Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernandez

Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernández is the oldest, continuously-occupied Latin music store in New York City, and the Bronx, having opened in 1941.[2]

Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernandez
Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernandez is located in New York
Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernandez
Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernandez is located in the United States
Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernandez
Location786 Prospect Ave., Bronx, New York
Coordinates40°49′9″N 73°54′5″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1905
ArchitectMeehan, James F.
Architectural styleRenaissance
NRHP reference No.01000244[1]
Added to NRHPMarch 23, 2001

Casa Amadeo is located in a historic apartment building located in the Longwood section of The Bronx, New York. Designed by James F. Meehan, the apartment building was built in 1905 and named The Manhaset. The building is a six-story, Neo-Renaissance style building with commercial storefronts on the first floor. The lower two stories are faced with rusticated stone and the upper floors in red brick. It features a projecting entrance porch flanked by Corinthian order columns.[2] The building is managed by local grassroots organization Banana Kelly, which has rehabilitated and maintained buildings in Longwood since the 1970s.[3][4]

History

The first Puerto Rican owned music store in New York City, Almacenes Hernández was founded by Victoria Hernández and her brother Rafael Hernández at 1724 Madison Avenue in 1927. Almacenes Hernández was sold to record producer Luis Cuevas in 1939.[5]

The second music store founded by the siblings, Casa Hernández, was founded in 1941. It was sold in 1969 to musician and composer Miguel Angel "Mike" Amadeo, who renamed it Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernández. Mike Amadeo still owns and operates the music store.[6]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.[1]

Miguel Angel Amadeo
Miguel Ángel Amadeo
Birth nameMiguel Ángel Amadeo Vicente
Occupation(s)musician, composer, music store owner.
Years active1954––present
LabelsAlegre Records, Fania Records

Miguel Angel Amadeo, better known as "Mike" Amadeo, is a Puerto Rican musician and owner of the Casa Amadeo music store in the Bronx. Amadeo, born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico is the son of composer Alberto "Titi" Amadeo,[7] a musician who played with Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz for NBC.[8] He is the uncle of Grammy Award-nominated musician Tito Nieves. Mike Amadeo is a prolific composer, with nearly 300 songs to his credit, performed by artists such as Celia Cruz, Danny Rivera, and Cheito Gonzalez.[9]

In 1954 Amadeo took a trip to Puerto Rico. While there he met pianist Rafael Ithier, who was working for bandleader Rafael Cortijo. When Cortijo's group fell apart, Ithier formed El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, and Amadeo began contributing music to the Gran Combo, including Amadeo's best known song - Que Me Lo Den en Vida (Give it to Me in Life).[8]

Back in New York City, Amadeo joined Alegre Records, and associated with the first generation of Nuyorican musicians including Johnny Pacheco, Ray Barretto and the brothers Eddie Palmieri, and Charlie Palmieri.[8]

With his long residency, and personal connections to the Latin music community, Mike Amadeo is known as a community historian.[10] For his contributions to Puerto Rican music and the Bronx, Mike Amadeo has been honored by the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in 2008,[11][12] a Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture concert in 2005,[13] and by the Bronx Council on the Arts in 2010.[14] In 2014, the corner of Logwood Avenue and Prospect Avenue was renamed Miguel Angel "Mike" Amadeo Way.[15]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Kathleen A. Howe (November 2000). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernandez". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2011-01-12. See also: "Accompanying 10 photos". Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
  3. Ricciulli, Valeria (August 20, 2020). "The South Bronx Music Shop That's Surviving on Guitar Sales". The Strategist. New York Magazine. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  4. Beekman, Daniel (August 2, 2011). "Will Banana Kelly make blocks more appeeling in South Bronx?". nydailynews.com. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  5. Martínez, Elena (2016). "Hernández, Victoria (1897–1998), Latin music entrepreneur". In Knight, Franklin W.; Gates, Jr, Henry Louis (eds.). Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–Latin American Biography. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-93580-2.  – via Oxford University Press's Reference Online (subscription required)
  6. "Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernández". National Park Service. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  7. Fernandez, Manny (14 November 2005). "Honoring Pop and His Palace of Latin Soul in the Bronx". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  8. Rendell, Matt (2011). Salsa for People Who Probably Shouldn't. Random House. ISBN 9781780571706. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  9. Parker, Sydney (March 6, 2010). "S. Bronx store remains go-to spot for Latin music fans". NY Daily News. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  10. Siegal, Nina (8 September 2000). "In the Footsteps of Mambo Kings". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  11. "Mike Amadeo - Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños". centroweb.hunter.cuny.edu. Center for Puerto Rican Studies. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  12. Vega, María (June 3, 2008). "Music icon Mike Amadeo gets overdue recognition". NY Daily News. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  13. "Hostos Center Honors Composer and Music Store Propietor – Mike Amadeo – CUNY Newswire". www1.cuny.edu. Hostos Community College Center for the Arts & Culture. November 3, 2005. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  14. "Bronx Council on the Arts Honors Mike Amadeo" (PDF). bronxarts.org. The Bronx Council on the Arts. May 20, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  15. García Conde, Ed (7 May 2014). "Street Renaming This Saturday in Honor of Miguel A. (Mike) Amadeo, Owner Of Oldest NYC Latin Music Store". Welcome2TheBronx™. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
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