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A&P at 3 Ave/32 St, New York?

Posted: 14 Mar 2017 21:38
by Groceteria
Here's one for the Manhattan geography nerds:

Two captures attached from "John and Mary" (1969). I'm almost completely convinced the location was the southeast corner of 32nd St and 3rd Av in Manhattan, based primarily on the gray apartment building on the left (which would be the northwest corner) and the proximity and siting of the Chrysler Building.

If this is the case, the building is now gone, but there is a new Trader Joe's in ALMOST the same location. I was actually IN that Trader Joe's just two nights ago.

Google street view: https://t.co/vGnP5JT191

Anyone care to confirm or deny?

Re: A&P at 3 Ave/32 St, New York?

Posted: 14 Mar 2017 23:28
by Groceteria
Tentative confirmation from a friend that there was a Food Emporium right around there in the early 1990s, which tends to support my theory.

Re: A&P at 3 Ave/32 St, New York?

Posted: 15 Mar 2017 10:05
by rich
The building with the TJs looks like something out of the 80s. The A&P in the has the "wing" logo typical of the 50s or early/mid-60s. I suspect it might have been the Gristede's across the street or a tenant in a prior building on this site.

Alternatively, I recall being in a Food Emporium that obviously had been an old A&P that was in the East 40s, at 2nd or 3rd Ave. It was small for a Food Emporium and had an awkward layout. I wonder if that was the store in this pic rather the one at 3rd & 32nd. The store in the 40s closed shortly after I was there and some time before A&P went kaput.

Re: A&P at 3 Ave/32 St, New York?

Posted: 17 Mar 2017 22:44
by Groceteria
I should've made it clear that I'm 100% sure the current Trader Joe's is NOT the same building. That's quite obvious. My guess is that the A&P and adjacent buildings would've been torn down for the construction of the apartment building and plaza where TJ's currently is. But the current building across the street is pretty much an exact match for the one across the street in the movie still. It's just about identical--windows, coloring, and all.

If the store in the movie was on 3rd Avenue, it would have to be south of the Chrysler Building (42nd St), like this one. If it was north of 42nd St., that would mean the A&P would have to be on Park or Lexington, or else the Chrysler Building would be on the other side. Which is a possibility, but I couldn't find a perspective in that area where the current surroundings matched as well.

That said, surroundings change and I could easily still be wrong.

Re: A&P at 3 Ave/32 St, New York?

Posted: 30 Mar 2017 21:48
by Groceteria
Just because I love being right...

I just happened to see what I realized was the SAME A&P on an episode of "Naked City" from 1960. I identified it by the women's clothing store a couple of doors down. This time I saw enough of the sign that I could look that clothing store up in an old phone book, which placed it at 453 3 Av.

So yes, this A&P was indeed on the site of the current Trader Joe's, which was previously a Food Emporium (thanks Google Street View)! My guess is that when the original store was torn down, A&P moved into the new apartment building that replaced it and stayed there through the Food Emporium years, at least until 2013 and maybe even until the bitter end!

(Yeah, I'm way too excited but I think it was a pretty good find given the lack of info and the fact that I've never lived in NYC.)

Re: A&P at 3 Ave/32 St, New York?

Posted: 31 Mar 2017 13:20
by BillyGr
Groceteria wrote:Just because I love being right...

I just happened to see what I realized was the SAME A&P on an episode of "Naked City" from 1960. I identified it by the women's clothing store a couple of doors down. This time I saw enough of the sign that I could look that clothing store up in an old phone book, which placed it at 453 3 Av.

So yes, this A&P was indeed on the site of the current Trader Joe's, which was previously a Food Emporium (thanks Google Street View)! My guess is that when the original store was torn down, A&P moved into the new apartment building that replaced it and stayed there through the Food Emporium years, at least until 2013 and maybe even until the bitter end!

(Yeah, I'm way too excited but I think it was a pretty good find given the lack of info and the fact that I've never lived in NYC.)
Looks like not until the end - this is a list from July 2015. There are several 3rd Ave. addresses but appear to be quite a bit different in numbers, and the couple street ones are several blocks from 32nd as well:

The Food Emporium 280 Elm Street New Canaan, CT 06840 (203) 966-7818
The Food Emporium 10 Union Square East New York, NY 10003 (212) 375-8546
>>>The Food Emporium 1066 Third Ave New York, NY 10021 (212) 754-5814
>>>The Food Emporium 1175 Third Ave. New York, NY 10021 (212) 249-7728
The Food Emporium 1331 First Ave New York, NY 10021 (212) 439-0636
>>>The Food Emporium 1450 Third Ave New York, NY 10028 (212) 628-1125
The Food Emporium 2415 Broadway New York, NY 10024 (212) 501-8938
The Food Emporium 316 Greenwich St New York, NY 10013 (212) 766-4598
The Food Emporium 401 East 59th St New York, NY 10022 (212) 752-5897
The Food Emporium 452 West 43rd St New York, NY 10036 (212) 947-1257
The Food Emporium 810 Eighth Ave New York, NY 10019 (212) 977-1714
The Food Emporium 969 Second Ave New York, NY 10022 (212) 381-0693