Poet Frank O'Hara just might be rolling over in his grave. If the famous poet were to return to his old stomping grounds in Greenwich Village, he'd definitely be looking for a new place to drink. His favorite watering hole, the Cedar Tavern on University Place, has been condo'ed and liquidated. And now the old place around the corner at 791 Broadway, Frank's last home in NYC, has been ripped from its foundation. There's not much left but a gaping hole, dark and dank. O'Hara lived and drank there in a full-floor loft starting 1963 while he was the Art Editor for the literary/ art journal Kulchur. The rent: $150 a month. It remained the place he laid his head until his sorry death on a Fire Island beach in the early hours of July 1966. Last March, the lot was sold for $5.8 million.
Now Frank's site is getting some newer digs, designed by architects Issac and Stern. The firm's website doesn't yet show a plan for Frank's old place, but they do display some other residential projects around town. Dept. of Building records, meanwhile, reveal that the new building will be six stories, with eight units above and commercial below. Directly across Broadway, in full view from 791, stands the gorgeous Grace Church. If all is well with the world, then that alone should command some good work for this site.
· Projects: Residential [Issac Stern architects website]
· Real Estate Sales at 791 Broadway [natefind]
· Frank's Last Place [Jeremiah's Vanishing New York]
· 791 Broadway - New Building [NYC DOB website]
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