Lucky strike for Harlem duo
Lucky strike for Harlem duo By Lenore Skenazy Praise the Lord and press the reset button: Bowling is coming back to Harlem. It has been almost 30 years since the last pin fell at Lenox Lanes. But come the end of February, Gail Richards and Sharon Joseph will open Harlem Lanes: a two-floor, 24-lane, nearly 24-hour alley that's already making history: Gail and Sharon are the first black women bowling alley owners in America. "We know we're the first because they put us on the cover of Bowlers Journal," says Gail, who is Sharon's aunt. So why now? And why Harlem? "Twenty years ago I told everyone, 'Buy a brownstone and just hold onto it,'" says Gail, a clinical psychologist who took her own advice and has reaped the rewards of her faith. At business school 10 years ago, Sharon started suspecting her aunt was onto something: Harlem was rising again. "One of my final papers I wrote at Columbia," says the '97 graduate, "was on the brownstones." Moreover, she realized: Once the black bourgeoisie moved back, "The people would want services. That's where we come in." For a couple of years, the two women kept brainstorming: What would the neighborhood need? Florists? Bookstores? Dry cleaners? All of these, they concluded - and fancy restaurants. "I didn't want to come here and still have to go downtown to eat," says Sharon. "There's only so much I can do at Sylvia's." Still, it was hard to find financing for any of their ideas until they finally hit upon a pastime long past. "There used to be a bunch of bowling centers there," says pro bowler and amateur bowling historian Ernie Schlegel, who used to play the midnight-to-7 a.m. tourneys at Falcaro's on 125th St. "Everybody bowled." That fact is what sealed the deal for Gail and Sharon. "Everyone can bowl. It's not age or gender specific," says Gail. Opening an alley could benefit the whole neighborhood: They could have discounts for seniors and a league for school kids. They could have a sexy, suede-couched sports bar upstairs, and downstairs - a party room. "Do you realize there's no place to have a birthday party in Harlem? You have to go below 96th St.," says Sharon, who has a 4-year-old. Last but not least, they decided they'd also sell shoes. Not just your average bowling shoes, but 3-inch heels - just to add a little sizzle. Hey, you don't have women running the show for nothing. This time they got the financing, and now it's only a matter of weeks before a new generation of Harlemites rediscovers just how hard it is to roll a ball straight. The $5 million lanes are located in the old Alhambra Ballroom, where long ago the top-floor club was off-limits to African-Americans. Society has come a long way, as has Harlem, as has - well, maybe to a lesser extent - bowling. Sharon and Gail have come a long way, too. "We're two people who grew up in the community and now we'll own what'll probably be one of the biggest black-owned businesses in Harlem," says Sharon. What is almost as exciting is her next goal - learning how to bowl. Originally published on January 28, 2006 Sponsored by www.harlemworldmag.com
