Vanishing New York Backup

VANISHING A commenter to this blog ( eeps ) tipped me to the closing of the Cheyenne Diner, which I just covered two weeks ago upon the happy news of the Market Diner's re-opening. I called the diner to confirm and yes, sadly, this will be the Cheyenne's last week on earth after more than half a century at 9th and 33rd. Just as I thought life in New York was getting better for our diners, another is put out to pasture. Maybe it will follow the Moondance out to Wyoming. I just hope the autographed pics of What's Happening 's Fred "Rerun" Berry will go with it. What else is there to say? I am shocked and saddened. Two West Side Diners Rockaway Sunset Diner Wyoming Loves the Moondance

A giant silver penis with hairy testicles , outlined in hot pink, appears above the doomed one-stories at 10th and 4th--soon to be hidden by a towering hotel? Fontana's shoe repair shop has been gutted. The sign is gone. There's a Dumpster out front. And three workers have managed to completely rip out the floors, walls, and ceiling (sob): Shuttered CBGB's 313 Gallery opens as Morrison Hotel Gallery and one blogger who attended is "encouraged & amazed to see a creative based business actually thriving in the current climate." [ Stupefaction ] Element Beauty Lounge covers up the great artifacts exposed by the facade teardown at 10th and 3rd. Why they would enclose a gorgeous, antique cast-iron column in sheet metal I cannot fathom: DKNY and Pottery Barn get eaten by Abercrombie as the Vongerichtifiers devour each other across the Manhattan landscape. [ Gothamist ] And someone, somewhere will no doubt shell out the $200 to buy the latest banned-in-America

Following up on yesterday's depressing news , I revisited the dying block of 9th Ave and popped into the Sweet Banana Candy Store around lunchtime, when middle-school kids pour out of the O. Henry building on 17th, making a beeline for Sweet Banana. I was soon surrounded by clumsy, goofy little boys, many of them slurping Cup-O-Noodles or holding steaming styrofoam trays of Chinese food they got for lunch next door at New China (also packed with kids). Most of these boys were Asian and many of them wore glasses and big, oversized sneakers. They jostled around the plexiglass candy trays, grabbing for Chick-O-Sticks , Sugar Daddies, Air Heads, Hot Tamales...as NY Press put it: "a mix of both common and weird candies." Sweet Banana sells nostalgic candy, the old-fashioned stuff, like Mary Janes, Goetze's caramels, and odd individually wrapped Circus Peanuts. I was the only one in the place who picked up a pack of Round Up candy cigarettes. I love the packaging. Turns o

The eastern block of 9th Ave between 17th and 18th is filled with thriving small businesses. They have the look of an older New York, a hodgepodge of neon signs and scruffy awnings, and they're always crowded with neighborhood people. I've been wondering when the block would begin to vanish, but I didn't know it would happen with just one real estate deal . 8 of 10 businesses on the block are on the first floor of one residential building, #112-126 9th Ave. In November 2007, Morris Moinian's Fortuna Realty bought the building for $31.4 million. According to the Observer , Moinian planned "to renovate and upgrade, hoping to lure high-end retail to the storefronts on ground level." The renovating and upgrading has begun--and all 8 businesses will (eventually, quickly) be wiped out. The first to vanish will be Chelsea Liquors. In business since about 1940, under the current ownership for over 30 years, they've been given 30 days to vacate the premises. The

Grub Street picked up on my Beatrice Vongerichtified post and expanded beautifully on it, pointing to the "dissolution of communities into an ocean of self-interested particles living together in a heartless and abstract society." And they provide the answer to my question, "What is NYC becoming as it ceases to be a democracy?" An oligarchy , of course. [ Grub St ] Brownstoner comes out of the blog closet and curates a new Brooklyn flea market . [ Observer ] Cosmo cocktail creator gets evicted from the neighborhood destroyed by the same people who made his creation famous. [ Observer ] The Chinatown Fair arcade has a big for rent sign on it , says tipster Ben: "Now you can't even see the old ghost lettering for the Tic-Tac-Toe chicken. Worst of all, it might close! I asked the arcade attendant about the sign and he said not to worry. It was only for the apartments above. However I read the sign again and it said looking for retail tenants. Maybe this g

I don't know much about Chin's Laundry and Dry Cleaning on West 13th Street. I don't have my laundry done there ( like this blogger does ). I only walk by it often and, when I do, I enjoy a peek at laundry wrapped neatly in brown paper packages labeled with pastel slips in pistachio green. I love seeing these old-fashioned packages in Chinese laundries. There's just something about them. Yesterday, when I walked by Chin's I saw a BUILDING FOR SALE sign in the window and my heart sank. I don't know what this means for Chin's, if it will vanish or remain, but I have no doubt that Chinese hand laundries are disappearing from the city. A decade ago, most laundries in the city were Chinese owned. Wrote the New York Times, "The Chinese began dominating the laundry business in the 19th century, when hostility barred them from many other lines of work and spawned immigration laws that specifically excluded Chinese workers." There used to be a small and

Robert DeNiro is getting $38.9 million in tax-free September 11 Liberty Bonds to build a hotel for the affluent! [ Chelsea H ] Take a terrifying look at a new vision of the Chelsea Hotel . [ Gothamist ] Rolando discovers Vanderveer Park , a forgotten neighborhood in Brooklyn. [ Urbanite ] The War of Bushwick rages on as the scourge of welfare beans and dusty carpets is slowly eradicated by gentrifiers both celebrated and reviled. [ BushwickBk ] Greenpoint loses a "much-needed houseware store" for a totally unnecessary bank branch. [ NYShitty ] As we embark on the final season of Yankee Stadium , a look back at the history of its team. [ BBoys ] Todd gets a peek behind the scenes before the Stadium falls. [ Hell'sK ] Taxpayers shell out $190 million to destroy the ballpark they love. [ Queens Crap ]

*Update: Vongerichtified 's originator follows up with VNY I was walking around the Village when I stumbled upon the Beatrice Inn. It's been there since 1926. I've passed it before, but never went inside. I took a couple pictures and made a note to go back for dinner sometime. But after an eye-opening Google session, I realize that I won't be going back to the Beatrice Inn, because I seriously doubt the bouncers would allow me inside. Yes, the Beatrice Inn has bouncers. It's exclusive. It's uber-hip. A celebrity hot spot. But long before Lindsay Lohan started going there to make out with hunky guys, it was a family business run by Elsie and Ubaldo Cardia, and then their children, Aldo and Vivian. It was a neighborhood place where regulars dined nightly. As for celebrities, Jane Jacobs ate there, but today she'd never make it past the proverbial velvet ropes--she was not very fashionable . The new owner , when he opened the new Beatrice Inn, said he would re

Take a look inside the most recent crane disaster . [ Curbed ] A visual roundup of crane accidents. [ Gothamist ] Blog commenters get really mad about a pro-Marc Jacobs post that celebrates shops filled with "young, charming and hilarious people." [ Racked ] A new roller rink opened recently in Staten Island--and here I am saying some stuff about rollerskating. [ Observer ] And another roller rink opens at Coney , in the old Childs building--too bad this one is temporary. [ Curbed ] Speaking of Childs, a piece of the Childs restaurant chain survives at Fulton. [ City Room ] Chelsea Barnes and Noble to shutter this week . Hurry in to get your big sale puppy calendars and photo essays about tractors. [ Racked ] A great old pic of Streit's Matzo Factory from the VNY Flickr Pool : photo by LeoLondon

There are few places left in Times Square to enjoy authentic, tasty, inexpensive food. Margon Restaurant is one of them--and it's been serving up Cuban comfort on W. 46th Street since the 1960s. This weekend I enjoyed a plate of beef stew with beans and rice and talked with Getty Rivas who told me about how his father came from the Dominican Republic and first worked in the restaurant as a dishwasher. In 1987, after Margon had moved into its current spot, a former go-go bar, Mr. Rivas took over. The place continues to be managed and staffed completely by the Rivas family--"aunts, uncles, cousins..."--17 family members in total. They have since added their own Dominican flavors to the Cuban dishes. The place is narrow and cafeteria style. You order your food from the counter and take a seat. Salsa plays over the radio. People chat and sometimes dance while they wait for their plates of octopus salad, plantains, roasted chicken so tender it falls off the bone. Taxi driver

The last time I went to the part of Brooklyn now popularly known as DUMBO was in 1997. I went to Gleason's Gym because I was interested in boxing and wanted to see one of the oldest boxing gyms in America. Getting there felt like a dangerous adventure. It was the middle of nowhere, it seemed, a wasteland of forgotten cobblestoned streets in the dark shadow of the rusty Manhattan Bridge. I did not feel safe, but I did feel brave. And that seemed like the right feeling to have when you go to a real boxing gym. It's impossible to have that feeling today. I went back to Gleason's last week to find an entire world turned upside-down. The gym is in the same place, but everything around it has changed. There's a West Elm and a Bo Concept on the first floor. The affluent walk the scrubbed cobblestones, shopping for luxury goods. Gourmet markets sell $5 single-serving bottles of juice. Gleason's sign is on the outside door, but it's dwarfed by a sign for The Fitness Gu

*Update: Vanished June 5, 2008 For those who miss Sucelt and anticipate missing Florent , there is a tiny luncheonette on Greenwich Ave, just past 7th Ave, that manages a loose combination of the two: French diner meets inexpensive Latin flavors. Chez Brigitte has been in business since 1958--this year is their 50th anniversary--and was begun by a woman named Brigitte Catapano, a native of Marseilles. When she retired to Florida, the diner went to her partner Rosa Santos and acquired its Spanish touch. Both women have since passed away, but the diner is still in the hands of a Spaniard, and chef Raphael hails from Mexico. The atmosphere is friendly and the food is pure comfort, "la cuisine grandmere." The Voice 's Robert Sietsema writes : "The signature is beef bourguignon, a massive platter of tender gravied meat with a touch of red wine (that's the French part), with petits pois and a couple of starchy sides; or check out the poulet roti, a tender breast pain

Remarkably, after much construction and stop work orders, 27 E. 7th Street has become a ( illegal? ) hostel . Down by the Hipster reported this, Curbed commented, and Hostel World has all the details (free pizza parties!), but I didn't really believe it until I looked up last night and saw the rooms filled with bunkbeds and sleepy-eyed young Asians: CBGB's will be a John Varvatos , but the 313 Gallery will still be a gallery --Morrison Hotel is moving into #313 and a little bit of rock-n-roll history remains on the Bowery, if only in museum form. It's better than another bank. The first show will feature work by rock photographer Steve Joester . [ Stupefaction ] Here comes Karl Fischer. Despite protests to the plans to demolish these little buildings on 13th Street and replace them with a giant hotel , the first sign of demolition has appeared: The rat poison is out! Celebrate 125 years of the Chelsea Hotel at the Museum of the City of New York. [ Living w/Legends ] NYC

Back in 2006, The Real Deal covered the demise of 8th Street's shoe stores, reporting that "Since the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, 24 of 54 shoe stores have closed, a devastating percentage." Since then, that number has most certainly gone up. The street is a ghost town of soaped-over windows, for rent signs, and going out of business banners. Rugged Sole is currently holding a "Business Sucks" sale. The sidewalks are empty, which actually makes 8th Street a pleasant route for walking unmolested by jerks with giant shopping bags, drunken college students, and entitled Wall Streeters. It's a place to be (almost) alone. But that is going to change. Fast. After the onslaught of rent hikes, the street has been in a holding pattern, waiting for super-gentrification to wash away the urine and incense vendors. Recently, the luxurification arrived. In a space once occupied by a club called 8th Wonder, where Jimi Hendrix used to play, upsc

Many readers send in photos of places they love and are losing, interesting old signage, and other vanishing items. It's great--I can't be in all places at all times. So I've started a Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/vanishingnewyork/ The group is open, so please join and add any photos--and descriptions--you think fit the category. I'll do my best to get them onto the blog. Thanks!

Life's been hard for the shoe stores of 8th Street. Rugged Sole is holding a "Business Sucks" sale as most of its neighbors have shut down: Coney Island opens! Perhaps for the final season of Astroland. [ BIB ] Rundowns of recent construction accidents as the rush to super-gentrification continues . [ Gothamist ] [ Lost City ] These days, many of us live anxiously in the shadow of teetering cranes . [ City Room ] [ EVG ] Others tremble in the shadow of cell-phone towers . [ PMFA ] I wrote about Extra Place in January --more recently, the Real Deal revealed the developers' dream for a "park-like environment that fosters a sense of community with lots of small retail shops and cafés." Whose sense of community will it foster? Just take a look at the cream-of-wheat folks in the rendering below. And here's the prediction: "It's like what Jeffrey did to the Meatpacking District." Couldn't be more prescient!

My last (and first) meal at Armando's 72-year-old restaurant in Brooklyn Heights was enjoyed this weekend beneath a water-damaged portrait of Marilyn Monroe, one-time habitue of the place, back when Arthur Miller lived in the neighborhood and the two were falling in love. The Brooklyn Dodgers drank here. So did Norman Mailer. But beginning in the mid-1990s, with an influx of chain stores to Montague Street, Armando's began to feel the pinch . more photos @ my flickr It was quiet at lunchtime, only a few tables occupied. At the bar, the regulars gathered for last drinks. "Where ya going?" they asked each other, wondering what the new hangout would be after Armando's is gone. Shrugs all around. Mancuso's? Harry's? "That's long gone, didn't you know." Callahan's? Joe's? "You can all come up to my apartment!" Laughter. The place was closing at 9:00, the free drinks would start at 6:00, they said, but keep it quiet. Someone

The New York Times reports that the Market Diner will reopen--not as a high-rise condo and not as a French bistro, but as a diner. This is wonderful news for our ever-depleting stock of once-copious West Side diners. It's been bought by the Greek owners of the Cosmic Diner on Eighth Avenue and 52nd Street, who say they will make it more upscale, but how upscale can it be? Hopefully it won't go the way of the Empire . According to Agilitynut and Diner City , the Market was built in the 1960s by DeRaffele, one of the last remaining manufacturers of prefab diners. A hangout for Frank Sinatra and Hell's Kitchen gang the Westies, it's been closed since 2006. 1972 photo by Thorney Lieberman At its spot on 11th and 43rd, the Market is scheduled to open in a couple of months. In the meantime, you can continue to enjoy the Cheyenne Diner at 9th Ave and 33rd St, a Paramount dating to about 1940. more photos @ my flickr The Cheyenne features Greek food and bison burgers--and b

The scaffolding is off Bigelow and it's back to looking ever so lovely: The Minetta Tavern is selling --and going from authentic Italian-American to faux-French in the hands of Mr. Pastis. [ Eater ] The unofficial shopping mall that is Soho may become the official Soho Mall. [ Villager ] Don't even try loitering, i.e. sitting on a bench, in the new cleaned-up Washington Square Park . It's just for looking at, so keep it moving. [ Curbed ] Goodbye lobster, hello pickle: Armando's will be replaced by a fast-food chain. Go Sunday to say goodbye. [ Bklyn Paper ] Fulton Fish Market goes upscale green market --I guess all those non-wealthy residents who are losing their Pathmark to a luxury tower will get to enjoy some primo Dumpster diving. [ Racked ] Save St. Brigid's --here's another chance to wear your Irish anti-gentrification attitude, tomorrow at Webster Hall.

The facade teardown of the former Galaxy bodega on the northwest corner of 10th St. and 3rd Ave. has revealed a lovely cast-iron column and other architectural details. It's also revealed bits of signage from the Stuyvesant Curiosity Shop which long ago occupied the space. That word at the bottom is definitely GUNS: Here's a detail from an old Con Edison photo that probably dates to the 1940s or 50s. Here you can see, as in the above photo, the address number 48 and the word TOOLS painted down the side: Here is Berenice Abbott's 1937 photo of the place. You can see that the corner column was buried even back then: Photo: Berenice Abbott via NYPL I don't know much about the Stuyvesant Curiosity Shop other than that it was a pawnshop and one of those oddball places that lived quite well in the shadow of the Third Avenue El. Next to it was another pawn shop and Sig. Klein's Fat Men's Shop. And next to that was Sipmeier's Restaurant for ladies and gents. The c