, according to Stein, who was Blondie's co-founder and guitarist. Stein, who turned 75 in early January, is also an accomplished photographer.

To read a full history of 266 Bowery, check out this excellent post from the Daytonian in Manhattan blog.

This is the sixth in a series of short posts about my trip to New York City last fall. Long after my trip, and subsequent to writing this post, I began reading Debbie Harry's autobiography, Face It. I'm thoroughly enjoying it! Links to the other posts in this series are below:

March 8, 2025, "House in Flux in SoHo"

March 1, 2025, "Hoofin' It to the Bowery Ballroom"

February 22, 2025, "Shoot Your Shot at Amsterdam Billiards"

February 15, 2025, "Webster Hall Was Right Across from My Hotel"

February 8, 2025, "The Carl Fischer"

The Carl Fischer

From Dave Brigham:

In mid-October my wife and I traveled with our daughter to take a tour of New York University. I had time the morning before our walkabout to check out the neighborhood, camera in hand. I headed south on 4th Avenue in Greenwich Village and within a short time found myself looking up at this amazing sign.

First, I'm happy to report that the clock inside the eighth note on the former Carl Fischer Music Building is accurate, although it appears some sort of renovation of the massive timepiece was going on. I'm also thrilled that when this music publisher's home was converted to condos, the developer kept the eye-grabbing sign. I mean, it's worth it to attract eyeballs and for giving directions, right?!

As for the building: "For over seventy-five years it housed the printery and a retail store for the Carl Fischer Music company," per this Off the Grid blog post from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. "The company’s founder, Carl Fischer, was born in Germany and immigrated to New York in 1872. He opened a musical instrument store on East 4th Street between First and Second Avenues, and soon expanded into sheet music publishing. By 1880 the company expanded to a larger space on Cooper Square, but it wasn’t until 1922 that the building we see today was built."

The company is still in business today, albeit in a different location since 1999: Wall Street in Manhattan's Financial District. The company's "publications span multiple genres, ranging from concert music to jazz, classics, popular and choral works while representing the major instrumental groups, including woodwinds, strings, brass, percussion, voice, keyboard, and fretted instruments," per its web site. "Carl Fischer Music publications are available for purchase at over 2,000 retailers worldwide."

This is the first of several quick-hit posts about some of the things I saw during my brief visit to New York City.