This one, especially, caught my eye. It's a recognizable location, if you live around here, and the number 91 clinched it.
James Jowers, 1966
today
In 1968, two years after Jowers took that photo, New York Magazine wrote about the Miller Fish Market. It had been there since 1898 and was presided over by the brother and sister Miller, ages 72 and 81, respectively. They weren't so crazy about the Village View housing project that opened up across First Avenue in 1964.
There's a great shot in the magazine of Fannie Miller, "81-year-old fishlady extraordinary."
New York Magazine
Since 1989, 91 First Avenue has been home to the Dual Specialty Store, a beloved Indian market. This is the kind of change that makes sense--one neighborhood store becomes another, one immigrant group replaces another, it's accessible to all. Shoppers still climb up those stairs carrying bags full of goodies (though the entrance is now on the other side of the stoop.)
A kind of urban equilibrium we don't see much of in today's change.
Long live the Dual Specialty Store.
ReplyDeleteAnd it would be nice to have another place like the Miller Fish Market right around here.
Nice followup. I'd love to see the corner fish market place open up again everywhere, but interesting to see this corner of the small-scale Village survives. You can find it here and there, mostly in ethnic enclaves like that between 5th and 6th.
ReplyDeleteT.
Great post and photos. I love the scent inside the Dual Specialty Store.
ReplyDeleteI love Dual, which was Dowell before a fire in 2005. At the time, the firefighters said it was the most fragrant fire they'd been to...all those spices and incense sticks really did make a fabulous smoke.
ReplyDeletejust glad that Miller Fish Market is now, and still is, Dual Specialty Store. just imagine if that spot becomes a fro-yo, ramen, chipotle, artisanal, ... joint. (hope i didn't jinx that spot by making that comment)
ReplyDeleteNot only the scent outside the Dual Specialty, but the lights flashing from the 2 restaurants above. At night it is otherworldly.
ReplyDeleteYep, dead on Jeremiah; this is a nice natural progression of a neighborhood, not the forced gentrification SATC/organic cupcake/artisinal fill in the blank nonsense.
ReplyDeleteupstairs and on the right of Millers was a fabric and notions store. My mom made my clothes when I was a toddler and I'd go shopping with her. Punched tin ceiling, worn wooden floors and every bit of wall space crammed with cardboard boxes, each with buttons glued to the outside to indicate what was inside and tables with bolts of cloth in the middle.
ReplyDelete"Fish monger" is the most common response I hear whenever the "What does the East Village need most right now?" conversation comes up.
ReplyDeleteI am hoping for a good fish monger too. Hopefully one that stocks Coney Island Whitefish.
ReplyDeleteJeremiah, I was SO happy to find this just now!! I've been searching for info on my dad's side of the family for the last year, and recently, a distant relative by marriage contacted me on Ancestry.com, wondering how we're related. She is helping me fill in one of the mystery areas. Her mother, who is the granddaugher of Abe Miller, one of the four offspring of Harry Miller, who started Miller's Fish Market, told her about their fish business, and she told me! Since it was there so long, I googled it and was DELIGHTED to find your blog and see the pictures of the store and of Fannie!! As for where I fit into the picture, Harry's son Joe married my great aunt Lillian, and they had a daughter, Selma -- my dad's cousin. I never knew they were in the fish business, till yesterday! Thanks for the before and after pics of the site, too. I'm a Chicagoan, but my dad's family, on both sides, started out in New York when they immigrated from Russia. Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Carole, I'm glad the post could help make a connection for you!
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