Vanishing New York Backup

VANISHED As an Anonymous commenter let us know yesterday, the Thompson Street location of the Porto Rico Roasting Company, more intimately known as Auggie's, has shuttered. Says Anonymous, "I had my last cup of auggie's yesterday afternoon, and this morning the windows are papered over. sad." Porto Rico Times Peter Longo at the Porto Rico Times confirms that Auggie's has closed after more than 45 years. Why? "The rent is too damn high." (That seems to be the case up and down Thompson these days.) I just walked by there recently and took this shot of the great old signage, complete with a New York City phone exchange: WO-6. These, too, are vanishing fast. my flickr

Finally, this week, remembering the people and personalities we lost in 2011. Bobby Robinson , the proprietor of Bobby's Happy House in Harlem, passed away at age 93, three years after his six-decades-old shop fell to the forces of gentrification. Lenny Waller , former manager of the Hellfire Club and a well-loved sex-positive AIDS activist, died in March. So did Chloe Dzubilo , transgender and AIDS activist, artist, writer, punk rocker, and East Villager. They were both memorialized by many. We lost East Village blogger and photographer Bob Arihood in September. He was a friend and won't be forgotten. memorial at Ray's Candy In her 90s, the inimitable Fedora Dorato passed away just one year after her restaurant closed and she took her final standing ovation. Tony Amato passed at age 91, two years after his wonderful opera house shuttered on the Bowery. Finally, she wasn't a person, but she was a unique and storied New York personality-- Hijinx the Coney Island cat

As you know, the 89-year-old, third-generation Village classic Rocco Ristorante is being pushed out by skyrocketing rent, and another restaurant in the popular Torrisi mini-chain will be taking its place. Over a recent meal, I learned that Rocco's official closing date will be January 2 . " We're taking the sign with us ," said the waiter. Owner Mr. DaSilva also plans to stay in the neighborhood--he's got a few places in mind for the new Rocco's. But go to the original soon, before it vanishes.

Several buildings and other structures fell in 2011. We're still watching 7 - 9 Second Avenue fall, a harrowing loss of history--including Mars Bar and much more. 35 Cooper Square , despite an outpouring of support for preserving its illustrious history , was turned to rubble. The gorgeous neon signage from Jade Mountain was ripped away, carted off, and likely dumped. Photo from warsze One of the East Village's last bohemians, Edgar Oliver, was booted from his home on E. 10th and the place is being sold as a townhouse. The home of Premiere Veal , formerly the Gansevoort Pumping Station, was demolished for the new Whitney Museum. And demolition has just begun on the Atlas Meat packing plant . And we lost a lot of old newsstands--at 14th and 6th , in Times Square , on University Place , down on Water Street , and surely many more. What else? Previous Year-End Reviews : 2010 2009: Spring , Summer , Fall , Winter 2008 2007

We lost many restaurants in 2011. *Update: Regrettably, we add Polonia to the list, shuttered Christmas Eve after 22 years in the East Village. *Update 2: We just learned that Auggie's Coffee shop on Thompson has closed after 45 years. The city's red-sauce joints took more hits as Rocco Ristorante announced they'd be closing after 89 years due to a rent hike and takeover by the Torrisi chain. Rocky's Italian also announced their impending closure, also due to rent hike and takeover by a Nolitan called Balaboosta. After 52 years in Little Italy, the original Ray's Pizza closed its doors. Less original, but also mourned, Famous Ray's in the Village shuttered. We lost the second-to-last Andrews Coffee Shop and the Tramway Diner . Also vanished, Niko's on the Upper West Side. Doyers Vietnamese was shuttered and recently became a trendy hipster spot. And very quietly, without fanfare, two Latin places disappeared from Chelsea-- Cabo Rojo off the High

We lost a number of businesses in 2011. Today is the latest as 46th Street's drum mecca, Drummer's World, closes its doors after 32 years in business. Covered in this blog, an incomplete list includes: Iconic bars like Mars Bar and the P&G . The loss of Mars Bar was met with deep grief, especially from denizens of the East Village. The original P&G had already been lost, but this year its reincarnation also vanished. We saw the shuttering of the Chelsea Hotel to all but its permanent residents. I spent the night there on its final night in business before it was ruthlessly gutted for a renovation that will surely be a gutting of its soul. We lost (at least) two bookstores . Bookberries vanished and so did the Atlantic Bookshop , the reincarnation of the lost and beloved 12th Street Books. West Chelsea's automotive-related businesses were mowed down after the second half of the High Line opened. Firestone Bear Auto was shuttered by its landlord for high-end deve

Hayne Suthon, owner of Lucky Cheng's, commented on the epic history post with some good news: "no worries, the building is absolutely not for sale and my daughter, cats, dogs...and me are keeping our apartment there." She says she will be " Looking for a great operator to create something truly fantastic , in keeping in the tradition of the building. God forbid someone upsets the resident ghosts." Keeping those ghosts in mind, what would you like to see here next?

This week, as every year, I'm doing a roundup of what's been lost over the past 12 months. The next days will cover vanished restaurants, general businesses, buildings and structures, and people. But let's start with the good news. A handful of businesses were saved or revived this year. The biggest victory has to be the rescue of St. Mark's Bookshop --a major boost for those who fight to keep the city's culture alive. Caffe Vivaldi was also saved via petition. The Nom Wah Tea Parlor was renovated beautifully and reopened. The Waverly Diner , thought dead, came back to life. Pieces gay bar, down for the count, got a new lease at the zero hour. And Ray's Pizza on 6th and 11th will not be turned into a Starbucks, but another Ray's Pizza (albeit not the same Ray's, so this one goes into both the Saved and Vanished column). Previous Year-End Reviews : 2010 2009: Spring , Summer , Fall , Winter 2008 2007

Originally published December 2007 : After every Christmas, we wake to find the trees have vanished. The Quebecois who brought them have left us after a whole month of filling our streets with impromptu forests and the sweet, sticky fragrance of pine. And, every year, I miss them when they go. “People in New York have a romantic idea about us,” one tree lady told me. “They come by and say, ‘Oh, you must feel right at home with all these trees, like in a forest.’ Then I tell them I live in Montreal. A big city. They look disappointed.” That romantic idea might come from French-Canadian folklore, where the coureur-de-bois (literally “runner of the woods”) stands as a vivid heroic figure, a carefree adventurer decked out in fringed buckskin and moccasins, trekking and trading across the great northern wilderness. History tells us that the coureur-de-bois have disappeared and yet, every year, truckloads of their descendants head for New York, bringing a little bit of the Ca

GUEST POST This month marks the online launch of New York Bound Books , an interactive site that resurrects the spirit and resources of the late, lamented New York Bound Bookshop, the last independent shop in the city dedicated solely to all things Gotham, out-of-print and new. It lost its lease in 1997 . As the proprietor of a Brooklyn bookshop that tries to approximate one-tenth of what New York Bound achieved, I was eager to sit down with founder Barbara Cohen to talk about those years behind the counter and her new incarnation on the web --Peter Miller, Freebird Books How did your store begin? About 1974, I got interested in New York history and did research at the New York Historical Society thinking I would write a book about Dutch New York. I looked for used books locally, but no one, not even the Fourth Avenue shops, had much of a New York City section. About the same time my husband and I bought a weekend house in Columbia County. I found a wonderful book barn near us and I w

Since the second part of the High Line opened in June 2011, the neighborhood's small businesses have suffered and dropped like flies, especially those blue-collar businesses catering to car, truck, and taxi drivers. Here's a quick roundup: 6/2011: Poppy's Terminal Food Shop changes hands, later shutters 6/2011: 10th Ave. Tire Shop is pushed out for High Line development 8/2011: Bear Auto forced out by landlord for upscale development 8/2011: Olympia Parking Garage closes when landlord quintuples the rent 9/2011: Village Lukoil shutters 9/2011: D&R Auto Parts reports 40% drop in profits since High Line opened 12/2011: Brownfeld Auto pushed out by landlord 12/2011: Chelsea Mobil sold and shuttered for upscale retail We can add Kamco Building Materials to the list , as it will be replaced by a pair of giant, $40-million condo towers. The Real Deal reported the news in October but didn't mention Kamco. They said, "The two-towered project w

The new Fedora has added a new cocktail to its menu--the Fedora Dorato. 2011, photo by reader Beck O. A mix of Grouse Scotch, Cynar, and Cocchi Americano, a trendy aperitif among "craft" bartenders, the drink is listed at the bottom of the cocktail menu, under the Black Squirrel Old Fashioned (an ode to a motel in Wisconsin ), where it replaces the Mr. Graves Pendleton cocktail--"The spirit of the South and our pal Alex's grandpappy." The Fedora Dorato's tagline reads: "The spirit of the West Village." It's named after the longtime owner of this once legendary place, recently deceased . It costs $12 (like all the cocktails on the menu), just $1.95 less than the old Fedora's dinner special , which included appetizer, entree, salad, dessert, and coffee. 2010 Further reading: Fedora's Goodbye A Night at Fedora A Regular Remembers Faux-dora Fedora's Last Days Fedora Returns Oscar & Fedora

Spotted at the Union Square Craft Fair: " You Killed Brooklyn. Yeah, you ." You know who you are. But what would Woody do?: see more at Urban Cricket Riding the Nostalgia Trai n . [ FNY ] The demolition of Mars Bar continues. [ EVG ] Gowanus Whole Foods --and inevitable hyper-gentrification of the Gowanus wilderness --has been suspended. [ Racked ] NYU "has bent over backwards to create a Franco-friendly environment ." [ Gothamist ] The story behind the little abandoned terra-cotta building . [ SNY ] Take a trip back in time to S. Klein's "on the square." [ OTG ] Report shows Harlem Wal-Mart would shut down 25% of grocers in vicinity. [ Gothamist ] Tonio's of Park Slope now officially another Dunkin Donuts. [ HPS ]

VANISHED In 2008, we heard that the Mobil gas station on Chelsea's 10th Avenue , just at the edge of the Meatpacking District and nestled under the High Line, was sold for high-end development. Still, it lived on. Last week, we heard that it was sold again . This time, the new owners aren't screwing around--they want their 17,000 square feet of luxury retail and they want it fast. I took a walk by and found the station has been shut down . Yellow caution tape is strung across it and "SORRY CLOSED" signs are on all the pumps. The Lube Center is shuttered. No cars are being washed. The Market has been emptied of all its snacks. Forlorn drivers roll up, look at the place in disbelief, then roll away. It's another loss for old Gasoline Alley--and another win for the new High Line. More of this : Poppy's Terminal Food Shop 10th Ave. Tire Shop Bear Auto Village Lukoil Brownfeld Auto

Sad news-- Anthony Amato of the Amato Opera House has died. [ EVG ] Thinking about Frank O'Hara . [ PRD ] The Village's Casa Oliveira liquor store gets a fresh-painted neon sign. [ NYN ] Tasting the chicken wings at the renovated Waverly diner . [ MAD ] Trying out breakfast at the Waverly diner . [ FIR ]

If you're wondering what giant development is going up like gangbusters on 14th Street near 9th Avenue, here it is. It's DDG Partner's " Gansevoort Square ." The name pulls the Meatpacking District into what is not the Meatpacking District, tugging the neighborhood's glamor eastward. In case you think it's too far from MePa, the copy reassures that it's "no more than a stone’s throw away from the many amenities the neighborhood offers." It's topped with five penthouse apartments and "will also feature some of the Meatpacking District’s newest ground-up luxury retail, creating a natural transition into the vibrant shopping and cultural district." The rendering, covered with runaway greenery, brings to mind a post-apocalyptic scene. I can't help but think of Lori Nix's dioramas .

David Cross, comedian and EVGrieve reader (what am I, chopped liver?), is fed up with life in the East Village : " ...there's a big, huge 7-11 with big, beautiful 7-11 signs. There's an IHOP on 14th Street, Subway sandwiches all over the place. The thing is, I left Atlanta a long time ago and I'm spending way too much money to live in Atlanta again, you know? I mean it really is...it's just... It's mildly heartbreaking. It's just becoming more and more like a mall. I might as well be in St. Louis. It's very, very quickly, rapidly losing a lot of its character." [ Gothamist ] Upper West Siders are nauseated by the "garish" and "too suburban" new candy shop coming to their neighborhood--and it's called Sugar & Plumm Purveyors of Yumm. [ DNA ] Thomas Beller tells of life in the laundry room of a half-gentrified old NYC building. [ PRD ] BMW Guggenheim Lab feels very proud of itself. [ EVG ] After a painful, 5-year s

This morning, the Waverly Restaurant diner is serving its first breakfast in months . It's their first day open since the renovation. Long-time customers walking by are surprised and excited to see the lights on and people dining in the windows. They step inside and shout, "Welcome back!" One customer hands money to the waiter behind the counter and says, "This is just to say welcome back." Every time someone says "Welcome back," the people dining over plates of bacon and eggs pump their fists in the air and shout "hooray!" It's a good day at the Waverly. Previously: Waverly Diner New Waverly Revealed

Plywood, scaffolding, and an official death shroud have just gone up around 437 West 13th Street. Despite controversy and a landmarking battle , the longtime home of Atlas Meats and Interstate Foods is coming down. today I've taken a lot of photos of this building over the last few years--you might say too many photos. But when you know something's about to vanish, you can't help yourself. I loved its crumbling beauty, its sidewalks slippery with animal fat, its meatpackers in bloodstained smocks. undated, via GVSHP 2008 2011 Meatpacking stopped here in 2009 , at the same time that the High Line opened and the Standard Hotel went up next door, casting its giant shadow on the plant's swinging slabs of beef and buckets of inedibles . We knew it couldn't last. The powers that be would never permit it to survive--the blood! the fat! the smell! When Diane von Furstenberg moved in next door, she pumped perfume into the street from her flagship boutique, making passers

The rumor has been floating for a few years, but by now you've heard the official news that, after nearly two decades, Lucky Cheng's is leaving the East Village for Times Square. Rumor says the building at 24 First Avenue will be sold, and that means either demolition or renovation--either way, we're going to lose a significant piece of history, and you can bet that whatever comes next will fail to be anywhere near as interesting as the last half-century here. Formerly a Lower East Side Russian baths, the Lucky Cheng's building was home to Club Baths, the first openly gay-owned bathhouse , from 1971 - 1983. from Vintage Gay --more NSFW pics inside Keith Haring was a regular and preferred the Monday and Friday Buddy Nights. Former manager Bob Kohler recalls the scene , "We had these huge palm trees, real live trees. For the people coming, you pay your money, there’s going to be sex. Boom, boom. You walk in and there are birds singing. Here you are,

The marketing of New York City's facial hair --"Rep your borough" with the Braun Cruzer. Why does Manhattan get the hipstery curly one? Finally, some good news for Coney Island-- Paul's Daughter has signed a 10-year lease : "Both Papa and Mama Burger and a mix of new and old hand-painted signage as well as a neon sign are expected." [ ATZ ] And Ruby's has signed an 8-year lease : "We look forward to seeing our loyal friends and customers for many years." [ FB ] Tom's comes to Coney . Says Zamperla, "We are learning a little bit. After a year and a half, we understand how important Coney Island is to the Brooklyn community." [ Gothamist ] Yet another death for Gasoline Alley --the Mobil station in Meatpacking will become high-end retail. [ Racked ] Hotel Chelsea is evicting long-time tenants. [ Curbed ] One reason to love New York: " St. Mark's Bookshop Lives ." [ NYM ] Amazing film footage of Times

VANISHING The High Line has just claimed another victim. Since the luxury park opened into the upper reaches of Chelsea, the existing long-time businesses have been under siege. The 10th Avenue Tire Shop was pushed out. Poppy's shuttered. Bear Auto was forced to close. And now Brownfeld Auto Service, after over a century in business, will be gone by Christmas . When I walk into the Brownfeld autobody shop, a noisy garage surprisingly decorated with a gallery of paintings, I am greeted by its third-generation proprietor, Alan Brownfeld . A biker with a thick handlebar mustache and oil-stained hands, he's warm and welcoming. You can just as easily imagine him drinking with Hell's Angels as putting on a Santa suit for a roomful of needy kids--which he does every year on his motorcycle with Toys for Tots. Alan is a busy and popular man. He answers my questions in between catering to customers and greeting the many friends who come by to spend time with him. As Ala