GrittyCity.com: The Sidewalk

gritty, new york city, magnet, t-shirt, souvenir

Poll Results Archive

Behind the Magnet
"PLEASE, NO GRAFFITI" — This stenciled writing was on the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, a tiny building that stood in the middle of a parking lot just south of the WTC. On Sep. 11th it was destroyed under the rubble of the towers.


	Wanna buy this magnet? click here

The building was from 1832, and at one point it used to be a tavern. Then the church was founded in 1916 by Greek immigrants. For more info, or to donate money for the reconstruction of the church, go to www.stnicholasnyc.org.

Believe it or not, when I was taking this picture there was a praying mantis on the wall, just a couple of feet from the writing. How many times have you seen a praying mantis in Manhattan? And on a church wall?

"LIFE BEGINS AT 8 AM" — Last year a woman came to our booth at the Union Square Holiday market and found among the magnets the sign from what used to be her


Wanna buy this magnet? click here

grandfather's, and then father's, liquor store on Delancey Street. She was ecstatic, especially since the sign had recently been removed and she had no pictures of it. It was an exciting moment for both of us.

I asked her about the history of the store, and she took the project to heart and sent me an audio tape of her mother talking about the old days at the store.

Here are some excerpts from the wonderful recording:

I am the daughter of E. Halper. I was there at the beginning when the store first came into being. The store was opened right after prohibition. It took a while for it to take on a life of its own.

At the beginning when the store was first opened, our hours were from 8 in the morning to 12 at night, 6 days a week. It was difficult, but it was a living. There are many


	E. Halper

many stories attached to this store. It was a family business, it supported quite a few families.

There used to be the undertaker, Garlick, that used to come a few times a month with his hearst and fill up the back with cases of liquor.

Then there was a priest that used to come with a baby carriage, with a blanket and a pillow inside. He would take his case of liquor, cover it up like he had a baby in there, and went back to his parish. This happened quite a few times during the month — he was a steady customer.

The store was part of that Essex street martket. The best customers were the guys from the fish place, that had a fish counter there. They only drank miniatures - we used to sell little miniatures for .99 a piece — and BOY they gulped those down.

We always had a cop's hat, sitting in the back where whoever walked in could see it. It was given to us by the Clinton street police station. We felt it was a little security, that whoever would see it would think that there was a policeman in the store on duty.

My husband retired from there in 1977. My brother remained and then it was sold to Chinese people and they immediately put up these heavy heavy glass partitions.