Vanishing New York Backup

At the end of each year, I offer a list of businesses that vanished during the year. Last year, I posted a Master List of vanishings through the Bloomberg years . We hoped that this year would be different, that the vanishings would slow down. They have not. Small businesses remain under assault in New York City and nothing is being done to save them. If you're sick of the funerals, please join my Save New York Facebook page and consider these proposals for stopping the vanishing . We still have a lot to save before it's gone. RIP: 2008 Gray's Papaya On 8th Street, this was the second-to-last Gray's Papaya in the city. It did brisk business and was beloved. Death by rent hike. It will be replaced by a Liquiteria smoothie shop. Milady's 81 years old, beloved by many, dead via rent hike. Barnes & Noble flagship Yes, part of a chain that helped destroy our local bookstores. Still, the place was old--since 1932--and now it will be a Banana Republic...

When the Gray's Papaya on 6th Avenue and 8th Street shuttered in January , thanks to a massive rent hike from the landlord, New Yorkers were devastated , heartbroken , and more devastated . 2008 We soon learned that the spot would be taken over by the growing Liquiteria chain . The place has been covered in plywood since, but I just took a peek inside. It looks...like a Liquiteria. No more vats of papaya and pineapple juice. No more hot dogs glistening on the grill. Instead of guys in red bowling shirts slapping coleslaw on your dog, you'll find a team of "cleanse coaches and ambassadors" striving to "personalize your Liquiteria experience" at this "health and wellness oasis." Instead of two hot dogs and a papaya drink for less than five bucks, you'll get one papaya smoothie with Liver Kidney Lymph Detox mixed in for more than five bucks. We can say that "things change," that New Yorkers today are more interested in j...

VANISHING As you've likely heard by now, the Posman's bookstore in Grand Central Terminal has been denied a lease renewal by their landlord, the MTA. With no negotiations or help, December 31 remains their final day . I sent our petition, with its nearly 2,500 signatures , to the MTA representative, but have not heard back. So go to Posman's before the new year and say your goodbyes to yet another small shop in the city. On a recent evening, business was booming. You can barely get inside the door. But that doesn't matter. Our small shops can be successful, and still they get the boot in today's New York.  A customer approached the register with her books and said to the cashier, "I'm so glad you're still in business. I never buy from Amazon." The cashier broke the news, "Actually, we're going out of business," and she explained the situation, how the MTA is denying them a new lease to make room for a new luxury skyscrape...

VANISHED Last night, around 7:00 pm, Cafe Edison shuttered. Today: Photo by John Strano Jordan Strohl, son and grandson of the owners, posted to the Save Cafe Edison Facebook group : "The Cafe Edison has closed its doors. Thank you for our historic 34 years on Broadway! We are so thankful for our loyal customers and thank you for these past 6 weeks. It has been an emotional time period for us all but our customers carried us through this process! Thank you for being part of our family and thank you for all of your roles in the greatest show on Broadway! Thank you!!! Thank you!!! Thank You!!! Stay tuned to the next act!!! Love THE STROHL'S!!!" A reminiscence from the final days: The sound of Café Edison when it’s packed with people is different from the sound of other crowded restaurants. Its cafeterial roar feels soft around the edges, a warm and steady hum punctuated by the clatter of silverware and plates, by the waitstaff calling out “One matzo bal...

VANISHING New York is losing yet another bookshop, thanks to out-of-control rent. After 36 years in business on the corner of 35th and Madison, the Complete Traveller book shop, and Antiquarian Books Too, is closing its doors December 31. The rent is too damn high--and getting higher. I talked with manager Mike Durell, who said, "The lease is up and the landlord wants to jack up the rent," which is already "exorbitant."  So the shop will be no more--except online, where you can find them at CT Rare Books . Browsing through the Complete Traveller is a voyage in itself, as you move from city to city, and country to country along the shelves. One wall is dedicated to Baedeker guides, all bound in red. They also have Furniture, Fashion, Fiction, and a whole section on "Gone With the Wind." Years ago, I found a beautiful old guide to New York City's zoos and aquariums. This time, in a "NYC Ephemera" binder, I found a treasure tro...

When the Kentile Floors sign came down from the skyline of Brooklyn earlier this year , the beloved letters were stashed away, in an undisclosed location in Gowanus, where they await their new life. Tonight at 5pm, you can get up close and cozy with the letter "K" -- and even have your photo taken with it -- at the Gowanus Alliance's "Kristmas" party. A rep from Gowanus Alliance tells me: "The letters are kept in a safe warehouse, waiting for donation paperwork to be completed and for final evaluation before repair work begins. Tonight, we only have the letter K to display--and to let everyone know that the Kentile sign is not forgotten nor forsaken. We hope to start the restoration process very soon, and look forward to community input on the sign's final location. It is not likely that the sign will end up on a roof of a building, due to current building codes and regulations. It is going to be installed in a public area, perhaps a promena...

The following is a guest post by Romy Ashby, who runs the excellent blog " Walkers in the City ." The Henry Street Settlement - Abrons Art Center has the best Christmas show in town right now with Joey Arias: Christmas with the Crawfords , dazzling audiences with a fabulous cast in the gorgeous old theater on Grand Street. When Joey, who has spent a lot of time on that stage, was asked not long ago to do something at Abrons this December, he suggested doing the show, which was recently summed up this way by The New York Times : “Joey Arias joins up with San Francisco's Artfull Circle Theatre to make NYC's Yuletide ever so gay in this all-singing, all-dancing, holiday extravaganza. Based on the infamous Christmas Eve radio broadcast from the Crawford family's Brentwood mansion, Christmas With the Crawfords features Joan, the children, and a stellar line up of Hollywood icons in a hilarious parody of -- and homage to -- the ‘Golden Age’ of Hollywood.” Followin...

For the past dozen years, more than ever, New York City has been dying . It's getting murdered by rising rents, suburbanization, rampant development, and an unrestrained flood of chain businesses. Bloomberg actively encouraged this. Bill de Blasio promised to heal the tale of two cities, but nothing has yet been done to protect our small businesses from the filthy, bottomless greed of landlords. New York's small businesses have been dropping like flies. We are losing the city block by block. The stunning loss of Cafe Edison, after a major fight from community members and politicians, including the mayor, shows us that we are powerless without legislation to back us up . If we can lose Cafe Edison, we can lose everything. And we are losing everything. Shopping local only goes so far when landlords routinely double, triple, and quadruple commercial rents, or simply deny a lease to their long-term business tenants. We can buy all the books, booze, and bowls of matzo ball sou...

I am heartbroken to have to share the news that the fight to save Cafe Edison has not been successful. Their last day of business will be this Sunday, December 21. They say they'll stay open that night "until the last person leaves." photo: Tim Schreier I just spoke to Jordan Strohl, grandson and son and of the owners. He told me that the owner of the hotel, Gerald Barad, is not responding at this point and they have no choice but to shut down. " People are walking out of here crying ," he said of his customers, who have been hearing the news over dinner tonight. He said that the city government tried its best, but in the end, "There's nothing they can legally do. We are out of options." His family is optimistic that they will find a new space. "We lost the fight," he said, "but we did not lose the battle. Six weeks ago, we would have just shut down, but the campaign to Save Cafe Edison re-inspired my family. We are committe...

Sherill Tippins ' " Inside the Dream Palace : The Life and Times of the Legendary Chelsea Hotel" recently came out in paperback. I asked Sherill a few questions. What about the Chelsea Hotel was important to the bohemian city throughout history? The Chelsea was created in defiance of, and as a corrective to, the Gilded-Age culture in which it was born. Originally a cooperative (in the old, idealistic sense), it was uniquely designed to accommodate residents with a wide range of backgrounds and financial circumstances--people who had in common only a willingness to experiment and a desire to simplify the basics of life –housing costs, home maintenance, etc.—in order to live a freer, more creative existence. Artists were attracted by the large studios on the top floor; actors, writers and musicians by the theater and the drama school that the owner established nearby; art collectors and philanthropists to the artists and intellectuals already in residence; and ordinar...

VANISHING George Bliss has lived in New York City for 37 years and, for much of that time, he’s been a passionate bike advocate, credited with coining the term “critical mass.” Since 1995, he has designed, built, repaired, rented, and sold bicycles of all kinds. For the past decade, he’s run a shop in Greenwich Village, currently known as HUB Cycles on Charles Street. I talked to George a couple of weeks ago when I learned from a reader that HUB will soon be closing , another victim of the city's corporatization. Bliss blames Citibike. *UPDATE: There will be a press conference today: "PRESS CONFERENCE at the HUB 1 PM TUESDAY, Dec 15 139 Charles St., btwn Charles & Washington St., The West Village Contact George Bliss: 212- 965-9334 • Please Come and support the HUB" photo credit: Emilie Ross “I can’t do it anymore,” says Bliss. “Citibike is surrounding us and cutting into our revenues.” Surrounded is right. There are five Citibike stations wit...

The following is a guest post by Romy Ashby For a long time, New York City was a treasure box of rarities and uncommon beauty, where no two blocks were alike. The ambiance of each neighborhood was made of all kinds of things and the many colorful people—the oddballs, iconoclasts, the funny intellectuals—who populated the streets. So many of those colorful people have disappeared with the relentless scaling up of the city, and usually nobody notices what happens to them. I feel sad when I come across the contents of someone’s life out on the street for the trash. A pervasive nightmare scenario in New York is the one of being poor, no longer young, and alone, and then losing one’s apartment. This happened to the artist Kasoundra Kasoundra in a terrible way. I would like to see her situation reversed, because it can be, but not without help. Kasoundra, 2006, photo by Romy Ashby Kasoundra lived for many years in a rent-controlled Upper East Side apartment. It was full of art and in...

The Back Fence, offering music on Bleecker and Thompson since 1945, was sold by a developer for $7 million, rent-hiked, and shuttered in 2013 . It was a place filled with history, where folks like Bob Dylan, Tracy Chapman, and Allen Ginsberg walked across the sawdust and peanut shell-covered floor. So what's become of it, now that the plywood has been removed? photo: Gog in NYC It's a Bark, says our friend Goggla , who sends in this photo. "Bark," according to Bark, "is the chef driven and environmentally mindful American fast casual restaurant from chef/owner Joshua Sharkey. Opened in Brooklyn in 2009." You might remember them from Bobo Bergen . The menu comes with a "farmers and artisans" information sheet . It's hipster hot dogs--smothered in baked heirloom beans and oak barrel aged sauerkraut. "All of our condiments are house made," they say, "except for Heinz’s Ketchup, French’s Yellow Mustard & Hellman’s Ma...

The original Barnes & Noble flagship store on 5th Avenue closed this past January . It had been there since 1932. The Banana Republic that is taking its place has a message for us: "Good things are worth the wait."

VANISHED Grande Monuments has left Williamsburg. They've been in business there since the 1940s or thereabouts. Joy Garnett posted the following on her Facebook page: photo: Joy Garnett The windows are covered over with brown paper. Joy writes: "I noticed this state of affairs last weekend, and today they were working in the space. The little sign says 'Rose Tattoo.' That could be a tat parlor, a bar, or a cinefile library. Hey, there's an idea." 2013 You might recall that this gravestone shop also sold Italian bread . They told WNYC in 2011 : " ...what we do is we put the bread in the window here at Grande’s, right next to the Blessed Mother, so the bread is like the mother and the son , and we got the blessing from Father Verrano, it’s not a desecration or anything. He cleared it will all the signoras in the neighborhood. So it’s now about three years in the making and the bread is here by popular demand, and it’s also here because of th...

Adding to the growing stack of letters from politicians to the owners of the Hotel Edison, asking them to please extend a lease to Cafe Edison, here's the latest--from New York State Assembly Member Richard Gottfried : Mr. Gottfried makes the case that the restaurant is an asset to the hotel and the city: "This kind of history is the type of experience tourists seek when they come to New York and what helps keep New York as the cultural center of the United States. It is worthy of protection and preservation." Thank you Mr. Gottfried! Previous Letters: Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer New York State Senator Brad Hoylman Councilmember Corey Johnson Join the Save Cafe Edison Facebook group Tweet with #SaveCafeEdison Sign the petition