Barry Electronics
Check out this little gem: a ham radio store in the heart of New York City! It’s called Barry Electronics, and you’ll be forgiven if you’ve never heard of it, since they don’t have a website, or a sign, and as far as I know they don’t advertise anywhere. What they do have is an ample stock of Yaesu and Icom radios, various aftermarket antennas, several shelves of radio books, and a bunch of other ham equipment. According to the proprietor (appropriately named Jonathan), most of their business is in commercial Motorola VHF/UHF radios, but most of their showroom is dedicated to ham equipment because the corporate customers aren’t interested in window shopping. You can even shop online with an ebay coupon. If you want to visit, they’re at 224 W. 35th St. (between 7th and 8th Avenues), Suite 408.
I am glad to see the Resistors promoting Ham Radio. I have heard of this shop before and I am in West Texas. I have been a Ham almost 26 years. I love HF operating with CW. Also building QRP rigs and putting them on the air is really rewarding! It’s a cool hobby. Thanks Resistors, wish I were there. Be safe everyone.
John the Wirechief, CET,KA5QYR
I worked at Barrys in the early 1980's alongside Jack and Kitty. They had a TON of surplus Radio Equipment, Microwave galore
We specialized in Ham Radio ONLY!! Cellular was just a dream. But before iI left Kitty started with cellular .
How is Kitty
This is Peter from Barry electronics KC2MMA With any luck I will be re-opening the store
KB2RVSk is no longer with us Kitty is no longer with us but Barry’s will live on I hope everybody’s doing well after China has released a deadly disease unless it is 12:12 AM Wednesday, August 26, 2020 73
I still have a Yaesu FT-101ZD MK III with a receipt from Barry Electronics dated February 1983! When did Kitty pass? Did not know her age. I remember the small ad that Barry did in CQ MAGAZINE showing Kitty at the shop. My time flies. What is your phone number?
Thanks,
Rick K0HE
Peter,
Did you ever get Barry Electronics opened again? I have a Yaesu FT-101D MK III with the original sales receipt from Barry Electronics written by Kitty dated February 1982! It still works great 40 years later. My time sure flies fast.
Rick K0HE
Hi Peter,
Any luck reopening Barry Electronics?
I keep my fingers crossed that this will eventually work out.
However according to google still permanently closed.
I bought my IC-7000 and a Kenwood TH-D72A in 2012 at Barry Electronics. I was surprised that the service manuals were available at the shop. I was in port of Newark with a vessel and went to New York to buy these items only. Super service. So sad to hear that they also passed away! vy73 de Chris, DF5KX | OZ1KX
Wow, I used to live really close to there for a while and never knew about this spot!
Well this is exactly what I needed, BUT I don’t live in new york or the east for that matter. without a website I have no way of getting anything shipped im sure. UHGGG well any way Happy Holidays NYCR!
I love this store – I didn’t realize they had moved from their 2nd ave location.
Ham radio is the shiznits. Glad to see some love from the NYC Resistors
Ok, this is the icing on the cake – I already live next to B&H Photo Video. Looks like I’ll be dropping by soon. Thanks for pointing this out!
Bill
I used to shop at Barry Electronics when they were on Broadway in NOHO. Back in the day, there were several bona fide ham radio stores in NYC: incl. Harrison Radio, Arrow and Barry. Nice to see Barry’s still around! (As a kid ham, I recall speaking to the eponymous Barry on-the-air; I think he died tragically in a boating accident.)
There’s something preternaturally comforting about ham radio/electronics stores. Fortunately, my wife feels the same way.
Barry’s needs a website.
It amazes me that Barry Electronics still exists in some incarnation. I remember, as a new ham operator in 1970, visiting “Barry” on Broadway and meeting Barry Gensler, himself. The store was filled with
all kinds of great surplus – some dating back to WW2.
The place was packed “to the gills” and Barry had to
crawl through layers of stuff just to find what I
wanted. Along with him were Kitty, his wife and her
father, an old navy codger who liked to tell tall
tales about everything(nothing believable!). In 1974,
Barry was killed in a boating accident. Kitty moved the store up a couple of blocks and got rid of the
surplus that Barry seemed to treasure. After that, the
store was strictly new amateur and commercial radio
equipment. Barry used to advertise regularly to the
radio trade when I was a young. It’s too bad they are
now so low-profile. Nice to know they still exist
after the electronics centers of Radio Row, Canal
Street and 45th Street have long since disappeared.
Barry Electronics [ B/E ]manages to stay in business despite the progressive decline in radio amateur that started in the 1990’s.
The store had > 10 employees during the 1980’s and numerous customers. Last week,I visited B/E at its new location: 224 West 35th St,Rm # 408, NYC; I discovered that B/E has one employee. Nevertheless, B/E perennial courteousness and high standard remains unflinching.
I believe that the emergence of the Cellular telephone and the internet are the contributing factors to the dwindling interest in radio amateur.
People failed to realize that if the power grid is disrupted by natural disaster or by man made mischief, most of the cell phones and the internet would be inoperative. Amateur radio operators usually provides the emergency back up during calamity. Consequently,privates and public institutions should foster and promote radio amateur hobby in the the interest of the public.
Actually, Ham Radio is thriving. Today there are more than 700,000 hams. When I was licensed back in the 1960’s, there were only 250,000. I recall Barry and the Radio Row crowd. I went to boarding school in NJ and rode the train to NYC to buy parts at the store.
I was employed as a counter salesman at Barry over the summer of 1968. For me, it culminated a long string of counter sales jobs at Airex Radio, Arrow Electronics, Terminal Hudson Electronics and Harrison Radio. Those were fun days working in the Radio Row area. Barry Electronics was a very special place. It was a “junkies” paradise and you could always get better buys at Barry’s than you could get elsewhere. BTW… Kitty’s dad’s name was Sam.
K2JAS
Kitty's father's name was Jack.
You’re Right. Kitty’s father was Jack. My bad. Roger Elowitz K2JAS.
My father , K2LJL, worked at Harrison for several years. I started in the stock room on Saturdays when I was 10 until shortly after the disastrous move to Barclay street. Does anyone have pictures of Harrison? [email protected].
I forgot to mention above that Barry’s original location was at 512 Broadway,NYC 12, NY- one flight up. His old phone number was WAtkins 5-7000. No! I didn’t remember this information… I just looked up my old records.
K2JAS
I made one trip to Barry’s on August 7, 1992 and bought a big paperback national directory of public service radio frequencies and several regional volumes. I still have the business card, Barry Electronics Corp., 512 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10012 Telex 12-7670 We Ship Worldwide.
Does Barry’s still exist and where is it?
I had visited Barry's a few times when they were on B'way. They were way overpriced with lousy service. The sales reps were horrible and moving toward commercial radios is to the hams' advantage. I try to patronize local stores but they made that idea foolish unless you're a sucker who likes to be neglected by the sales person.
Motorola VHF/UHF radios, but most of their showroom is dedicated to ham equipment because the corporate customers aren’t interested in window shopping. If you want to visit, they’re at 224 W. 35th St. (between 7th and 8th Avenues), Suite 408.
Motorola VHF/UHF radios, but most of their showroom is dedicated to ham equipment because the corporate customers aren’t interested in window shopping. If you want to visit, they’re at 224 W. 35th St. (between 7th and 8th Avenues), Suite 408.
I worked at Barry Electronics when they were at 512 Broadway from 1971 – 74 while I was in High School. We had the largest stock of electronic tubes in the country. Barry was still alive, Rene ran shipping, Jack and I worked the counter. Barry was one of the most miserable people I've ever known. Long live the Barry Green Sheet.
Boy, Reading Lou Leonard's Comments Below, about Barry Electronic, Harrisson Radio, Arrow Electronic, Lafayette Radio near Sunyside Queen and a few that I forgot, Lou brought me back to my Youth when I was Twenty Eight, brand new in the USA with an unvalid French Ham License FA9RZ … could not get my US Ham license :(you had to be five years in the country and Citizen to get it) Barely speacking English but hanging out in Radio Raw the mouth open… I was destroyed when they build the Twin Towels ” WTC ” in the spot… Hey, things changes, but is it for the best?
–… …– WB2IAH
Hello , I must be really getting old ,but what happen to Barry Electronics store in 512 broadway . I remember talking to Barry the owner and his wife Kitty and sorry to say that Barry died in a boating accident and kitty took over the Store however I just never knew what happen and wonder if their children took over in their place. if you can shed light it would be nice . Fred .
KB2ELH Thankyou
Shop for your radio stuff online because it is cheaper than at this current store at West 35th Street in Manhattan. They overcharge for everything. The current owner lack honesty.
Hi There, I was at the store long time ago……….in 1976 when I was in NY. I bought the Bird 43 meter at the store. He’s still working!
greetings from The Netherlands
Juul – my HAM licence PE0GJG
I got my Novice ticket at Barry Radio, I’ll never forget it. Three of us used to travel together from our neighborhood in Upper Manhattan down to Barry’s every Saturday morning- this was when they were still at the old Lower B’way location- walk up the creaky old stairs to the store on the second floor, and then up an inner staircase to a hidden “supply” room, where we sat around a big plywood table for a couple hours early Saturday mornings, learning radio theory and the code. I’ll never forget the supposed “practice” session, where we were copying code, and then were told we had passed the cw portion! Those were the days…
I worked at Barry Electronics on weekends while I was in High School in 1969. Barry was still alive. Along with Kitty, I remember Jack, her father and Liam, Frank, and there was Rene, a french carpenter who built furniture for Kitty and Barry, and a German guy who ran the lab. Jack was an ex-caterer and before that a longshoreman and Navy veteran.
Kitty had a little yappy dog she carried around in her arm.
My dad bought me my first new Amateur Transceiver at Barry Electronics on W. Broadway back in 1978. It was a Yaesu FT-101EX. I loved going there as a kid and ogling radios.
I am intrigued, coming across this site that remembers Barry Electronics! Ken, my dad also bought me my first ever new rig when I was 16 (having passed my General Class) as well (from Kitty)! The same as you, a Yaesu FT-101EX, around 1977! I had a Heath HW-16 with matching VFO, but was ‘lusting’ for a better radio. Both my high school ham friends had purchased Henry Radio Tempo Ones, and I wanted a better rig like them. I only had about 400 dollars saved up from working as a busboy at a local restaurant in North Jersey, and one Sunday morning my dad woke me up early and informed me we would be going to NYC to buy my Ham Radio! And he paid in full, and told me to keep my money. My dad passed in 2015, but I will forever remember his kind surprise, and the countless years of joy that Yaesu gave me! Cheers!
Barry Electronics was at 512 Broadway. I worked there for a couple of years while in high school. 1972 -74. Hired by Barry’s father in law Jack. Rene was the shipping guy who died, as did Barry, in a Boating incident. Kitty found them by hired helo when the Coast Guard did not.
My dad, Seymour Harris, W2NDR started Barry Electronics with Barry after the war. My dad set up test benches to test the military transmit tubes that were rebranded with the Barry logo. They met in the Signal Corp together. My dad would have turned 100 today, January 8, 2021.
Today, I have his call and still live in NY. There is still a Cy Harris W4MAQ memorial flea in Ft. Lauderdale every year, although not in 2020 due to covid.
I worked at Barry Electronics on Saturdays while I was an art student at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. This was 1967 and 1968. Barry had me roam around in his many warehouses and storerooms near 512 Broadway. I crawled all over Barry Gensler’s years accumulation of military surplus and retired broadcast gear. My directions were to find stuff to put in the “Green Sheets”. Find a few dozen power chokes or transformers and take measurements and write up a description. I always volunteered to do drawings but Barry would yell at me and tell me not to waste my time drawing.
“I can get guys to do the drawings but you know what this stuff is and can describe it.” I never got to do the drawings in the “Green Sheets” no matter how I tried. Barry was a rough, miserable man and his wife Kitty creeped me out a bit. She was very flirtatious around me and I kept my distance from her. I could not figure her motives. She dressed and acted like a much younger woman and had a small yappy dog on her hip all the time.
A few years after I left working at 512 Broadway, I heard that Barry had died during a hurricane when his boat was swamped. Kitty was in communication with her husband who was in severe weather. She contacted the U.S. Coast Guard for a helicopter to search but they supposedly refused because the wind velocity was too high for their copter. Kitty then contacted a private pilot who agreed to go scout for a fee of five thousand dollars. Barry Gensler, W2LNI perished in the storm. Kitty continued to run the business in ensuing years.
Does anyone remember Mike Diamond who used to teach the novice class at Barry’s
Call sign? Passed my novice exam there with him.
Ken N2FBV. 73
The Ham who taught my Novice class at Barrys was Arnie, a Dental Tech from Queens – WB2, something something, I wish I could recall. Class was every Saturday morning. I think there were 10 or 12 0f us to start, only around 6 or 7 lasted the whole class and got their Novice ticket. Two of the others from my neighborhood were Mort Schlein KB2DFE and Peter Nowicki, N2HQT. My initial call was KB2DFD, now KG9MG. Any other info about that time at Barry’s (this was at the the 512 Broadway location in the late 70’s/early 80’s) would be greatly appreciated. I recall Barry’s as being a busy place on those Sarurday mornings!
I remember Arnie schiffman very well. My name is Pierre, and I used to buy ham rigs and parts from that place in the early 90s, mostly Motorola GP300. Annie was my guy, always in touch. I miss that place and the super intelligent people that worked there. HH2IR, ?? signing out.
Hi, I have a RF signal I can’t seem to get the frequency that it’s transmitting but think it would be cool to try with a pro. Is there a time that’s best to come to your store and check out what you have?
Is Jan Bridge still associated with Barry’s?
He was the greatest and yes we knew Kitty and Her Hubby.
de
Joe – WB2JKJ
Since you asked about Jan – I just posted about him,
I was thinking about Jan earlier today and felt the need to post here – it’s really the only place I’ve seen this time / place in my life referenced.
I worked at Barry’s from 1986 until maybe 1992.
I was with Jan the morning of the robbery on the passenger side of the truck.
So that anyone who ever reads this will know what transpired immediate before, I’d like to share this.
Jan picked me up in a taxi on 28th and Lexington Ave. It was really early — maybe 3:30. That was the norm for going to hamfests in general. I was listening to the soundtrack from Purple Rain while I was waiting for him. We talked about the music on the way downtown. Totally ordinary for the early morning trek.
In a break from the norm, we went upstairs into the store on the elevator. The button had a key that made it impossible to go back to the floor. We didn’t think to turn the key.
Maybe two minutes after we got upstairs, I heard the elevator come back up to the floor – the door was locked (thankfully). Maybe someone tried to open the door. I remember hearing some noise.
We went back downstairs toward the truck. Everything seemed normal. The truck was parked pretty close to the fire hydrant. Jan started the truck. Space Oddity was on the radio while we were setting in. Jan with his cooler, and me with my coffee.
The driver side door flung open and his head was struck with the butt of a semi automatic pistol multiple times.
The guys who did this (and we knew who they were) didn’t expect me to be in the truck. The person standing next to the guy who was smashing Jan’s head looked and saw me. He had a gun too.
The guy who was hitting Jan yelled at the other guy to shoot me. The gun was pointed at me – but what I got was a dousing of mace.
Jan told the guys not to kill me and we’d get out of the truck. And we did.
We were standing on Broadway watch the truck driving down to Broome Street and made a right toward the Holland Tunnel. The blurry tail tights was as much as I could see. The mace doused my contact lenses.
We were standing out in the middle of the street.
Simultaneously we yelled.
Jan: “You took my fucking fried chicken!”
Me: ” You took my fucking coffee!*
Jan went to the pay phone on the corner – his head gashed, blood streaming down his face.
I went across the street to the Korean Market to use their garden hose to dislodge the contact lenses from my eyes.
The police drove us to Beekman Downtown Hosptal’s ER. Jan had his head stitched up and I had my eyes flushed with saline. Kitty was kind enough to pay the medical bills.
We both went home after that. The people who committed the robbery called me at home a number of times offering some lovely threats. They knew where I lived. I knew where this lived too.
Neither of us were the same after that. Barry’s wasn’t the same after that either.
Although 18 years his junior he was one of my closest friends for 20 years.
He came to my parent’s house for Passover. He got high in the stairwell between courses. My parents really liked him – and the feeling was mutual.
He was really part of my family.
But he changed after the robbery, and not in a subtle way. We got into some really nasty arguments – something that never happened before that. I threw my store keys at him. It’s something I’ll always regret.
My time at Barry’s coincided with finishing graduate school. His time ended not long after.
In the years that followed, Jan found a way forward. He worked in the archival department at Sony. It was a job that he truly enjoyed – and in many ways was meant to do. All paths for him led to that job. Despite all of the bridges burned in his life before Barry’s I think it was genuinely what he was meant to do. He didn’t really need to interact with people – and that was good for him and others.
After that job he did some freelance work. He contributed videos and background to various efforts. He helped edit some video presentations.
But his condition deteriorated – both mental and physical.
I visited with him from time to time — I brought him some music related things I’d found that I thought he’d like: A copy of the Soul 2 Soul documentary and some things from the Stax Museum in Memphis (which had just opened). It made him so happy, I really thought he was going to cry. He didn’t.
Jan asked about my parents. I told him about my father having Alzheimers. He cried. It was the only time I ever saw him cry.
He came to my wedding in 2005. He was clearly not well.
I spoke with him at least once a week during a particularly long commute to central NJ – and it became clear that his deterioration was accelerating. He had physical ailments from a fall off a ladder (in the back stock room at Barry’s) and something with his wrist and arm. But more than anything else – he was sad and alone.
He gave up smoking pot.
I tried to get him to leave his apartment – people watch at a local coffee shop.
He wouldn’t. The sadness and isolation continued. It was too much for me to take.
I stopped talking to him – maybe in 2007. It’s probably one of the things I most regret.
At some point – maybe 9 years ago – i felt the need to call him. I knew his phone number by heart.
There was no answer. I tried a few months later and it was disconnected.
A few years later I saw that he passed away. His obituary was either in the Washington Post or the Richmond Times — I can’t remember which. It was submitted by Jan’s long-time friend Eric K.
Jan and I were incredibly similar (I was taller, and arguably better looking). We had the same sense of humor. We had the same approach to things. We even had the same handwriting. He was a brother from another mother. That’s the best way I can put it.
When I started college in 1986 I wrote him a letter thanking him for shaping my personality and life the way he did. He was incredibly influential in my life. I find myself saying some of the things he said, telling stories about Barry’s (most recently one about Marcel A. who did exports for Barry’s). My three daughters use some of the same expressions.
After Jan passed away, I can’t imagine the effort it took to empty his apartment and storage closet in the basement of his building. His apartment looked like something from Hoarders – but the things he had were interesting. I’m sure the things i gave him over the years are gone. I wish that i had that letter back and a button that I gave him while i was still in high school that said “Serve a purpose in life. Be a bad example.”
I share this with you not to make whoever reads this sad – but to offer explanation for his disappearance from our lives. I’m sharing this to let you know that he had the time of his life working at Barry’s, and knowing the people who came into the store (even the ones he didn’t like and argued with whenever they came into the store). You meant the world to him. His world wasn’t the same when you weren’t in it.
Jan wasn’t a part of your recent life. He was never silly “Uncle Jan” to my kids.
But remembering him, embracing his sense of humor and general approach to life and maybe if it rubbed off on you – even a little – should bring joy to your heart (as it does mine). Even though you now know how it ended, embrace the joy (and sometimes rage) he brought to your lives. He would have wanted it that way – even if he didn’t like you very much.
I was driving one of my twelve year-olds to an activity this morning, and the Eric Clapton song “Hello Old Friend” was playing. I sang along to it. It’s something I really never do as my eyes welled up.
I thought of Jan and everything he gave me. I thought about how much I valued our friendship and time together.
Somewhere I’m sure that Jan was laughing at me trying to sing “Hello Old Friend.”
We could always make each-other laugh.
Rest in power, my old friend.
Brother Dave (as he used to call me)
Jan E. Bridge (1950-2016)
Hey Joe F. Did you grow up in Parkchester in the Bronx ?
Email me at [email protected]
Thanks and 73. N2KPE, Shelbyville, Tn