Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernández is the oldest, continuously-occupied Latin

music store A music store or musical instrument store is a retail business that sells musical instruments and related equipment and accessories. Some music stores sell additional services, such as Music lesson, music lessons, music instrument or equipment ...

in New York City, and the Bronx, having opened in 1941. ''See also:'' Casa Amadeo is located in a historic

apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...

building located in the Longwood section of

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, 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 Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

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 The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...

columns. The building is managed by local grassroots organization Banana Kelly, which has rehabilitated and maintained buildings in Longwood since the 1970s.

History

The first Puerto Rican owned music store in New York City, ''Almacenes Hernández'' was founded by

Victoria Hernández Victoria Hernández (March 23, 1897 – April 11, 1998) was an Afro-Puerto Ricans, Afro-Puerto Rican music entrepreneur. Though a talented musician, she devoted her career to the business aspects of the music industry. In 1927, she opened the fir ...

and her brother Rafael Hernández at 1724 Madison Avenue in 1927. Almacenes Hernández was sold to record producer Luis Cuevas in 1939. 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. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2001.

Miguel Angel Amadeo

Miguel Angel Amadeo, better known as "Mike" Amadeo, is a Puerto Rican musician and owner of the Casa Amadeo music store in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. Amadeo, born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico is the son of composer Alberto "Titi" Amadeo, a musician who played with Cuban bandleader

Desi Arnaz Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986), known as Desi Arnaz, was a Cuban-American actor, musician, producer, and bandleader. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom ''I Love Lucy'', in whi ...

for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. He is the uncle of Grammy Award-nominated musician

Tito Nieves Humberto "Tito" Nieves (born June 4, 1958; also known as "El Luciano Pavarotti, Pavarotti de la Salsa") is a Puerto Rican musician who became one of the leading Salsa music, salsa singers of the 1980s and the early 1990s. Early life Humberto "Ti ...

. Mike Amadeo is a prolific composer, with nearly 300 songs to his credit, performed by artists such as

Celia Cruz Celia Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of , earning the nickna ...

Danny Rivera Danny Rivera (born 27 February 1945) is a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter born in San Juan whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is well known in Puerto Rico for his political activism. In 2008, Rivera acquired Dominican Republic citizenship. ...

, and Cheito Gonzalez. In 1947, Amadeo arrived in New York at the age of 13 with his mother. In 1954 Amadeo took a trip to Puerto Rico. While there he met pianist

Rafael Ithier Rafael Ithier Natal (born 29 August 1926) is a Puerto Rican salsa musician and the founder of the highly successful orchestra El Gran Combo. Ithier was born in Río Piedras, now a part of the municipality of San Juan. In 2016, Ithier celebrate ...

, who was working for bandleader

Rafael Cortijo Rafael Antonio Cortijo Verdejo (December 11, 1928 – October 3, 1982) was a Puerto Rican musician, orchestra leader, composer and percussion instrument craftsman. Early career As a child, Cortijo became interested in Caribbean music and en ...

. When Cortijo's group fell apart, Ithier formed

El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, commonly known as El Gran Combo, is a Puerto Rican salsa orchestra based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2012, it was often considered Puerto Rico's most successful musical group. The ...

, 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''). Back in New York City, Amadeo joined

Alegre Records Alegre Records was a New York City record label specialized in latin music. It was founded in 1956 by Al Santiago who owned a 1950s record store at 8522 Westchester Avenue in The Bronx named ''Casalegre'' and co-founded by clothing businessman B ...

, and associated with the first generation of

Nuyorican Nuyorican is a portmanteau word blending "New York" (or "Nueva York" in Spanish) and "Puerto Rican," referring to Puerto Ricans located in or around New York City, their culture, or their descendants (especially those raised or currently livin ...

musicians including

Johnny Pacheco Juan Pablo Knipping Pacheco (25 March 1935 – 15 February 2021), known as Johnny Pacheco, was a Dominican musician, arranger, composer, bandleader, and record producer. Born in the Dominican Republic, Pacheco became a leading figure in the New ...

Ray Barretto Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...

and the brothers

Eddie Palmieri Eddie Palmieri (born December 15, 1936) is an American Grammy Award-winning pianist, bandleader, musician, and composer of Corsican and Puerto Rican ancestry. He is the founder of the bands La Perfecta, La Perfecta II, and Harlem River Drive. ...

, and

Charlie Palmieri Carlos Manuel "Charlie" Palmieri (November 21, 1927 – September 12, 1988) was an American bandleader and musical director of salsa music. He was known as the "Giant of the Keyboards". Early years Palmieri's parents migrated to New York from P ...

. With his long residency, and personal connections to the Latin music community, Mike Amadeo is known as a community historian. For his contributions to Puerto Rican music and the Bronx, Mike Amadeo has been honored by the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in 2008, a Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture concert in 2005, and by the

Bronx Council on the Arts The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City bo ...

in 2010. In 2014, the corner of Logwood Avenue and Prospect Avenue was renamed ''Miguel Angel "Mike" Amadeo Way''.

References

External links

Archived version of the Casa Amadeo website

Neighborhood Slice Season 1: Ep. 6 - South Bronx, The Bronx

{{National Register of Historic Places listings in the Bronx 1941 establishments in New York City 20th-century American composers Companies based in the Bronx Longwood, Bronx Music organizations based in Puerto Rico National Register of Historic Places in the Bronx Puerto Rican culture in New York City Residential buildings in the Bronx Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City