2023 Honorees
Bobbi and Ner Beck
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At our annual meeting in 2023, we inducted long-time residents Bobbi and Ner Beck into our 50-year Hall of Fame. The remarks made by Hedy Campbell at the induction ceremony are transcribed below.
Artists Ner and Bobbi Beck met in art college in Philadelphia and were married in 1966. At that time Philly had riots and a high rate of crime. Although they loved Philadelphia, they decided to move to New York. In 1968, they headed north to their new life on the Upper West Side. They were attracted by the neighborhood and were impressed with the architecture, parks and everyone they had met. Their first tiny one-bedroom apartment was at W. 104th St. and Riverside Dr. Almost every night they would hear elderly ladies shouting “They stole my purse.” The muggers would then race at high speed downhill to disappear into the park. In later years, as jogging and marathons became the new craze, neighbors would take off in pursuit and outrun them. Later, locals raised donations and banded together to start several Block Associations, including our own, that hired guards. After that the muggers seemed to give up.
In the early 1970s many of the Beck’s friends left the city in favor of suburban schools for their kids. There were many apartments to choose from and because of that, it was the perfect time to move into a human-size apartment. They found one at 865 West End Avenue and were knocked out by the size of it. Unfortunately, their old apartment was so tiny that they owned only a few pieces of furniture. But, since so many people were moving at that time, there was a bounty of street finds there for the picking. It was common practice for neighbors to snatch up antiques that were left on the streets and restore them.
One of their favorite finds was in the 1970s as they were walking past one of the limestone buildings on 102nd between West End and Riverside. They spotted a broken-down Victorian bookcase adorned with griffon carvings. There was a woman sitting on the front steps of the building from which the bookcase had been removed. Conversation revealed that it was her last day in her original family home, and she was waiting to be picked up in order to move to Long Island to live with her sister. Ner and Bobbi asked if the bookcase was trash and she asked if they would like to have it. She explained that she and her sister had been raised in that house and that her father had bought it new in the early 1900s. She told them many stories about how there were still horses being used at that time, and how the whipping winds off of the Hudson blew the aroma of dried horse manure up the street. She described how awful it was to breathe.
She asked Ner and Bobbi where they lived and they told her they were her next-door neighbors in the 15-story apartment building that looked down on her rooftop. Suddenly she went cold and stopped talking to them. Ner and Bobbi were afraid they’d said something to offend her. She recounted that when 865 was built in the 1920s, the racket from construction made living unbearable for her and her sister. In a stern voice, she went on to say that it used to be such a nice neighborhood before they built those 15-story monster apartment buildings!
They had a better understanding of her words years later in when the two opposing, more than 30-story towers were built just a few blocks away on Broadway. A friend of Ner’s took him into a high-floor apartment to check out the view from the soaring height. Looking down, the 15-story prewar buildings looked tiny. Ner and Bobbi recall the controversy and opinions that many neighbors expressed at the time of construction; hearing comments like… “Those monsters are ruining our neighborhood" was déjà vu all over again.
Ner and Bobbi had a graphic design business for 47 years, and finally retired a decade ago. They now devote all their days to doing exhibitions of Bobbi’s artworks and Ner’s photographs. To see some of their work, Google Ner Beck NYPL and Bobbi Beck NYPL. To see where they are currently exhibiting, enter NYPL Community Showcases in the search bar. Ner and Bobbi raised their daughter, Melinda Beck, at 865 West End. She followed in her parents footsteps and became a talented artist in her own right. Melinda’s two daughters are now studying art in college, continuing the family tradition.
What’s Different: The Cars
Like most city-bound West Siders Ner and Bobbi lusted for a car to travel and explore outside city limits. The go-to default choice when they moved in was the VW Beetle, with its heavy-duty metal fenders and tank-like durability. When it was time to do the alternate side of the street shuffle, everyone on the block moved their Beetles at the same time so as to prevent the front ends of the Beetles from being crushed by the taller American behemoths. The Beetles were always clustered together like Minions, with all of the bumpers end to end at matching heights.
What’s the Same: The Panhandlers
In the 1960s, when Ner’s brother, George, traveled from Delaware to see him in the Big Apple for the first time, they walked together up to Broadway to buy some groceries. A trembling panhandler, who spotted George as an out-of-towner by the way he was dressed, immediately approached them and said “Can you spare $20?" After they’d walked away, George said, “Boy things really are expensive up here.”
What’s Different and the Same: The Broadway Malls Scene
Ner and Bobbi remember the benches that sported glossy green paint and that were always occupied with rows of impeccably dressed seniors, wearing their finest coats and hats, the women cradling their handbags, socializing through long afternoons almost daily. They resembled a perfect row of New York City Queen Elizabeths. Here it is a half-century later, and the long Hippie hair of the 1970s has turned white and been trimmed short, yet Ner and Bobbi frequently sit on those same seats, chatting and reminiscing about the old days back when they were the new kids on the block.
Other Reminiscences
Bobbi remembers being involved with a local food co-op, riding shotgun in a car with another woman as they went up to the Hunts Point Market in the Bronx at 3am. In the pitch-black night, with every co-op members' cash stuffed in her pockets, they’d buy crates of produce. Later in the day, they’d return to split up the carload and find all the co-op members anxiously waiting for their share of fresh produce. If you’ve ever waited on the line to pick up a BAiP food bag, you know that the desire for fresh fruits and vegetables hasn’t changed a bit.
For years on Broadway was Mr. Kay’s barber shop. Almost everyone in the neighborhood, young and old, had their hair cut there by Kyriacos Demetriou, the last owner, who ran the business for 40 years. The interior had remained almost intact since it opened in 1907, and now many of its artifacts are part of the collection at the Museum of the City of New York.
Ner and Bobbi also remember that there used to be a men's shirt shop next to where the Ben & Jerry's is now. The windows had displays of mannequin heads and torsos that were so old that they were disintegrating into dust. On the last day of business—the store had opened in the 1930s—Ner went in to talk to them about the way things were when the business was launched. The two elderly brothers who owned the shop shared many stories about the neighborhood with Ner. The one he liked the best was about the brothers going to the Horn & Hardart Automat across W. 104th St. during the Depression. They used to bring their own tea bags and use the hot-water dispenser to make themselves free cups of tea. The pleasure they took from figuring out how to beat the system hadn’t faded at all even though so many years had passed.
In the early 1970s many of the Beck’s friends left the city in favor of suburban schools for their kids. There were many apartments to choose from and because of that, it was the perfect time to move into a human-size apartment. They found one at 865 West End Avenue and were knocked out by the size of it. Unfortunately, their old apartment was so tiny that they owned only a few pieces of furniture. But, since so many people were moving at that time, there was a bounty of street finds there for the picking. It was common practice for neighbors to snatch up antiques that were left on the streets and restore them.
One of their favorite finds was in the 1970s as they were walking past one of the limestone buildings on 102nd between West End and Riverside. They spotted a broken-down Victorian bookcase adorned with griffon carvings. There was a woman sitting on the front steps of the building from which the bookcase had been removed. Conversation revealed that it was her last day in her original family home, and she was waiting to be picked up in order to move to Long Island to live with her sister. Ner and Bobbi asked if the bookcase was trash and she asked if they would like to have it. She explained that she and her sister had been raised in that house and that her father had bought it new in the early 1900s. She told them many stories about how there were still horses being used at that time, and how the whipping winds off of the Hudson blew the aroma of dried horse manure up the street. She described how awful it was to breathe.
She asked Ner and Bobbi where they lived and they told her they were her next-door neighbors in the 15-story apartment building that looked down on her rooftop. Suddenly she went cold and stopped talking to them. Ner and Bobbi were afraid they’d said something to offend her. She recounted that when 865 was built in the 1920s, the racket from construction made living unbearable for her and her sister. In a stern voice, she went on to say that it used to be such a nice neighborhood before they built those 15-story monster apartment buildings!
They had a better understanding of her words years later in when the two opposing, more than 30-story towers were built just a few blocks away on Broadway. A friend of Ner’s took him into a high-floor apartment to check out the view from the soaring height. Looking down, the 15-story prewar buildings looked tiny. Ner and Bobbi recall the controversy and opinions that many neighbors expressed at the time of construction; hearing comments like… “Those monsters are ruining our neighborhood" was déjà vu all over again.
Ner and Bobbi had a graphic design business for 47 years, and finally retired a decade ago. They now devote all their days to doing exhibitions of Bobbi’s artworks and Ner’s photographs. To see some of their work, Google Ner Beck NYPL and Bobbi Beck NYPL. To see where they are currently exhibiting, enter NYPL Community Showcases in the search bar. Ner and Bobbi raised their daughter, Melinda Beck, at 865 West End. She followed in her parents footsteps and became a talented artist in her own right. Melinda’s two daughters are now studying art in college, continuing the family tradition.
What’s Different: The Cars
Like most city-bound West Siders Ner and Bobbi lusted for a car to travel and explore outside city limits. The go-to default choice when they moved in was the VW Beetle, with its heavy-duty metal fenders and tank-like durability. When it was time to do the alternate side of the street shuffle, everyone on the block moved their Beetles at the same time so as to prevent the front ends of the Beetles from being crushed by the taller American behemoths. The Beetles were always clustered together like Minions, with all of the bumpers end to end at matching heights.
What’s the Same: The Panhandlers
In the 1960s, when Ner’s brother, George, traveled from Delaware to see him in the Big Apple for the first time, they walked together up to Broadway to buy some groceries. A trembling panhandler, who spotted George as an out-of-towner by the way he was dressed, immediately approached them and said “Can you spare $20?" After they’d walked away, George said, “Boy things really are expensive up here.”
What’s Different and the Same: The Broadway Malls Scene
Ner and Bobbi remember the benches that sported glossy green paint and that were always occupied with rows of impeccably dressed seniors, wearing their finest coats and hats, the women cradling their handbags, socializing through long afternoons almost daily. They resembled a perfect row of New York City Queen Elizabeths. Here it is a half-century later, and the long Hippie hair of the 1970s has turned white and been trimmed short, yet Ner and Bobbi frequently sit on those same seats, chatting and reminiscing about the old days back when they were the new kids on the block.
Other Reminiscences
Bobbi remembers being involved with a local food co-op, riding shotgun in a car with another woman as they went up to the Hunts Point Market in the Bronx at 3am. In the pitch-black night, with every co-op members' cash stuffed in her pockets, they’d buy crates of produce. Later in the day, they’d return to split up the carload and find all the co-op members anxiously waiting for their share of fresh produce. If you’ve ever waited on the line to pick up a BAiP food bag, you know that the desire for fresh fruits and vegetables hasn’t changed a bit.
For years on Broadway was Mr. Kay’s barber shop. Almost everyone in the neighborhood, young and old, had their hair cut there by Kyriacos Demetriou, the last owner, who ran the business for 40 years. The interior had remained almost intact since it opened in 1907, and now many of its artifacts are part of the collection at the Museum of the City of New York.
Ner and Bobbi also remember that there used to be a men's shirt shop next to where the Ben & Jerry's is now. The windows had displays of mannequin heads and torsos that were so old that they were disintegrating into dust. On the last day of business—the store had opened in the 1930s—Ner went in to talk to them about the way things were when the business was launched. The two elderly brothers who owned the shop shared many stories about the neighborhood with Ner. The one he liked the best was about the brothers going to the Horn & Hardart Automat across W. 104th St. during the Depression. They used to bring their own tea bags and use the hot-water dispenser to make themselves free cups of tea. The pleasure they took from figuring out how to beat the system hadn’t faded at all even though so many years had passed.
