Of course, "cleaned up" and Apex are a contradiction in terms. But that is what gives Apex its unique charm.
... and Canal Street was not Radio Row. Radio Row was demolished in the late 60s to make way for the WTC site. After Radio Row was demolished some of the displaced vendors set up again many blocks away on Canal Street and other places but that eventually faded away. Radio Row in NYC was dozens of stores over several blocks basically bounded by the Hudson river, Fulton, Greenwich and Liberty Streets. Here is a map of where the radio & electronics stores were Here is a photo showing the Radio Row neighborhood with an outline of the soon to be built WTC complex.
@KS2AM - thanks! Looks like Cortlandt Street was the main drag, with significant concentration on Greenwich. ---- There was significant opposition to the building of the WTC, particularly the Twin Towers. Many opposers said that there simply wasn't the demand for so much new, high-priced office space in Lower Manhattan at the time. They turned out to be right - it took many years to rent out all the space, and the WTC operated at a loss for quite some time. This was the period when Penn Station was torn down as well. Fortunately, Grand Central Terminal was saved. ---- If anyone wants to see what Manhattan looked like in 1971-72, watch the movie for the musical "Godspell". Most of the numbers are on YouTube. Much of it was filmed in Manhattan - you can see that the Twin Towers were still under construction. 73 de Jim, N2EY
Rural Virginia's version of Radio Row was an old general store with adjacent fields and barns filled with military surplus. Referred to by the locals as the "Goodie Pile". Complete jets (F86) to ammo boxes, crates of tubes, new radios, o'scopes, bombsights, etc. All sold for 20 cents a pound. Parts or complete units. I bought hundreds of 807s, 811s, 6V6, 6L6s, 6146s, and many more. 20 cents a pound. Spent days opening those boxes. Like a day long Christmas. One of the best parts of my youth. And of course, Fair Radio Catalogs, Allied catalogs, Lafayette catalogs, B-A catalogs.