Radio Row: The Neighborhood Before the World Trade Center
Series: The Sonic Memorial Project: 5 Stories
From: The Kitchen Sisters
Length: 00:13:03
When City Radio opened on Cortlandt Street in 1921, radio was still a novelty. Over the next few decades, hundreds of stores would pop up. Metro Radio, Leotone Radio, Blan the Radio Man, Cantor the Cabinet King. The six-square block area in Lower Manhattan became a bazaar of radio tubes, knobs, hi-fi equipment and antenna kits. It was the largest collection of radio and electronics stores in the world. Then in 1966 the stores were condemned and bulldozed to make way for the new World Trade Center. A look back at the people and stories of Radio Row.
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Piece Description
When City Radio opened on Cortlandt Street in 1921, radio was still a novelty. Over the next few decades, hundreds of stores would pop up. Metro Radio, Leotone Radio, Blan the Radio Man, Cantor the Cabinet King. The six-square block area in Lower Manhattan became a bazaar of radio tubes, knobs, hi-fi equipment and antenna kits. It was the largest collection of radio and electronics stores in the world. Then in 1966 the stores were condemned and bulldozed to make way for the new World Trade Center. A look back at the people and stories of Radio Row.
Broadcast History
Aired on All Things Considered June 3, 2002
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paul cheevers
Posted on September 10, 2004 at 05:57 AM | Permalink
Review of Radio Row: The Neighborhood Before the World Trade Center
I had no idea that such a place existed never mind in the Towers' Location. A centralized bazaar of technology and dreams bulldozed for unprecedented high-rises which would later be decimated by an entirely different league of fanaticism and nightmares. UltraSoundRich. Analog warmth. Surly dispositions softened by time and memory. Listening to this piece I felt the warm glow of the "black magic" tubes...