Nothing much happens, repeatedly. Four couples fall in love, no one gets slapped, and a parrot saves romance. Louis N. Parker’s 1910 British play “Pomander Walk” doesn’t have much of a plot or dramatic arc. No climax, no hero, and no villain. It’s just a charming stroll down a magical little London street where the secrets are mild, the doors slam politely, and everyone ends up happily ever after. “Downton Abbey” on decaf.
Upper West Side nightlife impresario Thomas J. Healy was a fan of “Pomander Walk,” even though he was anything but decaf, personality-wise. He was known for ice-skating cabarets, defying liquor curfews, and sparking riots on Columbus Avenue when police tried to shut down his dining-and-dancing hotspot at Broadway and 66th Street, dragging patrons out by the collar.
So perhaps it was out of a longing for the idyll of a quaint English enclave that, in 1921, Healy commissioned the construction of Pomander Walk—a hidden walkway between West 94th and 95th Streets, tucked between Broadway and West End Avenue. According to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, his intention was to recreate the picturesque village atmosphere of the play.
