Editing Radio Row

{{Short description|Urban area with a large number of businesses selling radio equipment}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
[[File:Radio Row, Cortlandt Street, Manhattan (NYPL b13668355-482561).jpg|thumb|Heins and Bolet,<ref>http://qcwa.org/radio-row.htm</ref><ref>http://soundandvision.com/content/dreaming-not-impossible-dream-radio-days</ref><ref>collections.mcny.org/Collection/Radio Row-2F3XC5UBTQMI.html</ref><ref>http://oldqslcards.com/HEINS_BOLET.pdf</ref> the oldest radio store, open since 1920, on [[New York City]]'s Radio Row with the [[Cortlandt Street station (IRT Ninth Avenue Line)|Cortlandt subway station]] in the background, and  an elevated train station above, in a 1936 photograph by [[Berenice Abbott]]]]

[[File:Crowds listening for news on Kennedy NYWTS.jpg|thumb|A crowd gathers near an electronics shop at Greenwich and Dey streets after [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|John F. Kennedy]]'s assassination on November 22, 1963]]
[[File:Argo Sidewalk jeh1.JPG|thumb|Sidewalk bins of a defunct shop at 393 Canal Street]]

'''Radio Row''' is a nickname for an urban street or district specializing in the sale of [[radio]] and [[Electronics|electronic]] equipment and parts. Radio Rows arose in many cities with the 1920s rise of [[broadcasting]] and declined after the middle of the 20th century.

==New York City==
===Construction and existence===
[[New York City]]'s Radio Row, which existed from 1921 to 1966, was a [[warehouse district]] on the [[Lower West Side, Manhattan|Lower West Side]] of [[Manhattan]], [[New York City]]. Major firms that started there include [[Arrow Electronics]], [[Avnet]] (founded by [[Charles Avnet]] in 1921), and Schweber Electronics.

The first of many radio-related stores was City Radio, opened in 1921 by Harry Schneck on [[Cortlandt Street (Manhattan)|Cortlandt Street]], which became the central axis of a several-block area of  electronics stores.

''[[The New York Times]]'' made an early reference to "Radio Row" in 1927, when Cortlandt Street celebrated a "Radio Jubilee". The ''Times'' reported that "Today ... Cortlandt Street is 'Radio Row,' while Broadway is just a thoroughfare." The street was closed for vehicular traffic and decorated with flags and bunting, and the ''Times'' reported plans for New York's acting mayor [[Joseph V. McKee]] to present a "key to Cortland Street" to the then-reigning [[Miss New York]], Frieda Louise Mierse, while a contest was held to name a "Miss Downtown Radio."<ref>"'Radio Row' Begins Its Jubilee Today," ''The New York Times,'' September 6, 1927, p. 34</ref>

[[Pete Hamill]] recalled that, as a child, "On Saturday mornings, I used to venture from [[Brooklyn]] with my father to Radio Row on Cortlandt Street in Lower Manhattan, where he and hundreds of other New York men moved from stall to stall in search of the elusive tube that would make the radio work again. Later, my brothers went there with him in search of television components. Radio Row was a piece of all our interior maps."<ref>{{cite book|title=Meyer Berger's New York|first=Meyer|last=Berger|publisher=Fordham University Press|year=2004|isbn=0-8232-2328-0}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=sB3XmgaobSIC&pg=PR11 p. 11]</ref>

In 1930, ''[[The New York Times]]'' described Radio Row as located on Greenwich Street "where Cortlandt Street intersects it and the [[IRT Ninth Avenue Line|Ninth Avenue Elevated]] forms a canopy over the roadway...The largest concentration is in the block bounded by Dey Street on the north and Cortlandt on the south, but Radio Row does not stop there; it overflows around the corner, around several corners, embracing in all some five crowded blocks." It estimated 40 or 50 stores in the vicinity, "all going full blast at the same time. There may be regulations prohibiting this vociferous practice, but if the radio dealers have anything to say it about it, it will never have the slightest effect along Radio Row....The clamor is heard even as one walks through the subway tunnel to the street exit....The first impression, and in fact the only one, is auditory, a reverberating bedlam, a confusion of sounds which only an army of loudspeakers could produce." It noted, in addition to merchants selling radio sets, "others display mostly accessories...one shopkeeper last week featured a [[Crystal radio|crystal set]] small enough to fit into a pocket, and another gave prominent position to a bucket of condensers about an inch in side."<ref>"Bedlam on Radio Row: Downtown Mart Continues its Musical Pandemonium, But Meantime Sells Cameras and Golf Balls." ''The New York Times'', May 25, 1930, p. 144</ref>

In 1944, during [[World War II]], ''The New York Times''  lamented that the "one-time repository of nearly everything from a tube socket to a complete radio station" was "bargainless and practically setless, too, due to wartime scarcities" but that it still catered to "tinkerers and engineers" and that an "old spirit" and "magical quality" were still there. One shop said it was practically able to stay in business just by "making repairs on the electric meters burned out by the students of the city schools who were studying radio," and all were optimistic about growing public interest in "two new kinds of radio: FM and television."<ref>Kennedy, T. R., Jr., "Cortlandt Street," ''The New York Times,'' November 19, 1944, p. X7</ref>

But Radio Row rebounded. The used radios, war surplus electronics (e.g., [[ARC-5]] radios), junk, and parts often piled so high they would spill out onto the street, attracting collectors and scroungers. According to a business writer, it also was the origin of the electronic component distribution business.<ref>{{cite book|title=Ruthless Execution: What Business Leaders Do When Their Companies Hit the Wall|last=Hartman|first=Amir|publisher=Financial Times Prentice Hall|year=2004|isbn=0-13-101884-1|url=https://archive.org/details/ruthlessexecutio0000hart}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=hlmssVxlUUgC&pg=RA63-PA167 p. 167] "The electronic component distribution business started in the 1920s and 1930s, selling radio tubes on lower Manhattan's Cortland{{sic}} St. ... "</ref>

===Demolition===
Radio Row was torn down in 1966 to make room for the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/stories/020603.radiorow.html|title='Radio Row:' The neighborhood before the World Trade Center|date=2002-06-03|publisher=National Public Radio|access-date=2006-10-01}}</ref> Five years earlier, the [[Port Authority of New York and New Jersey]] rejected a proposal to build the new complex on the east side of [[Lower Manhattan]]'s [[Financial District, Manhattan|Financial District]]. Instead, officials chose a site on the west side, near [[Hudson Terminal]], and began planning to use [[eminent domain]] to remove the shops in the area bounded by [[Vesey Street (Manhattan)|Vesey]], [[Church Street (Manhattan)|Church]], [[Liberty Street (Manhattan)|Liberty]], and [[West Street (Manhattan)|West]] streets.<ref name="glanz">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cityinskyris00glan|url-access=registration|title=City in the Sky: The Rise and Fall of the World Trade Center|last=Glanz|first=James|author2=Eric Lipton|publisher=Times Books|year=2003|isbn=0-8050-7428-7}}</ref>{{rp|56}}

Local opposition arose to the decision to raze the streets on the west side for the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]]. Sam Slate reported on this for [[WCBS (AM)|WCBS]] Radio in 1962:{{blockquote|Shaping up in New York City is a legal battle of overriding importance. Its outcome will conceivably affect us all. If the considerable power of the Port Authority is allowed to dispossess the merchants of Radio Row, then, it is our conviction, no home or business is safe from the caprice of government.<ref name="glanz"/>{{rp|62}}}}  The city also objected to the compensation given for the streets themselves obscured by the [[Superilla|superblock]].

A committee of small business owners led by Oscar Nadel took exception to the Port Authority's offer of $30,000 to any business in the condemned area, regardless of its size or age. Nadel's group, who estimated that businesses in the area employed 30,000 people and generated $300 million per year, sued the Port Authority.<ref name="glanz"/>{{rp|68}} But the court ultimately threw out the case, called ''Courtesy Sandwich Shop v. Port of New York Authority,'' in November 1963 "for want of a substantial federal question".<ref name="glanz"/>{{rp|87}}

After the closing of these stores, the concentration of radio retailers was not duplicated elsewhere in New York.  Some clusters of radio and electronics stores were created or added to in the [[Canal Street (Manhattan)|Canal Street]] and [[Union Square (Manhattan)|Union Square]] areas. A large black-and-white photo mural of Radio Row can be viewed at the [[PATH (rail system)|PATH]]'s [[World Trade Center station (PATH)|World Trade Center station]].

==Other meanings==
===Boston residences===
{{Further|North End, Boston}}
In 1923, ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' reported that a section of [[Boston]]'s [[North End, Boston|North End]] had been dubbed "Radio Row" because of its many radio antennas. "The [[hurdy-gurdy]] has a rival," wrote the ''Globe''. "No skyline anywhere else in the city or the suburbs is filled with so many antennae<!--Sic. This is a direct quotation, so please do not make any "corrections"---> as the blocks stretching along some sections of Hanover and Salem sts. Many residents have three or four aerials—one has six—with wires leading down to receiving sets of all descriptions, in the homes of the foreign-born residents. It has all come about in a few months....All stairways lead to the roof, where [some residents] are arranging to rig up a loudspeaker, connected with instruments below. A survey of housetops...shows a whole population getting ready."<ref>Cullinan, Howell (1923), ''The Boston Globe,'' May 6, 1923, p. A5.</ref>

===Cleveland stores===
A section of [[Downtown Cleveland]] along Prospect Ave. from [[East 4th Street District (Cleveland)|East 4th]] to East 9th Street was known as "Radio Row", according to ''[[The Plain Dealer]]'' in 1928.<ref>{{cite news|title=Radio Crowd Sad as Yankees Win|publisher=[[The Plain Dealer]]|date=October 5, 1928 |page=12}}</ref>

===Los Angeles broadcasting ===
In [[Los Angeles]] during the 1940s and 1950s, "Radio Row" referred to the area near the intersection of [[Sunset Boulevard]] and [[Vine Street]] in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], where all four major radio networks had broadcasting facilities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/192602063/?terms=%22radio%2Brow%22%2Bsunset&match=1 |title=Hollywood Loses Its Last Radio Station |page=10 |work=The Los Angeles Times |via=Newspapers.com |date=2005-08-11 |accessdate=2022-06-05}}</ref>

===Philadelphia stores===
{{Further|Arch Street (Philadelphia)}}
In the 1950s and 1960s, [[Philadelphia]]'s [[Arch Street (Philadelphia)|Arch Street]] from 6th to 11th Streets was known as Radio Row, after its electronic-goods stores.<ref name="phillyhistory">{{cite web | url=http://www.phillyhistory.org/blog/index.php/2007/05/i-remember-arch-street/ | title=I Remember Arch Street | publisher=City of Philadelphia | work=PhillyHistory blog | date=May 2, 2007 | access-date=July 2, 2014 | author=Kushnier, Ron}}</ref>

===Media event broadcasting===
[[File:Pat Kirwan, JJ Watt, Jim Miller, Feb 2019.jpg|thumb|A broadcast from [[Super Bowl LIII]] Radio Row in February 2019]]
Radio Row may also refer to a large grouping of [[sports talk|sports]] [[talk radio]] stations that broadcast from the [[Super Bowl]] media center during the week before the annual major [[American football|football]] game.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schonbrun |first=Zach |date=2014-01-30 |title=Before Big Game, Stepping Into Media's Big Top on Radio Row |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/sports/football/before-big-game-stepping-into-medias-big-top.html |access-date=2023-02-22 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Surplus store]]
* [[Business cluster]]
* [[Electronic waste]]
* [[Tin Pan Alley]]
* [[Newspaper Row (disambiguation)|Newspaper Row]]

=== Other locations ===
* [[Akihabara]], [[Tokyo]], Japan<!-- https://blog.japanwondertravel.com/best-places-to-buy-electronics-in-tokyo-55727 -->
* [[Apliu Street]], [[New Kowloon]], Hong Kong<!-- https://web.archive.org/web/20050409004202/https://www.pmillett.com/parts_in_asia.htm -->
* [[Huaqiangbei]], [[Futian District]], [[Shenzhen]], [[Guangdong]], China, has the largest electronics market in the world<!-- https://medium.com/chinafacture/huaqiangbei-the-biggest-electronics-market-in-the-world-shenzhen-china-3ec66e5d2df0 -->
* [[Yongsan Electronics Market]], [[Seoul]], Korea
* [[Guang Hua Digital Plaza]], [[Taipei]], Taiwan
* [[Pudu, Kuala Lumpur|Pudu Market]], [[Kuala Lumpur]], Malaysia
* [[York Street, Sydney]], Australia
* In [[London]], [[Tottenham Court Road]], [[Edgware Road]], and Lisle Street had surplus electronics shops.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | title=New York City's Financial District in Vintage Postcards | publisher=Arcadia Publishing | isbn=0-7385-0068-2 |  first=Randall | last=Gabrielan | year=2000 }}

==External links==
* [http://hackaday.com/2015/12/07/the-death-of-surplus/ The Death of Surplus]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160728141918/http://gothamist.com/2016/07/25/radio_row_history.php The History of "Radio Row," NYC's First Electronics District]
* [http://www.retinascope.co.uk/lislestreet.html Early Wireless - Leicester House, Lisle Street and beyond.]
* [[Amateur Computer Society]] - [https://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/access/text/2012/03/102654910-05-01-acc.pdf ACS newsletter, 1966-1976] @ computerhistory.org
::The early computer hobbyists relied on surplus electronic parts.
* [http://hackaday.com/2014/01/21/apex-electronics-your-souce-for-oscilloscopes-and-drop-tanks/ Apex Electronics, Your Souce for Oscilloscopes and Drop Tanks]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=YQ1A-Hz3ml4C&dq=%22radio+row%22&pg=PA111 Vintage postcard] showing Radio Row

'''Media'''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060208192202/https://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/stories/020603.radiorow.html Radio Row] Program on [[NPR]]
* {{cite web|title=What was Radio Row like before the World Trade Center | url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/newyork/sfeature/sf_forum_0911.html | publisher=[[PBS]] |work=[[The American Experience]]}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJE9hc3fluw Radio Row, Cortlandt Street, New York, 1929], [[YouTube]] video

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[[Category:Electronics districts]]
[[Category:Financial District, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Former New York City neighborhoods]]
[[Category:History of radio]]
[[Category:Neighborhoods in Boston]]
[[Category:World Trade Center]]