For some time, 8th Street has been a ghost town . The once-plentiful shoe stores and other small businesses that lined it have dropped like flies in recent years. Trendy restaurants have tried to get a foothold and failed. It's ripe for "revival" and now the big guns are being rolled in to force the street into hyper-gentrification mode . The Daily News files a startling report on 8th Street's upcoming upgrade--it's going from "under-retailed" to an "artisanal center." Marlton House, Jeff Bachner, Daily News Stumptown Coffee is coming first--they're a foodie favorite in the uber-hipster Ace Hotel (formerly the Breslin, a tragic story there). After that, BD Hotels , of the Bowery and Jane Street Hotels (more controversy there), will open a new boutique hotel in the former SRO Marlton House. The neighborhood flippers have arrived. Says BD Hotels' Richard Born, "We’ve had the experience of changing neighborhoods like wit...
Now and then, the lost artifacts of vanished New York will resurface. I heard from a painter who recently moved his studio into a former woodshop's space in the East Village. In the backyard, under piles of junk, he unearthed the double-sided neon sign of the old Second Avenue Deli. Opened in 1954, the deli (and the sign) stood on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and East 10th Street until 2006, when it closed due to a rent dispute with the building's new owner. Reported the Times , "Jack Lebewohl said he faced an increase in monthly rent to $33,000 from $24,000. The space also needed substantial renovations he was unwilling to invest in without a reasonable long-term lease. His landlord told The Times that Lebewohl owed $107,000 and that eviction proceedings had started. They settled for $75,000." Comic Jackie Mason told the paper, "It's almost like wiping out Carnegie Hall. A sandwich to a Jew is just as important as a country to a Gentile....
Seems like something's happening on Christopher Street, just west of 7th Avenue South. 1. Karavas Pizza & Pita is gone. Back in 2011 , the building owner said, “John Karavas and his parents have been tenants there for more than 50 years. The easiest way for us to make money would be to rent it out to some chain restaurant, and we don’t want to do that.” Maybe there's a new owner? 2. The little spot next to Karavas is gone, too. I think it was one of those little souvenir stands, selling t-shirts and bongs. 3. Next to that, the long-time location of Boots & Saddle emptied out a couple years ago when "the new landlord" hiked the rent by a ton. Boots moved on, this spot has since been painted brown, and a sign on the door says Hakata Tonton Japanese restaurant is moving in. What's happening here? Is it all one landlord giving the boot? And what about Village Cigars in their little triangular spot?
Comments
Post a Comment