Saint Nicholas Avenue

something like that.

So, yes, there's a neighborhood in Harlem called Sugar Hill, 145th Street, basically around St. Nicholas Avenue.

And it's where, during the Harlem Renaissance, a lot of our famous... uh entertainers lived and spent you know hung out at and so it's very dear to me coming from Harlem to take that name

yeah there was a movie with Wesley Snipes called Sugar Hill right yeah well maybe yeah yeah I remember yeah so that's the only things I know about Sugar Hill forgive me for those y'all that are not from Harlem that are from Harlem just forgive me for being ignorant but I know about the Sugarhill Gang.

So it, I think that's what's one of the more fascinating things about the film is that there's so much, um, that they're discussing that we're s- kind of still having these, we're still curious about and having those conversations today.

Shot in August of 1972, a film by the late filmmaker William Greaves captures a reunion of the Harlem Renaissance at Duke Ellington's townhouse on St. Nicholas Avenue.

It's called Once Upon a Time in Harlem.

It opens tomorrow at Film Forum and at Lincoln Center.

Well, Sandra, good afternoon to you.

This is 598 West 178th Street, right at the intersection of St. Nicholas Avenue.

About 11:30 this morning, uh, in this five-story building, fire in the top floor.

Uh, very quickly went to a second alarm, and that fire spreading not only out of some of the windows on that top floor, but also, uh, taking out a good section of the roof right there.

Uh, how many, we do not have, uh, a, a firm number on just yet, uh, but there are injuries reported.

But again, fire crews, um, doing a very quick job here.

Now, this is at a very big intersection at 178th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, and as I zoom out here, uh, if you, uh, ride the, uh, George Washington Bridge at all, uh, from the Jersey side on over to Manhattan and over to the Bronx, you're very familiar with the apartments.

It is right there, 178th and St. Nicholas Avenue.

In 1972, he rounded up almost every surviving member of the Harlem Renaissance.

So this is, you know, about two dozen boldface luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance for a reunion in Duke Ellington's St. Nicholas Avenue townhouse.

And it was essentially a cocktail party of old friends, all of whom hold very strong opinions on the role of art and race and civil rights.

And it is absolutely fascinating to hear them discuss, debate, settle old scores together.

... got new ones.

Went with my mother to the library, 'cause the library was the other side of a street called St. Nicholas Avenue, which was a little more dangerous.

Yeah.

Not that I knew it was dangerous, but my parents obviously.

And right next to the Polo Grounds there, up in the, uh, you know, they, they have, uh, I forget the name of the avenue, it's so long ago, but there is that ...

You have to go up the stairs of the elevated railroad, and then up to the right, you go up on St. Nicholas Avenue, is it? I forget the name of the avenue up there.

Uh, but it leads up to a set of apartment houses, which a lot of the ball players used to live at the time.

But the, uh, there must be 150 steps going up to that, up to that street up there.