The 1970s Top-40 music scene lives on thanks to this almost perfectly preserved ad, on the side of a building at 145th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue.
I’m guessing it went up in the disco era, when radios all across the metro area were set to 77 AM, then a hugely popular station.
WABC is all talk today—it’s been that way since 1982.
Well, in kind of a roundabout way. St. Nicholas Avenue and St. Nicholas Terrace in Harlem both honor the original St. Nick, a Fourth century bishop and the patron saint of New Amsterdam.
“These streets honor New Amsterdam’s patron saint, whose image adorned the masthead of the New Netherland that brought the first Dutch colonists to these shores,” explains a Parks Department sign at adjacent St. Nicholas Park in the 130s.
“St. Nicholas of Myra is also known as the patron saint of children, sailors, bankers, pawnbrokers, travelers, and captives—as well as the inspiration for Father Christmas or Santa Claus.
“Legend claims that he gave his considerable inheritance to charity and often made secret and anonymous gifts to the desperately needy.”
Here’s more on why New Yorkers can claim Santa as one of our own.
Ephemeral New York 