Vanishing New York Backup

 VANISHED One of the greatest, and one of my favorites, has gone. After temporarily shuttering during the pandemic, Eisenberg's sandwich shop , near the Flatiron since 1929, has closed for good. A For Lease sign is in the window. I went by yesterday and talked with building manager Jackie Valiente who told me that she and the building owner would love to save Eisenberg's, but they need someone to take it over and keep it as it is. "Someone who wants the old Eisenberg's," she said, "the old concept of New York." That concept, said customer Arnold Engelman, is simple. "Eisenberg's is what New York's all about," he told me. "People gathering in places they know, knowing the owners and the owners knowing them. This doesn't exist anymore." Arnold has been coming to Eisenberg's since he was a kid, growing up on 11th Street. Jackie has been eating at Eisenberg's since 1976. It's the kind of place you keep going...

This article in the Guardian begins, "On a damp and humid Thursday afternoon Manhattan’s Union Square is looking sorry for itself. There’s 73,000 sq ft of empty retail space up for grabs at 44 Union Square in the now boarded up neo-Georgian landmark that was once Tammany Hall."  What it doesn't mention is the fact that several small mom-and-pop businesses were pushed out of the building in 2016 to make room for, undoubtedly, more chain and luxury businesses that would fit the class of workers intended for the building's high-tech makeover.      Frank's Wines & Liquors had been there for over 40 years. A deli went, along with a smoke shop and magazine shop. Also pushed out were the New York Film Academy and the Union Square Theater. It's unlikely that those high-tech workers are coming. And the chain stores probably aren't either, since they've now "abandoned" Manhattan after helping to destroy it.  It is deeply regrettable that the lea...

VANISHING UPDATE: False alarm! Now they say they're just renovating . Back in 2013, the old Odessa closed . This Odessa was also known as the "dark" Odessa. It was the first Odessa and the one I loved best. Now the new Odessa, also known as a the "light" Odessa, is closing. Odessa in miniature by Nicholas Buffon When the old Odessa still existed, I didn't go much to the new Odessa because it felt redundant and too new when it opened back in 1990-whenever. Then, when the old Odessa closed, I went to the new Odessa (which was no longer new) because it was no longer redundant and, in fact, was one of the only places left in the East Village where you could get a simple diner meal and not be surrounded by the worst people. Now it's closing. Their last day will be July 19. You can't go inside to sit and eat because we're in a pandemic, remember? But you can order something to go and while you wait you can imagine that you're sitting i...

VANISHED After 62 years, Record Mart, " the oldest record store in Manhattan ," has closed. photo: Jesse Jarnow Untapped Cities reports the sad news, “I’d seen them clearing the store out last week but I thought it was because of the fear of looting.” It was not the looting. It was "due to the pandemic," according to a sign on their door, which also reads, "We are moving into the vintage audio business, where we buy, refurbish, and sell audio equipment. Please visit us at recordmartwifi.com to browse our selection, or if you want to contact us to sell your audio gear." I was last inside Record Mart in December. I worried about it then and bought a few things. I also took this video. A little moment of joy under the ground at Times Square.

VANISHED Another small-business casualty of the coronavirus shutdown, Foley's pub on West 33rd has closed for good. This afternoon, owner Shaun Clancy posted a sad video on Twitter to say,  "Foley's won't reopen. Just with everything that's going on, there's just no way that I see that we can do it." He thanks his customers and family, and concludes, "This is the end of the inning, but not the end of the game." Foley's, located in an antique barroom featuring many original features, overflows with a stunning array of baseball memorabilia. I've enjoyed a few burgers there over the years and once got an impromptu tour from Shaun's father, John Clancy , who pointed out the pistol he got from mobster Frank Costello and told about his days working at Toots Shor's, serving Frank Sinatra and Jackie Gleason. Foley's was a true New York original. Pour one out.

What's it like on the streets of the city during the pandemic? In my recent travels, mostly around Manhattan, I've seen so much of the beauty, spontaneity, and eccentricity that makes New York feel like New York. I am posting the photos on my Instagram page and hope you'll take a look.

VANISHED John Jovino, the oldest gun shop in the United States, has closed for good after 109 years in business in Little Italy. Founded in 1911 by John Jovino, and originally located in the gun center around the corner on Centre Market Place, the store was purchased by the Imperato family in the 1920s and has been run by Charlie Hu since 1995. It's been featured in many films, including Mean Streets and Serpico , and its famous wooden revolver sign has been a landmark in the neighborhood for over a century. Charlie removed his mask briefly for this socially distanced shot.  All photos by Stacie Joy. Charlie, also known as "Gun King Charlie," was packing up the shop this week and graciously consented to speak with Vanishing New York about the end of an era. Stacie Joy visited with her camera and listened to Mr. Hu tell his story. Like many small business people who are forced to close, having a compassionate ear is an important part of saying goodbye. ...

The dismantling of our dearly departed Gem Spa continues today. After yesterday's removal of the lighted signs and yellow awnings , workers are carefully removing another, more delicate sign. Previously hidden, the sign has GEM SPA painted on glass. Owner Parul Patel tells me it appeared in a number of movies, including 200 Cigarettes (which I recommend only for the scenes of the East Village in the 90s-- I wrote about it here ). 200 Cigarettes Parul told me the signs are safely in storage. She hopes that one day, on the other side of the pandemic, there might be another life for Gem Spa. Who knows? In the meantime, there is still merch .

I missed this sad news, until I saw this memorial on a wall of plywood at Mulberry and Grand in Little Italy. Vincent Cirelli Sabatino, lovingly known as Vinny Peanuts, died on April 13 from complications of COVID-19. He was 68 years old. His family posted the announcement on Instagram . He ran Vinny's Nut House, a fixture on the corner for nearly 50 years. At the Feast of San Gennaro, the stand was always brightly lit and busy, with Vinny cutting big bricks of torrone with a knife and a hammer. It was a beautiful thing. Vinny was one of the last holdouts of authentic Little Italy. As he told Pavement Pieces a decade ago, “There’s no more Italians left. There are no more stands like me. Before, there used to be 10 stands down just this one block that sold Italian food, just like mine. Now, I’m the only one left.” I always got his lemon cookies, which were the best. Just the best.

It's happening. Right now. The Gem Spa sign has been removed from the building. The yellow awning is going with it. Thanks to Michael Quinn for sending in these sad shots of the wreckage: The word "iconic" gets thrown around quite a bit when it comes to New York's classic small businesses, but with Gem Spa, it fits. Earlier this month we learned that Gem would be closing for good , felled by greed and coronavirus crisis, after decades of standing sentinel on St. Mark's Place, and after a long battle in which many of us tried like hell to keep it alive. As long as the sign stood, it felt like Gem was still there, just waiting for the shutdown to lift, and maybe there was still a chance. This is truly the end. And into a U-Haul: Update: Parul tells me, "We will be auctioning the signs, the gates, the egg cream fountain, and old milkshake machine. We are also trying to get the egg cream counter out and will auction that too if we can get it...

What happened to the wooden revolver hanging off the sign of John Jovino's in Little Italy? ( See my update here on the fate of the sign--and the closing of the shop .) It was there and now it's gone. Maybe they put it away for safekeeping during the coronavirus shutdown? Jovino's has been in business since 1911 and used to be around the corner on Centre Market Place, before the block was luxurified by the Novogratz family. ( I wrote all about it here. ) I don't know how old this particular Jovino gun is, but an earlier version of it shows up in a photo by the great crime photographer Weegee, who lived in a one-room apartment above the shop from the mid-1930s until 1947. Weegee The gun also made an appearance in the 1973 Al Pacino movie Serpico . It makes for a very photogenic antique sign and I hope it returns.

If you miss going to the movies and enjoying a big bucket of popcorn, well, you can still enjoy one of those things. The wonderful Village East Cinema is selling movie popcorn to go -- including big, big bags of movie popcorn -- every day from 4:00 - 7:00pm. So why not get your buttery fix and support a historic and beloved East Village theater at the same time? Win win! (Get it at East 12th and Third Ave.)

Even though the New York Times and other major media outlets keep repeating the idea that New York City is dead in the coronavirus shutdown, let's not give up on it yet. There are signs of life out there. Even in grief and absence, the soul of the city is thrumming, playing in a lower register, quieter and more inward. I made this short video from photos and films I've been taking around town since the beginning of the shutdown. The spirit of the city, the beauty and life, is here. You just have to look a little harder for it.

VANISHED Another nail has been hammered into the coffin of St. Mark's Place, and the East Village, as Gem Spa has shuttered for good. The dearly beloved shop's owner, Parul Patel, confirmed the sad news. The landlord, she told me, would not reduce or freeze the rent during the pandemic shutdown, nor would he promise not to evict the business when they were late on rent at this difficult time. The debt just kept adding up and they could not go on. We all knew this was coming, though we hoped against hope. Many of us tried to save it-- converted it into a Schitibank , cash mobbed it , celebrated its bohemian history, raised money for it, even Quarantine Cash Mobbed it --but in the pandemic there is no bouncing back. "It is heartbreaking," Parul told me. "We truly have the best customers in the world. We consider our customers to be family. I don't think any other business has seen this amount of incredible support and love." Parul says she will...

VANISHED The Paris Cafe at South Street Seaport is no more. After being in business since 1873 and surviving the numerous trials and tragedies of history, including a comeback from Hurricane Sandy , it could not survive the coronavirus shutdown of the city. On their Facebook page , they announced: "To all our wonderful patrons and friends I would like to extend a sincere thanks and a fond farewell from The Paris Cafe. Through no fault of anyone but the outbreak of this virus we are unable to forge a way forward that makes economic sense. We had no option but to close our doors. Hope springs eternal and perhaps with a change in the economic climate we may find our way back. With all our hearts we say thank you for all the fun, friendships and laughter as well as the few shillings spent. My thoughts are with our lovely staff at this time and we would like to thank all who subscribed to our Go Fund Me fund which is gratefully appreciated by staff in need. Our friendships wil...

Good news! You can still buy books from Three Lives & Co. and support them through the coronavirus shutdown of New York. They write: We do have some exciting news for all of you who have expressed dismay at our temporary closing. The coronavirus has managed something that big-box bookstores, online booksellers, superstorms, and building maintenance have failed to accomplish: driving us to the Internet! We have belatedly joined the twenty-first century and are introducing an online ordering system, which we hope will fill the gap between now and our reopening. Here is how it works: You can fill out an order form here. We will check on the availability of the books you want and get in touch with you directly to take your payment information. (We can only accept credit card payments at this time.) We are ordering from one of our regular distributors for direct delivery to our customers, which means we will be charging a UPS Ground fee of $7.95 for up to four books and $10.95...

The man who jumped to his death from the 16th floor of his Tribeca apartment building on Friday night has been identified as photographer Robert Herman . He left a note that read, "How do you enjoy life?" Since the 1970s, Robert was one of New York's consummate street photographers, capturing the day-to-day life of the sidewalks with his camera and, most recently, with his iPhone. I met him once or twice, we had a similar love for the city, and he was always lovely and kind. He will be missed, along with all the photographs he will never get to take. What follows is an interview I did with him here in 2013, on the publication of his beautiful book The New Yorkers , a vivid collection of his work from 1978 - 2005. all photos by Robert Herman How would you say the city of today compares visually to the city you captured in your book? The city I photographed in the early 80’s is almost gone. Back then, it was a city of small businesses and storefronts. Where ...