Old Sweet
158-11 South Road, Jamaica, NY, 1940. Photo courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives.
Bird's Eye View of 158-11 South Road (now Tuskegee Airmen Way), South Jamaica, NY11433, August 2022. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.
Street View Image of 158-11 South Road (now Tuskegee Airmen Way), South Jamaica, NY 11433, August 2022. Note the running track and turf field. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.
Known Name(s)
Old Sweet
Address
158-11 South Road Jamaica, NY
Establishment Type(s)
Tavern
Physical Status
Demolished
Description
Old Sweet sat on South Road (known as Tuskegee Airmen Way since November 2013), between 157th Street and 159th Street. A photograph from 1940 shows it was a two-story mixed-use building made of brick. The first story housed a business while the second likely provided space for residences or offices. Due to the photograph’s limited scope, it is difficult to discern which direction the building’s facade faced. The main entrance had an arched doorsurround. The door itself was topped with a decorative fanlight. It sat at the facade’s very center and was recessed inward away from the street. Arched storefront windows flanked the door on either side. Both windows had the word “coal” painted on them and were capped with stone arches adorned with keystones. Above the door and window openings were two horizontal belt courses that stretched a third of the way around the building.
One set of one-over-one, tri-part windows sat immediately above the upper belt course. Above the windows was a horizontal layer of decorative brick work that wrapped around the entire structure. Though it had a flat roof, the building’s facade was topped by a low pediment, giving the structure an eye-catching shape. Attached to the building’s first story was a two-car carport made of brick.
The property is now part of CUNY-York College’s athletic complex. A turf soccer field surrounded by an outdoor running track stands where Old Sweet presumably did. New York City’s Property Information Portal lists the lot’s land area as 241,285 square feet.
Detailed History
Newpaper articles suggest that 158-11 South Road was a speakeasy named the Prospect Inn in 1930. An article published by the Long Island Star-Journal confirms a tavern still existed on the property in the 1950s. According to the article, police were called to the tavern when a young woman attempted to pay her tab with a forged check. Though the author did not include the name of the establishment in question, the date and address indicate that it was likely Old Sweet.
A court order filed on May 30, 1972, shows the lot was acquired by the city for a project known as “Stage II, York College Urban Renewal.” This order authorized the condemnation of any real property acquired at 158-11 South Road. York College, now part of the CUNY system, was first housed in rooms rented from the Oakland Jewish Center in Bayside, Queens. Looking for a more permanent home, the college purchased multiple plots of land in Jamaica in the late 1960s. If Old Sweet still existed at its original address, this development likely led to its destruction. The tavern’s demolition is a reminder of urban renewal’s complicated impact on Black life and culture in New York City.
