Rediscover the UWS's Main Street!

"West Seventy Today" introduces you to your business neighbors along West 72nd Street, from Central Park to Riverside Park in weekly installments.

Meet your neighbors, NOW:

Celebrity Hair Styling

by Claudie Benjamin More often than not, the second floor businesses on West 72nd Street are marked discreetly. Most have signs or window lettering that nod to the type of business conducted within, but with little razzmatazz. The Harold Melvin Salon at 137 W. 72nd Street is an example of this way of interfacing with the public on 72nd Street that suggests a reliance on word of mouth promotion. No outward clue is given as to the true prominence of this business, which has been providing services to numerous Black celebrities in a large floor-through studio for 42 years. Harold Melvin grew up in New Jersey. A Navy veteran, he established his 72nd Street business not far from his apartment in the 80s along Central Park West. He traveled with the legendary Harry Belafonte as his hair stylist for over 50 years. The dapper hairdresser can be seen in a 1970 Clairol advertisement styling an elegant Black woman’s hair.

Happily, Sevaria Hendrix, an Upper West Sider and longtime manager at Harold Melvin Salon, is still cutting hair professionally. She’s worked for decades at this address and has been managing the salon solo since Harold’s death at age 92, three years ago. Sevaria is generous in sharing her memories about the salon and its special place in her remarkable life. She finds it hard to explain her success as a hairdresser. “They say when you have a gift you have to explore it.” Born and raised near Columbia, South Carolina, Sevaria trained in haircutting in a program in Knoxville, Tennessee where she was the only Black student. Rebuilding her life after a divorce, she came to New York City in 1971 to work as a stylist and quite amazingly was referred to the President of Henri Bendel’s, Geraldine Sturtz, A trailblazing style-maker, Sturtz was looking to represent diversity and hired Severia within minutes of meeting her. “The original Paul Mitchell was my mentor at Henri Bendel,” Sevaria says. At that time in the early 1970s no department store was more chic or more committed to innovative style than Bendel’s. KEEP READING

...and THEN:

Fit for a Governor

by Tom Miller On June 26, 1885 architects Thom & Wilson filed plans for five “four-story brick (stone front) dwellings.” Designed for developer Robert Irwin, each was projected to cost $25,000—or a little more than $635,000 today. Architects working on the new Upper West Side at the time freely dipped into a grab bag of historic styles, creating sometimes picturesque, sometimes quirky, and often, romantic architectural concoctions. Thom & Wilson’s five houses on West 72nd Street joined the trend; and two of them would especially stand out. A year later, on August 7, 1886, The Record and Guide remarked on the flurry of construction taking place on the Upper West Side. It specifically pointed out the block of West 72nd Street, between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues and mentioned “Robert Irwin has almost finished five handsome brown stone dwellings, two of which are in the Maresque style of architecture.”

The Record and Guide was referring to the mirror-imaged neighbors of 137 and 139; but its description of “Maresque” to define the style was simplistic at best. Indeed, there were pierced Moorish decorations high above the sidewalk level; but they coexisted with Gothic pointed arches, Chateauesque towers with conical caps, and medieval-style carvings. By the time the houses were completed in 1886 Phineas Chapman Lounsbury was 65 years old and highly successful. He was President and Director of the Connecticut Merchants’ Exchange National Bank and of the Savings Life Assurance Society; and was a director of the Provident Savings Life Assurance Society and the Worcester Salt Co. More importantly, he had served several terms as a member of the Connecticut Legislature and was currently serving as that state’s Governor. KEEP READING

KEEP READING the history of 137 W72nd at 72 Crosstown

72 Crosstown highlights the architectural and social histories of the buildings along West 72nd Street. We are working on your suggestions -- if you have a building you'd like us to prioritize, or a business you think we should feature, let us know!

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