iconic Manny's Music building in NYC cleared for demolition
West 48th St between 6th and 7th avenues in NYC used to be known as Music Row, with music store after music store selling instruments of all kinds. Perhaps the most famous store was Manny’s Music which opened in 1935 and closed in 2009, though you can still see the sign. Not for long, though: Fast Company reports that the building it was in has been cleared for demolition:
Dwayne Doherty, a spokesperson for Rockefeller Group, which owns the building, confirmed the permit, but said it was too early to comment on plans for the site. “We don’t comment on projects that are in the preliminary stages of development,” he said. “However we can confirm the demolition permit for 156 West 48th Street, which has enabled us to continue to advance our plans for future development.”
Manny’s operated at the site for 74 years and was frequently cited by notable musicians as the place where they purchased their first instruments. In a book about the store, Paul Simon talks about getting his first guitar there at the age of 14.
Manny’s is where Seymour Stein took Johnny Marr to buy a guitar when Sire signed The Smiths (and Marr wrote “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” that day on it, a Gibson ES-355). There are tons of stories like that, many of which are collected in the book The Wall of Fame: New York City’s Legendary Manny’s Music.
