Harlem Bespoke: The largest black-owned jazz club in Harlem was probably Small's Paradise at the corner of West 135th Street at 7th Avenue and we recently found a 1940 government photo of the legendary address. Most of the speakeasies nearby were in
modest brownstone storefronts a couple of blocks south or big white-owned establishments like the
Cotton Club on West 142nd Street and Lenox. Out of all the large club buildings of the Harlem Renaissance years, only the Small's now stand and has pretty much been restored after much community activism a few decades ago. There is school on the added upper levels now and and IHOP now resides as the anchor commercial tenant. More on Small's Paradise can be found in our past post:
LINK
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