Shepherd Express - April 2022

Page 56

SPECIAL 40TH ANNIVERSARY: NEIGHBORHOODS

LOWER EAST SIDE (Brady Street Now) BY JOHN SCHNEIDER

BRADY STREET

C

Photo by Michael Burmesch.

hange is in the DNA of Brady Street but the pandemic quickened the pace. I’ve lived in the neighborhood for most of the last 50 years. Here are things I notice as I walk the street today.

New food and drinking spots, all busy now: the roomy Pete’s Pub; the artful St. Bibiana’s with its naked angels; and the dazzling German-flavored Wurstbar with both indoor and outdoor video screens, mostly tuned to sports channels.

The east part’s the heart, so let’s start at the five-point intersection of Brady, Farwell and Cambridge. CVS with its new Minute Clinic is a veritable medical center with indoor and drive-through services. Kitty corner, the huge windows of the long triangular building, formerly Fed Ex and Kinko’s, hold “For Lease” signs.

Walking Brady Street at night, in fact, I feel I’m in a (mostly sports-themed) movie. I’ve counted 77 sizable video screens in the three-block stretch from Warren to Franklin.

What might the future hold? The boarded-up corner building across Farwell, once a Starbucks, announces on an upper story window: Psychic Visions—Walk-ins Welcome.

Also new: Mac Shack offers a variety of “wood oven mac and cheese” dishes. Black Ink is an intriguing tattoo parlor. Golden Grizzly Tattoo is a snazzy one. I’ll buy and sell used clothes at Bandit Vintage and Modern. I’ll outfit my feet at the Ground Up Sneaker Shop.

The small mall beside our stalwart Walgreens has the new Taco Stop for Mexican take-out. A prominent wall-size poster in Supercuts hair salon next door reads “Thank you for not cutting your own hair today.” Sorry, Supercuts; that’s one of my pandemic money-savers. To boot, my longtime hair salon, Live Gallery, has relocated to the west end of Brady, so coming or going I feel a bit guilty.

Nomadland: The Nomad World Pub is foundational to Brady Street, a must-see for visitors, and now in four parts. 1) the original bar; 2) the colorful, train-like compartments on the street along the curb; 3) the wide-open alleyway behind the original building with a bar, barstools and tables, tree stump seating, video screens, an outdoor sound system, a burger stand, restrooms; and 4) a brand-new indoor Coffee Bar in the next building down.

Shocking losses: Brewed, the warm coffee shop that helped the street recover when its happy hippie days were past has closed. Likewise, Fazio’s Dry Cleaning, part of the street’s strong Italian heritage. The Up And Under nightclub is gone. A new club named Nashville North will take its place soon, says big letters across the façade.

Last summer, and hopefully next, Nomad teamed with its neighbor Club Brady to create “Brady Beach.” They persuaded the city to close the intersection at Warren and Brady, filled it with tables and hosted a summer long street party. You could hear the music for blocks sometimes. I didn’t mind.

Actor, playwright and director John Schneider was a member of Theatre X and has lived on the Lower East Side for many years. 56 | SHEPHERD EXPRESS


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Articles inside

From the City that Always Sweeps

4min
pages 74-76

This Month in Milwaukee

13min
pages 62-69

Riverwest is Restless and Alive

2min
page 57

Bombshells, Bubbles and Boys... Oh, My

3min
pages 70-71

Brewers Poised to Continue Their Run of Success

3min
pages 58-59

Milwaukee's Lesbian Community: Impacting LGBTQ Progress for Half a Century — My LGBTQ POV

5min
pages 72-73

Jewish Museum Remembers Japanese Internment with ‘Then They Came For Me’

4min
pages 60-61

Lower East Side (Brady Street Now

2min
page 56

Latin Quarter Becoming a Culture Hub

1min
pages 54-55

Bronzeville Memories

2min
pages 50-51

When Sex Toys Go Viral — SexPress

3min
pages 46-47

Downtown is a Busier Place

1min
page 52

Renewing the Historic Third Ward

1min
page 53

Why Can't I Lose Weight? — True Health

3min
pages 44-45

Organic Gardening in 3 Easy Steps

3min
pages 36-39

Which Grapes Make Quality Wine — Beverages

3min
pages 32-33

Make Your Vote Count

5min
pages 8-9

Repulbicans Are Determined to Stop Teachers from Educating Students — Taking Liberties

4min
pages 18-19

The Enduring Relevance of Frederick Law Olmsted

5min
pages 14-16

Fostering Climate Resilience & Economic Equity in Milwaukee

6min
pages 10-13

Creamy Beans are Made of These — Flash in the Pan

5min
pages 28-31

Dontrell Corey Fells Shares the Value of Therapy

3min
pages 20-21

Joanne Johnson-Sabir on Economic Development

5min
pages 22-25
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