The original Duplex was at 55 Grove from about 1951 until 1989, when it moved to its current location on Christopher. Joan Rivers and Woody Allen got their starts there--and it was loaded with aspiring singers.
(the limp wrist, another of the vanished)
Gonzalez recalls how "each night it would fill with young kids who had dreams of singing on Broadway. So much young talent in a tiny, seedy bar. It was so beautiful to be there and enjoy all that talent for the price of a beer. And who could forget Ruby Rims?"
(Ruby is still out there--watch this documentary on the local personality--and with a Facebook page, no less.)
As for 55 Grove Street, after The Duplex left it became Rose's Turn, another beloved piano bar. Then, after 56 years of providing a space for singers and comedians to launch their careers, or to simply be heard, it shuttered.
Today it's the office of interior design firm S.R. Gambrel, whom Town & Country called "the darling of young Wall Streeters...the go-to decorator for a great many of today's young titans of finance and technology."
Previously:
Efrain's Underground New York
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