Thursday, June 30th, 2011

I’m not sure how it managed to last this long, but the lone porn/sex shop on the Upper West Side has finally closed.

Tipster Noah e-mailed last week to say that Amsterdam Video (287 Amsterdam, between 73rd & 74th) had shuttered, adding “That place had been there since I was a kid.”

Coincidentally, @ReporterLeslie had an article this morning about the neighborhood oddity, noting it had been in business for 20 years. 1991 might not seem like that long ago, but I can tell you first-hand that the neighborhood has changed quite a bit since then — it wasn’t always banks and Duane Duane Reades. My earliest memories of the UWS are visiting my grandmother on West 79th in the early-80s, and the neighborhood definitely used to have a much seedier feel pre-Giuliani. As Leslie points out, Verdi Square (the park area surrounding the 72nd Street 1/2/3 station) used to be called “Needle Park,” and it’s not because they had pine trees there.

This gives me a good excuse to post a brief entry from Ephemeral New York that I came across a couple of months ago but haven’t had a chance to use. You might be surprised to learn the Upper West Side used to house one of New York City’s most infamous sex clubs: Plato’s Retreat. It was located in the basement of the Ansonia Hotel at Broadway & 74th. At that same location, you can now get 25% off at Leohmann’s until July 4th. How times change…

In opening news, the “coming soon” Screme Gelato cart mentioned earlier this month is now officially open for business in Verdi Square (a.k.a. Needle Park). While it was originally reported that they would close nightly around 6:30 or 7:00 pm, the woman I spoke to earlier today who was working in the cart said they’re open every night until 11:00 pm. They start up at 7:00 am, selling cappuccino, espresso, pastries, etc. to people heading for work via the adjacent subway station.

Here’s a picture of the new cart — it’s pretty fancy looking:

Filed under: Food & Drink, Kosher, Manhattan, New York City, NYC, Openings/Closings, Shopping, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, Upper West Side Oddities, UWS 4 Comments »
Tags: Amsterdam Video, Food Cart, Gelato, Needle Park, New York City, NYC, Plato's Retreat, Porn, Screme Gelato Bar, Screme Gelato Cart, Sex Toys, Upper West Side, UWS, Verdi Square