Adela Fargas Way

Adela Fargas Way is now official on the corner of Fifth Street and Avenue C. 

During a noontime ceremony today, friends, family and local elected officials gathered on this NE corner to pay tribute to the restaurateur who ran Casa Adela at 66 Avenue C for decades.

Today we witnessed the renaming of East 5 street to Adela Fargas way. Adela was a woman of great substance who embodied what this community is all about. pic.twitter.com/2T98GSO4UQ

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) September 17, 2022

Couldn’t have picked a more beautiful day to celebrate the legacy of Adela Fargas 🇵🇷❤️ Casa Adela is more than a restaurant to us; it’s long been and always will be the heart of our Loisaida community. I’m so proud to honor Adela and her family with this street co-naming. pic.twitter.com/frniQG92Mm

— Carlina Rivera 利華娜 (@CarlinaRivera) September 17, 2022

Today we are at the co-naming of Adela Fargas Way, who was the late & famed proprietor of the cultural anchor & eatery, Casa Adela. Adela was a proud Afro-Puerto Rican woman, an artist in her own right who created authentic sancocho and community alike. pic.twitter.com/BabpaFEACS

— The Clemente (@the_clemente) September 17, 2022

   

Fargas died in January 2018. She was 81.

As we reported in May, District Leader Aura Olavarria drafted the petition ... and worked with Adela's son Luis Rivera and other community members-groups. They collected hundreds of signatures and presented the petition to Community Board 3's Transportation, Public Safety, Sanitation & Environment Committee, who overwhelmingly approved the petition ... and the entire Board passed a resolution in support on May 24. 

On July 14, the New York City Council Committee passed Councilmember Carlina Rivera's bill for the co-naming.

Top photo by @the_clemente

City to unveil Adela Fargas Way this weekend in honor of Casa Adela's legendary founder

Tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 17) at noon, the city unveils new street blades for Adela Fargas Way on Fifth Street and Avenue C. 

Fargas was the founder and namesake of the popular Puerto Rican restaurant Casa Adela on the block. Fargas, who ran Casa Adela here for decades, died in January 2018. She was 81.

As we reported in May, District Leader Aura Olavarria drafted the petition ... and worked with Adela's son Luis Rivera (pictured below) and other community members-groups. They collected hundreds of signatures and presented the petition to Community Board 3's Transportation, Public Safety, Sanitation & Environment Committee, who overwhelmingly approved the petition ... and the entire Board passed a resolution in support on May 24. 

On July 14, the New York City Council Committee passed Councilmember Carlina Rivera's bill for the co-naming.

Here's more about Fargas from the petition:

Adela Fargas was a working-class, Afro-Puerto Rican fixture in Loisaida and the owner and matriarch behind the iconic and authentic Puerto Rican restaurant Casa Adela. She was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, where she became a domestic worker who prepared frianbreras, or packed lunches, for factory workers. 

She moved to the United States at age 39, where her first job in the Lower East Side was at a restaurant on East 4th Street and Avenue D. When the restaurant closed, Adela found a way to provide for her family and feed those less fortunate through selling pasteles on street corners. In 1973, Adela opened her family-run restaurant, Casa Adela. 

Adela Fargas's impact goes far beyond a restaurant, which represented an important meeting place for the Puerto Rican community in New York City, in the diaspora, and worldwide. Outside the restaurant's walls, Adela was a center of Latino life on the Lower East Side and a tireless community advocate. Adela became the godmother to many on the Lower East Side, employing those who lived in the neighborhood and feeding anyone who came in hungry. 

Her soul food attracted a profound sense of community and this street co-naming will serve to honor her living legacy. Each year at the Loisaida Festival, Adela provided food for the community and organized dance and music for the festival as well.

Photo from May by Stacie Joy 

A campaign to co-name this block of Avenue C after Casa Adela founder Adela Fargas

Photos by Stacie Joy

Updated 8:15 p.m.

District Leader Assembly District 74 Part A Aura Olavarria, who drafted the petition, reports that the CB3 committee approved the street co-naming this evening.

--

A campaign is underway to co-name Avenue C between Fourth Street and Fifth Street after Adela Fargas, the founder and namesake of the popular Puerto Rican restaurant Casa Adela on the block.

Fargas, who ran Casa Adela here for decades, died in January 2018. She was 81.

Adela's son Luis Rivera, who has been running Casa Adela with his sister Abigail, is collecting signatures of support at the restaurant, 66 Avenue C...  

The petition — drafted by District Leader Assembly District 74 Part A Aura Olavarria — reads in part: 

Adela Fargas was a working-class, Afro-Puerto Rican fixture in Loisaida and the owner and matriarch behind the iconic and authentic Puerto Rican restaurant, Casa Adela. She was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, where she became a domestic worker who prepared frianbreras, or packed lunches, for factory workers. 

She moved to the United States at age 39, where her first job in the Lower East Side was at a restaurant on East 4th Street and Avenue D. When the restaurant closed, Adela found a way to provide for her family and feed those less fortunate through selling pasteles on street corners. In 1973, Adela opened her family-run restaurant, Casa Adela. 

Adela Fargas's impact goes far beyond a restaurant, which represented an important meeting place for the Puerto Rican community in New York City, in the diaspora, and worldwide. Outside the restaurant's walls, Adela was a center of Latino life on the Lower East Side and a tireless community advocate. Adela became the godmother to many on the Lower East Side, employing those who lived in the neighborhood and feeding anyone who came in hungry. 

Her soul food attracted a profound sense of community and this street co-naming will serve to honor her living legacy. Each year at the Loisaida Festival, Adela provided food for the community and organized dance and music for the festival as well.

Tonight at 6:30, members of Community Board 3's Transportation, Public Safety, Sanitation & Environment Committee will hear the item. (You can join in via Zoom.) 

As reported in early December, the building's landlord — a Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) — at 66 Avenue C is looking to increase the rent on the LES institution to a rate that Luis Rivera says is not feasible. The two sides were working on an agreement, and we have not heard any updates. 

UPDATED: News about Casa Adela

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Updated noon:

The news about a new lease for Casa Adela was apparently a little premature. An attorney for the restaurant said that a deal has not been finalized.

Avenue C mainstay Casa Adela, facing an uncertain future during recent rent discussions with the landlord, has a new lease. 

According to Frank Gonzalez of Loisaida Realty, who helped organize the Save Casa Adela Committee, the two sides agreed for now to a two-year lease — with discussions continuing for a longer-term arrangement.

"Thank you to the Casa Adela Committee and our beloved community. Casa Adela was able to renegotiate a better deal," he said. (Locals came out to support the Puerto Rican restaurant at 66 Avenue C between Fourth Street and Fifth Street during a rally on Dec. 11.) 

As reported in early December, the building's landlord — a Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) — was looking to increase the rent on the 45-year-old LES institution to a rate that the current owner Luis Rivera, son of the late founder Adela Fargas, said was not feasible. (This post has background about the landlords and the situation in the building. As local activist Malu told The New Yorker, this "wasn't a story of a big, bad developer kicking out a neighborhood joint.")

Adela Fargas started serving her Puerto Rican cuisine here in 1976. She died in January 2018 at age 81.

Gonzalez said they will next work on getting the corner of Fifth Street and Loisaida Avenue co-named after Adela.

In early December, EVG contributor Stacie Joy was provided access to the restaurant and took these photos of the staff and other behind-the-scenes areas of Casa Adela...

Previously on EV Grieve:

• Rent hike threatens Avenue C mainstay Casa Adela

Inside the rent dispute at Casa Adela

Photo by Stacie Joy 

Eric Lach, a staff writer at The New Yorker, takes a deep dive into the rent dispute that has unfolded at Casa Adela at 66 Avenue C.

As previously reported, the building’s landlord — a Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) — is looking to increase the rent on the 45-year-old LES institution. The rent hike, from $1,350 to, eventually, $6,750, is a number that the current owner Luis Rivera, son of the late founder Adela Fargas, has said is not feasible.

The piece quotes local activist Power Malu.

“Adela was like my mom,” he said. “This restaurant is like people’s second home.” But, Malu cautioned, the dispute between the restaurant and its landlord wasn’t the old story of a big, bad developer kicking out a neighborhood joint. “You can’t just say, ‘Oh, this is gentrification,’ ” he said. “It’s not.” 

The building, as much as the restaurant, was part of the Puerto Rican community’s legacy in the neighborhood. Malu gestured toward a blue-and-white tile mural above the building’s front door, which read “66 Ave C Homesteaders.” “These people, actually, with their own hands, helped to restore this building,” he said. “And that’s important for people to know.”

The New Yorker is the first media outlet to speak with the HDFC’s three board members.

Gladys Duran, the board president, was born and raised in Loisaida, while Eva Eumana was born in Mexico, and Maria Peralta in Nicaragua. All three had been in the building since the nineteen-nineties, when sweat equity was still expected of new residents. Eumana, who works as a housekeeper, did cleaning work at other HDFC buildings to contribute her share.

And some background on the building’s finances.

In 2018, the board members said, the prior board president met a real-estate broker named Aretha Busby at a seminar for small landlords held at City Hall. The building hired Busby to write a report about its two commercial spaces — the space not occupied by Casa Adela is currently a bodega — to get a sense of how much more money it could be charging.

The building then hired [real-estate lawyer Gregory] Byrnes, who took a look at its management and finances and was appalled by what he found. Byrnes was told that the building needed hundreds of thousands of dollars for capital repairs to address issues with the roof and the boilers, and, Byrnes said, to pay for a management company and a superintendent. The co-op was operating at a deficit each year, and its reserve fund was depleting. Byrnes had helped the residents reduce the size of the board, from every resident in the building to the current three members, to aid in decision-making, and was preparing to help them sell a couple of vacant apartments, which will be listed at only a “fraction” of the market rate, he said, in keeping with the building’s history. Raising the rent on the storefronts was needed to make up for the money the building wasn’t getting elsewhere. It had to come from somewhere.

According to the article, the two sides are scheduled to appear in court this month. You can read the whole piece via this link.

At the rally for Casa Adela

Dozens of residents came out on Saturday morning to show their support of Casa Adela, the 45-year-old LES institution on Avenue C that's facing an uncertain future with a pending rent hike.

As previously reported, the building's landlord— a Housing Development Fund Corporation — is looking to increase the rent from $1,350 to, eventually, $6,750, a number that the current owner Luis Rivera, the son of founder Adela Fargas, says is not feasible.

Rent negotiations are underway, though the two sides reportedly agreed to postpone the discussions for a month that would keep the popular Puerto Rican restaurant at 66 Avenue C between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

Community members created a Save Casa Adela Committee, which helped organize Saturday's rally. People shared their feelings for the restaurant and its importance as a cultural anchor to the Puerto Rican community in the neighborhood.

Here are some photos via EVG contributor Stacie Joy ...

Artist Danielle Mastrion is creating a mural on the gate next door of founder Adela Fargas, who started serving her Puerto Rican cuisine here in 1976. She died in January 2018 at age 81.

EVG regular Peter Brownscombe shared these photos from Saturday...

A rally for Casa Adela

Tomorrow morning from 10 to noon, supporters of Casa Adela are holding a "fair lease" rally for the longtime restaurant here at 66 Avenue C between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

As previously reported, the building's landlord — a Housing Development Fund Corporation — is looking to increase the rent from $1,350 to, eventually, $6,750, a number that the current owner Luis Rivera, the son of founder Adela Fargas, says is not feasible.

Rent negotiations are underway, though the two sides haven't reached an agreement, said Frank Gonzalez of Loisaida Realty, who helped organize the Save Casa Adela Committee.

Adela Fargas started serving her Puerto Rican cuisine here in 1976. She died in January 2018 at age 81.

Image via @loisaidarealty

Previously on EV Grieve:

Rent hike threatens Avenue C mainstay Casa Adela

Rent hike threatens Avenue C mainstay Casa Adela

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The future of Casa Adela at 66 Avenue C is potentially in jeopardy with a rent hike the owner says is not feasible. 

Friends and supporters of the restaurant that has served authentic Puerto Rican cuisine here between Fourth Street and Fifth Street since 1976 sounded the alarm last week, reaching out to media outlets and local elected officials.

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Loisaida Realty (@loisaidarealty)

According to organizers and other published accounts, the building's landlord — a Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) — is looking to increase the rent from $1,350 to, eventually, $6,750. 

Nicholas Heller, aka @NewYorkNico, reported this:

The old lease expired a few years ago. Under it, they were paying $1350 per month for the 715 sq ft space. They offered their landlord, a limited equity HDFC cooperative, that they would start to pay $3000 per month, plus 3% increases for each year for 10 years. The landlord refused the offer: their bottom line is $4000 in year one (backdated to august) and $6,750 starting in year two of the lease, and 3% increases after that, which is a 480%+ increase in rent and sure to force the business to close.

On Thursday, community members met at the restaurant and created a Save Casa Adela Committee. 

For now, there is hope a deal can be worked out between owner Luis Rivera and HDFC reps. 

According to Frank Gonzalez of Loisaida Realty, who helped organize the Save Casa Adela Committee, the two sides will meet today. [UPDATE: The meeting is now at 6 p.m. on 12/8]

"[We] hope they can work out a fair deal for our beloved Casa Adela," he said. "As of right now, we are praying for the best but preparing for the worst."

They previously scheduled a press conference at the restaurant for tomorrow and a rally on Saturday morning. Gonzalez said that depending on what happens today, they'll move forward with both events.

Adela Fargas started her namesake business here in 1976.

Before opening Casa Adela at 66 Avenue C, she ran a luncheonette one block to the south. It was there, as a feature in The New York Times from 2015 points out, that she perfected the seasoning for her famed rotisserie chicken.

She died in January 2018 at age 81.

Remembering Adela Fargas

[Photo by @polimorfos]

On Friday, friends and family paid their respects to Adela Fargas, owner of the Avenue C institution Casa Adela, who died last week at the age of 81.

There was a well-attended viewing Friday from 4-9 p.m. at the Ortiz Funeral Home on First Avenue.

The entire LES & PR/Latino community came out tonight to pay our final respects to one of the LES matriarchs: #AdelaFargas from #CasaAdela — having a meal at Casa Adela meant that your soul, heart and belly would be filled with love as well as authentic PR cooking. QueDescansePaz pic.twitter.com/rk3hxhzGnQ

— Rosie Mendez (@RosieMendez) January 20, 2018

The Puerto Rican restaurant, which opened in 1976 here between Fourth Street and Fifth Street, will be closed until Thursday.



Previously on EV Grieve:
RIP Adela Fargas

RIP Adela Fargas

[Photo from @casaadelarestaurant in 2015]

Adela Fargas, owner of the Avenue C institution Casa Adela, died yesterday morning, according to friends of the Puerto Rican restaurant.

There wasn't much information immediately available about her death.

Meanwhile, there is a memorial in her honor outside the restaurant here between Fourth Street and Fifth Street...


[Photo by Bayou]

And there are several tributes to Fargas, who was born in 1936, on social media ...

• I first discovered Casa Adela almost 8 years ago on a bitter cold night while walking passed it to go to a bar. I had moved from Puerto Rico only a couple of months before and was very homesick. When I read “Authentic Puerto Rican Cuisine” on the fogged up glass my eyes lit up. I went in and tried the “sancocho” with a side of “tostones” which was the perfect meal to help us warm up. I was so happy to have stumbled upon a place where I could taste a little bit of home. Adela, Rest in Peace | #CasaAdela 🇵🇷 • _______________________________________________________ #fujifilmx_us #xpro2 #myfujifilm #streetdreamsmag #ST_PH #hikaricreative #tiny_collective #streetphotographer #streetbwcolor #communityfirst #justgoshoot #beststreets #everybodystreet #everydayeverywhere #SPIcollective #thosenewyorkstreets #resourcemag #myfeatureshoot #lensculturestreet #womeninstreet #spi_colour #friendsinperson #yourshotphotographer #hersideoftheroad #streetphotography #lensculturetalent #burnmagazine #helloicp #challengerstreet #everybodystreet

A post shared by ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀VCAM (Valerie) (@vcamed) on Jan 15, 2018 at 6:59pm PST

#RIP Adela Fargas 1936-2018 You will be dearly missed. Te extrañaremos. 😢 #CasaAdela #Loisaida

A post shared by The Loisaida Festival (@loisaidafest) on Jan 15, 2018 at 8:16am PST

¡Q.E.P.D. ADELA! R.I.P. ADELA! ¡HOY PR, NY y la Diáspora entera se viste de luto ante la partida de una verdadera GUERRERA BORICUA!

A post shared by Tato Torres Sáez ☩☆☠ 🇵🇷 (@tatobrujo) on Jan 15, 2018 at 6:40am PST

Q.E.P.D / R.I.P Adela 💔🇵🇷 Heavy hearted this morning to learn that Adela Fargas of Casa Adela passed away this morning. All Puerto Rican’s feel your loss... from the island and throughout the Diaspora. You will always be one of our best Boricua success stories. My prayers are with her family and loved ones. My favorite memory I have of Adela’s love for her community is when she saw the poster I did for the LOISAIDA Festival in 2016. She always put her favorite posters under the glass of her tables. With pure pride that she radiated, as she put my poster under the glass Was contagious. It made me feel like I was putting my art in the MoMa! That’s how she made people feel... everyone was special. And she definitely was a blessing to everyone who had the opportunity to know her. Adela, te queremos, vamos a extrañar tu chispa y sabor.

A post shared by Viajero © (@viajero) on Jan 15, 2018 at 8:59am PST

Before opening Casa Adela at 66 Avenue C in 1976, she ran a luncheonette one block to the south. It was there, as a feature in The New York Times from 2015 points out, that she perfected the seasoning for her famed rotisserie chicken.

Said her son Luis Rivera, a longtime manager at Casa Adela, in that article:

“She makes people feel like they are eating from Grandma’s hand,” he said. “Many people, their grandmothers are back home,” he said, meaning in Puerto Rico. “So they come here.”

The viewing for Fargas is Friday from 4-9 p.m. at the Ortiz Funeral Home, 22 First Ave. between First Street and Second Street...

Where magic happens on Avenue C

From an article in The New York Times today titled Casa Adela in East Village Is the Home of the Magical Rotisserie Chicken…

The grandmother who makes the rice and beans — a great-grandmother, actually — was visible through Casa Adela’s window, with its gold script proclaiming “Authentic Puerto Rican Cuisine Since 1976.” She is Adela Ferguson, 79, and she was checking the timer on a 1950s-era rotisserie oven, with eight whole chickens, golden and peppery spices flecking the crisping skin as they rotated slowly — seven more minutes until perfection.

Casa Adela is at 66 Avenue C between East Fourth Street and East Fifth Street