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Meet 26th Street

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Jazz Record Center

Nestled up on the eighth floor and without any sign to indicate its existence to passersby on the street, the Jazz Record Shop is certainly not easy to find. But Fred Cohen’s collection of music and memorabilia has a cult of clientele who come from around the world to see it with their own eyes. During my visit, Fred’s wife​, Bobbie, helped customers navigate the CDs, DVDs, posters, books, and records while he led me to a quiet corner for our “heart to heart. ”While growing up in Boston (Dorchester, West Roxbury, then Jamaica Plain), music was a peripheral part of Fred’s life. “My mother had a lovely voice, she sang in a chorus in Pittsburgh and there were records of show-tunes around the house, ” he reminisced. “We did have a piano but my sister was always the pianist. It wasn’t until my aunt took me to the Boston Jazz Festival that I was exposed to music that really blew me away. ”Still, Fred never expected that jazz would become his life’s passion. After college, he took a job with Odyssey House in New York as a drug rehabilitation counselor. “This was 1969 through 1982, and after eleven years I was burned out. I didn’t know what to do. I figured I could live for a year off of my savings, and it helped that Bobbie was making good money as a textile designer at the time. That’s when I got the call from Jolly Roger. ”Jolly Roger was a jazz record store on Columbus Avenue that Fred often frequented. The owner was looking for a new person to take over the business and offered the opportunity to Fred. “I really didn’t think it was a good idea, ” he recalled. “In my previous job, I was traveling to conferences and centers across the United States. The idea of sitting at a desk waiting on people​ - ​​that did not sound like me. But Bobbie said we should at least take a look. The shop was incredibly narrow, like a railroad flat, and you could barely turn around with all the record racks in there. ” Fred paused a moment and shook his head before picking up the story once more. “But at the back there was this window and you could see this tree. And on this tree were two crooning morning doves. Bobbie took it as a sign. We opened on April 1st 1983, moved to the ​West 26th ​location in​ 1992, and, well, we are still here today. ” As the years went by, Fred broadened his musical interests, schmoozed with fellow collectors, and listened carefully to his customers. Today, Fred is the one who does most of the teaching, and by all accounts he is an expert in identifying and appraising jazz memorabilia. He literally wrote the book on collecting Blue Note records to help fellow enthusiasts identify original pressings. And it turns out, according to Fred, ​ that sitting behind a desk is not​ so bad. “Selling CDs is a boring experience but LPs are a different story. Each one has such a vast technical, social, musical, and cultural history that I could spend a day talking about each aspect. ” Fred led me over to a closet called the “vault” to show me some of his personal items that are not for sale. Perhaps the most impressive was a Charlie Parker LP “Bird Blows the Blues” that Dial records offered exclusively via a mail-in order coupon in the June 3, 1949 issue of Downbeat M​agazine. Fred has not only the record (of which only about ​fifty were sold), but the magazine issue and the coupon, too. When I inquired about the value of the Charlie Parker material, he told me they are worth five to ten thousand dollars, but he doesn’t plan to part with them any time soon, if ever. To Fred they are priceless. Eventually, Fred and Bobbie plan to step away from their business. What that will mean for The Jazz Record Center, they are not sure. “To be honest, ​ it’s a little scary to think about, ” Fred said. “I do want it to live on. In one form or another, I’d love for it to survive. ”

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Inday

“I want to make Indian food accessible to New Yorkers, ” Basu Ratnam announced to the Manhattan Sideways team as we were savoring a meal with him at his trendy, fast-casual restaurant. Inday's name derives from his goal: to make “India everyday. ” Basu is one of the increasing number of people that our team has encountered on the side streets who have given up lucrative, fast-paced careers in finance to start small businesses close to their hearts. For Basu, it began in 2013, when he was seated next to Phil Suarez, a restaurateur and partner of celeb chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Impressed by Basu’s pitch, Suarez signed on as an investor for Basu's new venture, allowing him to open Inday in 2015, which he eloquently stated, “was a way of reconnecting with my past and understanding my culture through food. "The cuisine at Inday reflects Basu’s own hybrid childhood. While he was growing up, his mother - who started living in the States after traveling here for grad school from the East Indian city of Calcutta - longed for authentic home food. Given that thirty years ago, in the 1980s, it was difficult to find exotic ingredients in supermarkets, his mother adapted to her environs, blending Indian recipes with the Californian emphasis on organic, local ingredients and cosmopolitan flavors. The result is not “authentic Indian, ” but it stays true to the fundamental spirit of Indian food: healthy and nourishing, yet packed with flavor. It is a great alternative to today’s health food, which tends to be “about what’s not in your food, ” according to Basu. This East-West fusion and emphasis on healthy food is readily apparent in Inday’s seasonal menu. It offers colorful make-your-own bowls that combine a variety of meats and proteins with vegetables including cabbage, roasted corn and shaved broccoli, as well as traditional Indian items like mint and coconut chutneys, banana chips, and dal (lentils). Some of the more innovative menu options include a gluten free “dosa waffle” - a South Indian crepe - and the amazing “shredded cauliflower rice, ” which is cheekily referred to as “Not Rice” on the menu. Basu told me the wonderful story behind the latter item, which is truly emblematic of the restaurant’s spirit: When his sister became "carb-conscious" as a young adult, his mother came up with “cauliflower biryani, ” which substituted shredded cauliflower for rice. Basu says that they included it on the menu initially as a joke, but was pleasantly surprised to see it become their most popular item. Also worth noting is the “cardamom yoghurt” with berry compote, a heavenly amalgam of the Indian dessert “shrikhand” and fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt. When asked if he was planning on expanding his business, perhaps developing a chain of restaurants, Basu responded - to my pleasant surprise - with a firm no. He is interested, instead, in engaging deeply with a particular kind of audience and forming a community around food. The Silicon Alley demographic that his NoMad location attracts is exactly the audience he wants: “culturally curious young people who are changing the world and are interested in the story behind their food. ”While we were speaking, I noticed stacks of old, dog-eared National Geographic magazines on a wooden shelf nearby; Basu pointed out that even the store’s signage is made out of pages of the magazine that he grew up reading. “I like to have it here as a reminder that there is life outside these concrete walls, and we should be sensitive to that. ”When I asked Basu if his mother is involved in the restaurant in any way, he told me that she occasionally stops by, tries everything, and gives the chefs valuable feedback. He then laughed as he remembered something Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten said about Basu’s mother: “She will forget more about Indian food than most people even know. ” With Inday, Basu is trying to remember as much as he can, in his own, New-Yorker way.

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The Flatiron Room

Home to more than 750 whiskeys, the Flatiron Room is an enthusiast's delight... but it is also a nice place for a change of pace for the whiskey amateurs among us. After spending some time in the more typical Manhattan bar scene, this more low-key, conversational venue can be just what the doctor ordered (all things in moderation, of course). Walking in, we were immediately struck by the colored lighting, adjusted throughout the night, and the beautiful stage hung with lush velvety curtains. The main room is candlelit and brings to mind a theater, caf̩e, bar and library all rolled into one. Each evening, a band takes the stage to play live music, typically jazz. Thursdays, however, are devoted to Cuban music for those who crave a bit more rhythm, while Sundays are bluegrass and bourbon night. Among the deluge of whiskeys, ryes, bourbons and scotches, it can be hard to hone in on favorites. For those who do decide what suits their fancy, the Flatiron Room offers a bottle key program, whereby bottles are available to be opened one night, and stored for future visits. A sommelier schools old hands and the uninitiated alike on Tuesdays. Although the emphasis is on the alcohol and music, the food is also worth mentioning. The menu is eclectic with a charcuterie or cheese plate, an interesting variety of flat breads, salads, spicy broccoli (a favorite), and an array of main dishes. For those looking for a bit more privacy or some shelter from the musical stylings, there is a mezzanine sporting tables and additional private rooms in the back. These seats, and most of the house, are by reservation only, with a few spaces for walk-ins. Calling ahead is a good idea. Coming at all is an even better one.

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Holographic Studios

Holographic Studios is, in the words of its owner Jason Sapan, “a conundrum. ” Walking by the East 26th Street store, one would never realize they are passing a house of holograms that has been there for decades. What is a hologram? “It’s sort of like a muffin pan, ” Jason explained. “Although what we are pouring in isn’t batter, but light, and it is taking the shape down to the size of a light wave, which is half of a millionth of a meter across — that’s our pixel. So a hologram is not only three dimensional, but incredibly powerful in the data it is recording. ” Jason’s career began as a child. His dad “designed the displays of technology for the phone system, ” and when AT& T built the pavilion at the World’s Fair, he helped solder some of the wires. “I had lasers in my house from the early 1960s. I grew up with holograms, never thinking it would become my life’s work. ” During the summer of 1968, Jason had his first paid job showing off his own holograms, and then made the decision to go professional in 1975. His original upstairs space was in Chelsea, but after a few years, he realized that a streetfront connection would be beneficial and made the move to his present location. Every year Jason tries to evolve “a little bit. ” Rather than doing the same things over and over, he changes with the marketplace. “People are interested in different things, and it is incumbent upon me to recognize where the trend is going and to play to that. ” Clients have included Andy Warhol, Bill Clinton, Isaac Asimov, the New York City Ballet, Mayor Ed Koch, sheiks, and countless other celebrities, as well as many Fortune 500 companies. Jason certainly had the clientele and ability to have grown into the corporate world, but when asked why he never chose to “go big, ” his immediate response was, “I would lose the relationships that I have developed over the years. I am a big business, just in a small space. I love this lifestyle. ”