On the Bowery, twice

[217 Bowery, Manhattan, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections.]

Roughly a decade later, when The Tattooed Stranger was filming on the Bowery, little had changed. Click either image for a much larger view to take in the details. Do you see the bear?

[From The Tattooed Stranger (dir. Edward Montagne, 1950).]

In a recent incarnation, no. 217 housed a club called Mission — a sick choice of name for an establishment on the Bowery. In 2005 a twenty-four-year-old man was shot to death after accidentally spilling a drink on a woman therein. No. 217 was more recently home to Katra, which Google describes as a “Moroccan-themed duplex lounge offering hookahs, pillow-filled banquettes & occasional belly dancing.” Now permanently closed.

More tax photographs from the Bowery
Ace-Hy Sign Co. : Central Barber School : The Old Landmark : The Pioneer Restaurant

And: More photographs from the NYC Municipal Archives (Pinboard)