The Manhattan Times

Shhhh!

by Mike Fitelson

Shhhh!

Among Northern Manhattan’s destinations that are invariably described as local jewels is the United Palace on Broadway at W. 175^th Street. This nearly 80-year-old theater was built for vaudeville and movies. These days it is gaining new life as a concert hall – the borough’s third largest – featuring top pop acts. But in between its past and present lives as an entertainment palace, it was saved, literally and spiritually, by one man, Frederick J. Eikerenkoetter II, better known to the world as Reverend Ike.

In 1969 he purchased the then run-down theater for a half million dollars (yes, that is less than what a two-bedroom apartment in Castle Village fetches today) and turned it into Christ Community United Church. It became the headquarters for Reverend Ike Ministries, which preached prosperity philosophy through a vast media network that includes books, recordings, and sermons broadcast on radio and television to millions of followers.

His self-help, up-from-your-bootstraps message appealed to congregants who found economic as well as spiritual salvation. The ministry also preserved the interior of the theater, a mash up of just about every design style that is studied in Architecture 101.

Rev. Ike died July 28 in Los Angeles, reportedly after never fully recovering from a stroke in 2007. He was 74. Rev. Ike Ministries, as well as the church, will continue to be led by his son Bishop Xavier Frederick Eikerenkoetter III, who has been bishop for 12 years.

“We will all miss him terribly but, without a doubt, Rev. Ike will continue to live on through his timeless teachings, and through his students,” his family said in a statement.

Rev. Ike still has legions of followers, about a thousand of whom attended two services held at the church on Sun., Aug. 2, according to Rev. Gwendolyn Bowen.

That’s nothing compared to the audience the United Palace is expecting on Sat., Aug. 15 when at 11 a.m. the church doors open for a public celebration of his life. Attendance is expected to dwarf anything that recent appearances by musical acts likes Neil Young and Modest Mouse have garnered.

Shhhh!

Payson Avenue resident Michelle Byron and her son Paul, 3, got to take the A-train and a trip back in time on Sat., Aug. 2. Mother and child boarded an antique train car from the old IND line at the New York City Transit Museum in Brooklyn and hopped the A-line at Euclid Avenue as part of the museum’s monthly series.

The train, which had wicker seats, fans instead of air conditioning and exposed light bulbs, chugged up to the Natural History Museum at the 79^th Street stop and then continued to the 207^th Street Train Yards where the Byrons watched a crane lift an entire car so mechanics could service it.

For train-obsessed Paul, the Transit Museum was the highlight because “he could drive an old bus,” Michelle said.

But even on the old-timey train, some things never change. Michelle noticed signs informing the passengers of yesteryear of a fare increase effective July 1, 1947. Subway and elevated trains were going up to 10 cents a ride and bus and trolleys would be seven cents.

Shhhh!

Roughly 60 VIPs of varying ages and attire attended the grand opening of Northern Manhattan’s latest club, Vibe Lounge on 203 Audubon Ave. between W. 175^th and W.  176^th Streets on Thu., July 30.

The club, which patrons said reminded them of a smaller version of Arka Lounge on Broadway, was lined with white leather booth seats and matching square stools. By the full bar, bright neon lights lit a mingling area that sported elevated white tables and stools.

Acoustic guitarist and local musician Victor Maldo sang popular covers for the loungers who fell into heavy audience participation towards the end of the night.

On the street, flanked on either side by surging rivers from open hydrants and beneath a backdrop of bodegas and apartment buildings, Vibe Lounge offered its patrons valet car service, collaborating with a parking garage a few blocks away. 

Bouncers in fancy black suits and bling jewelry stood guard beneath the lounge’s sign lit in neon blue as neighborhood residents played dominoes in folding chairs nearby.

Club owner Kelvin Crucey, who has worked in the neighborhood for years through the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, said he specifically wanted to create a lounge east of Broadway, providing a place for locals to relax in their own neighborhood.

And if you’re thinking of going, consider your wardrobe choice carefully. The dress code, strictly enforced is: “Dress to impress.”

Shhhh!

After eight years in a basement on W. 212^th Street, the Manhattan Times has moved to what, for the moment, is the penthouse.

We’ve joined a diverse collection of other relocated souls – designers, a travel agent, a speech therapist, the office of State Senator Eric Schneiderman and the campaign headquarters of City Council hopeful Luis Facundo – at 5030 Broadway, what long-timers still call the Verizon Building. (Ironically, our Verizon phone lines were the last phase of the move to be completed.)

Newcomers know the building as the Workspace offices, two floors – the seventh and eighth – subdivided into loft-like work spaces.

The Manhattan Times had considered the space for over a year, had conducted on-and-off negotiations for nine months and finally signed the lease and made the move at the end of July.

As I write this at my desk I can see the radio tower at Fordham University. The VA Hospital in the Bronx. The Cloisters perched atop one of the Heights’ famous heights. Both towers of the GWB bookending Fort Tryon Park’s forested slopes. It’s a far cry from the dog’s eye view of W. 212th Street that we had grown accustomed to ignoring.

The landlord is Edison Properties, which has already carved out much of the building for its booming Manhattan Mini Storage business. Of the two floors of Workspace, 52 units, there are only 14 offices left on the market.

There are still several floors of space that Edison Properties hasn’t decided what to do with. Which is why this is only a temporary penthouse: the entire ninth floor is vacant and waiting the right idea and tenant to turn it into Northern Manhattan’s next great business space.

As far as us, we’ve only moved one block, to 5030 Broadway, Suite 801. Our phone numbers haven’t changed and neither has our focus on Northern Manhattan. Although the view has gotten a heckuva lot better.