A gem of the Frick Museum in the Upper East Side is a bowling alley and billiards room they recently discovered, after having been hidden away for a century in their cellars. The room has a storied history, as curator Colin Bailey will have you know. The museum only allows a select few to view the eclectic and historic addition to the Henry Clay Frick’s mansion from 1914, which cost him the large sum of $850–about $19,856 when adjusting for inflation. NY Times’ Alan Feuer had the chance to visit this area of the museum under the guidance of Mr. Bailey, observing: “the pine-and-maple lane beds, the gravity-driven ball return, or the antique balls themselves, which strangely have two holes instead of the standard three. But what’s most impressive, what truly brings the whole thing into focus, is Mr. Bailey finally saying that the alley is out of use.”
Many commuters that utilize Port Authority Bus Terminal have no clue that for many years there was a bowling alley that ran silently from within the terminal. With no entrance from the outside, Leisure Time Bowl was known mostly to straphangers that happened to get lost within the building while on their commute. In 2003, however, the Danish company Big Bowl invested $10 million in Leisure Time Bowl, a renovation project that would make the location into Frames NYC. The new high-class bowling alley has been visited by the likes of Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, and Cynthia Nixon, as the location was finally given its grand entrance–right on the corner of 40th Street and 9th Avenue.
3. Secret Prohibition-Era Bowling Alley
Scouting NY reported about a building in Ridgewood, Queens that a reader had purchased and was surprised to find a two-lane manual bowling alley preserved from the Prohibition Era in New York City. Analysis of the spot revealed old school cushions that would stop the balls, wooden panels on either side of the lane to prevent pins from flying all over the place, and shallow gutters. Decorated wooden poles shape the room into what could possibly have been a speakeasy during times when certain recreational activities were frowned upon. For more photos of this location, visit Scouting NY’s Flickr page.
4. “Private Lanes Included”
Then there are those folks, taking a modern cue from Frick back in the Gilded Age, who have built their own bowling alleys. In 2011, a TriBeCa loft was rented for $14,000–complete with a private bowling lane (bring your own shoes). 15 Broad Street, which Curbed dubbed the “Downtown Insanity Palace” has its own bowling alley for residents, but apartments will run you about $3 million, especially if you want to bowl here. A place at the Aldyn on South Riverside secures you private access to its basement bowling lanes–if you’re not already busy with its 38′ rock-climbing wall.
5. The Mystery Bowling Alley
We found this “Secret Bowling Alley” listing in Lenox Hill (59th and 2nd Avenue) on Foursquare. The place has 89 check-ins and not one tip, unfortunately, but you can bet we’re looking into it!
Got a tip on some more hidden lanes? Let us know in the comments.
