Accordion Store’s Departure Signals End of Manhattan’s Music Row
By PATRICK McGEEHAN
JANUARY 3, 2016
For decades, musicians from around the world flocked to a segment of West 48th Street in Manhattan that was known as Music Row. Both sides of the block, just off Times Square, were lined with shops that sold and repaired guitars, drums, keyboards and other instruments.
But the music finally died there in December when the last holdout, Alex Carozza, packed up his accordion store and 50 years of memories and moved off the block. Now, all that is left of Music Row are the signs and awnings that beckoned to virtuosos and neophytes alike. The block is haunted by empty buildings and the occasional tourist straining for some echo of its harmonious past.
Where once there were Manny’s and Rudy’s and New York Woodwind and Brass, Frank Wolf Drummers Supplies and We Buy Guitars, now there are demolition crews, “for rent” notices and a construction office for the glass tower going up around the corner.
“Musically, it’s kind of depressing,” Mario Tacca, an accordion player and longtime patron of Music Row, said. “I guess it’s part of the new world that we’re living in. The old world is kind of disappearing slowly. It’s kind of sad to see.”
Music Row’s demise was a long time in coming, brought on by the soaring value of real estate and the conveniences offered by the Internet — those modern forces that have reshaped so much of New York City’s commercial landscape. The earthbound merchants of musical instruments that have survived are scattered about the city now: Rudy’s guitar shop to SoHo, Sam Ash’s superstore to 34th Street, Jon Baltimore’s horn store to 46th Street.
Mr. Tacca said he had not yet visited Mr. Carozza’s new location, tucked into an office building on a block of West 54th Street filled with the standard Midtown mix of restaurants, hotels, a bank branch and a gym. But when he does, he will not have to stand in line.
In the middle of a weekday just before Christmas, there were no customers to interrupt Mr. Carozza, 88, as he reminisced about the heyday of Music Row, when his shop employed 30 people and took in as much as $40 million a year.
“I used to sell 10, 15 accordions a week,” he said, adding that “my wife used to count the money all day.” But now, sitting in a cramped office wedged into the scaled-down version of Alex Musical Instruments, he said, “If you sell one, it’s like, hallelujah!”
RAMSAY DE GIVE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Mr. Carozza, who was born in Italy, moved from Argentina to New York in the 1960s to be part of the city’s thriving music scene. He went to work in an accordion store on 48th Street and eventually opened his own shop on the block.
Not long after, Rudy Pensa left Argentina to pursue his dream of finding a place for himself on Music Row. “Everyone who was coming to America was coming to 48th Street,” he recalled. “Every band I was really watching and reading about, you found out they were coming to this place called 48th Street.” In 1972, he arrived and looked up Mr. Carozza, who hired him. “I came with a hundred bucks and a guitar,” Mr. Pensa said.
Before long, Mr. Pensa was on his way to being a purveyor of guitars to the stars. He opened his own shop, which came to be known as Rudy’s, in the 1970s. He kept it going for four decades until rising rent and a growing downtown clientele spurred him to leave the block for good in August.
Still, Mr. Pensa, 66, remains wistful about the object of his childhood daydreams.
Mr. Tacca said he had not yet visited Mr. Carozza’s new location, tucked into an office building on a block of West 54th Street filled with the standard Midtown mix of restaurants, hotels, a bank branch and a gym. But when he does, he will not have to stand in line.
In the middle of a weekday just before Christmas, there were no customers to interrupt Mr. Carozza, 88, as he reminisced about the heyday of Music Row, when his shop employed 30 people and took in as much as $40 million a year.
“I used to sell 10, 15 accordions a week,” he said, adding that “my wife used to count the money all day.” But now, sitting in a cramped office wedged into the scaled-down version of Alex Musical Instruments, he said, “If you sell one, it’s like, hallelujah!”
RAMSAY DE GIVE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Mr. Carozza, who was born in Italy, moved from Argentina to New York in the 1960s to be part of the city’s thriving music scene. He went to work in an accordion store on 48th Street and eventually opened his own shop on the block.
Not long after, Rudy Pensa left Argentina to pursue his dream of finding a place for himself on Music Row. “Everyone who was coming to America was coming to 48th Street,” he recalled. “Every band I was really watching and reading about, you found out they were coming to this place called 48th Street.” In 1972, he arrived and looked up Mr. Carozza, who hired him. “I came with a hundred bucks and a guitar,” Mr. Pensa said.
Before long, Mr. Pensa was on his way to being a purveyor of guitars to the stars. He opened his own shop, which came to be known as Rudy’s, in the 1970s. He kept it going for four decades until rising rent and a growing downtown clientele spurred him to leave the block for good in August.
Still, Mr. Pensa, 66, remains wistful about the object of his childhood daydreams.
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