Seriously? Manhattan (as a borough), has a flag?

It looks suspiciously like the NYC flag with the only difference being details on the circular seal.

The Manhattan Latin motto is gone. The 1625 is replaced with two stars. In the end, it’s pretty underwhelming. Perhaps the confusion between the flags means that we’ve seen the Manhattan one in the field, but without close inspection, just assumed it was the city flag…

Ice Cream with A Topping of Nostalgia

One of our HNBA members mentioned going to Thomforde’s Ice Cream Shop at 351 West 125th Street at Nicholas Avenue with her mother.

Thomforde’s Ice Cream Shop or “Soda Fountain” was established in 1903 and closed in 1983. It was a classic soda shop with diamond-shaped black and white floor tiles, a counter with chrome and bright red leather seat stools. They served big meaty hamburgers, pickles, fries and they were said to have the best “homemade” ice cream soda’s in Harlem.

In the book from Civil Rights to Black Liberation: Malcolm X, long-term Harlem activist Yuri Kochiyuma, said she:

…remembered Malcolm X holding court (at Thomforde’s) over banana splits where she was a waitress for many years.