The latest obstacle for Punjabi Grocery and Deli

Punjabi Grocery and Deli at 114 E. First St. between Avenue A and First Avenue never seems to be able to catch a break when it comes to construction projects. 

This week, workers erected a sizable sidewalk bridge for a 9-story residential building slowly going up next door. The hulking shed obscures Punjabi's neighbor, Hollywood Nails & Spa. During the day, the construction activity doesn't make this an appealing spot to walk by ... or dine on one of the benches outside Punjabi.

As previously reported, there have been concerns through the years about Punjabi's future. The never-ending East Houston Reconstruction Project finally wrapped up at the end of 2018 — just six years behind schedule.

For nearly nine years, the construction zone eliminated parking spaces for cab drivers, who were a sizable share of Punjabi's business, making it nearly impossible for them to stop in for a meal or break. Those who did stop faced getting a ticket. Plus, there has been an overall decline of cab drivers in the Lyft-Uber era. 

Meanwhile, any remaining cab drivers will still have challenges stopping by ... the taxi relief stand that finally arrived in July 2019 along Houston Street has been removed to accommodate the ongoing construction next door.

This build has been a slow-go to date. The plywood arrived in May 2018, and workers have only just erected the makings of the first level after two years...

The inexpensive eats favorite reopened on July 10 after being closed for four months during the COVID-19 PAUSE. Late last month, Punjabi Grocery and Deli fan Jessica Morgulis launched a crowdfunding campaign to help keep the longtime favorite up and running.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• How you can help Punjabi Grocery & Deli stay in business

• Never-ending construction continues to hurt Punjabi Grocery & Deli

• Taxi Relief Stand arrives on Avenue A; Punjabi Grocery & Deli relieved

• Concern again for Punjabi Grocery & Deli on 1st Street

• At long last a taxi relief stand for East Houston and 1st Street outside Punjabi Grocery & Deli

Support for Punjabi Grocery and Deli

Punjabi Grocery and Deli at 114 E. First St. between Avenue A and First Avenue enjoyed an uptick in business over the weekend... where some social media reports showed a line to enter the small shop (there currently is a two-person limit inside).

The inexpensive eats favorite reopened on July 10 after being closed for four months during the COVID-19 PAUSE.

As previously reported, there have been concerns through the years about Punjabi's future. The never-ending East Houston Reconstruction Project finally wrapped up at the end of 2018 — just six years behind schedule.

For nearly nine years, the construction zone eliminated parking spaces for cab drivers, who are a sizable share of Punjabi's business, making it nearly impossible for them to stop in for a meal or break. Those who did stop faced getting a ticket. Plus, there has been an overall decline of cab drivers in the Lyft-Uber era.

So Punjabi Grocery and Deli fan Jessica Morgulis launched a crowdfunding campaign back on Friday. Nicolas Heller, aka @NewYorkNico, helped amplify the campaign to his more than 400,000 Instagram followers.

As of this morning, the campaign had reached $38,000 of its $50,000 goal.

Meanwhile, cab drivers will still have challenges stopping by ... the taxi relief stand that finally arrived in July 2019 along Houston Street has been removed to accommodate the ongoing construction for a 9-story residential building next door...



This build has been a slow-go to date. The plywood arrived in May 2018, and workers are still in the foundation stages.

As for Punjabi's food, it's better than ever. Here's part of Scott Lynch's recap from two recent visits for Gothamist:

The trays holding everything from vegetable curries to fried samosas to sweet gulab jamun were all stocked full and fresh, the selection as extensive as ever, the prices still astonishingly low.

I ate way too much both times and everything was spectacular. This is all skillfully prepared food, loaded with flavor and much more spicy than I remembered. And, at $7, the combo platter of nicely chewy long grain rice topped with your choice of three vegetable curries—I went with the thick pureed spinach, the barely-sweet squash, and the lively "black chickpeas" — remains one of the best deals in town.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• How you can help Punjabi Grocery & Deli stay in business

• Never-ending construction continues to hurt Punjabi Grocery & Deli

• Taxi Relief Stand arrives on Avenue A; Punjabi Grocery & Deli relieved

• Concern again for Punjabi Grocery & Deli on 1st Street

• At long last a taxi relief stand for East Houston and 1st Street outside Punjabi Grocery & Deli

Punjabi Grocery & Deli reopens on Friday

[Photo from 2019 by Vinny & O]

Inexpensive eats favorite Punjabi Grocery & Deli reopens Friday here at 114 First St. between Avenue A and First Avenue... hours have yet to be determined...

View this post on Instagram

hours TBD. all social distancing guidelines must be followed. masks and gloves mandatory. looking forward to seeing you all there on opening day! (photo credit @jeffjablansky)

A post shared by Punjabi Deli NYC (@punjabidelinyc) on Jul 5, 2020 at 6:23am PDT

The small, no-frills shop that offers delicious fare such as curried chickpeas and saag and samosas, closed on March 21 as the COVID-19 crisis took hold in NYC. This is a very welcome return.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• At long last a taxi relief stand for East Houston and 1st Street outside Punjabi Grocery & Deli

Monday's parting shot

A shot of the new Punjabi Grocery & Deli awning over at 118 E. First St. ... thanks to Vinny & O for the photo!

Punjabi Grocery & Deli going green

[EVG file photo]

Punjabi Grocery & Deli, 114 E. First St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, is changing the way they serve you their delicious and inexpensive vegetarian food.

The team at the 24-year-old mainstay took to Instagram yesterday to announce they are doing away with the Styrofoam...

it's about to get even more lit #punjabideli #doingourpart

A post shared by Punjabi Deli NYC (@punjabidelinyc) on Oct 24, 2017 at 7:03am PDT

More lit!

Taxi Relief Stand arrives on Avenue A; Punjabi Grocery & Deli relieved

The Taxi Relief Stand has arrived sooner than expected, and is now in place on Avenue A between Houston and East Second Street… the posted hours are 7 a.m.. to 7 p.m…



A quickie recap of what has been happening:

The ongoing East Houston Reconstruction Project is having a major impact on Punjabi Grocery & Deli's business on East First Street between Avenue A and East Houston.

Through the years, cab drivers made up a sizable portion of Punjabi's business. The reconstruction, however, has prevented drivers from being able to stop by for an inexpensive vegetarian meal here at 114 E. First St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. (Owner Jashon Singh told BoweryBoogie in the spring that his sales are down some 60 percent in the past five years during the roadwork.)

The Taxi Relief Stand has seemingly been some sort of hot-potato issue among various city agencies. In any event, CB3's Transportation & Public Safety/Environment Committee voted to support the cab stand at its May 12 meeting.

At the time, however, the city said a decision on an exact location must wait until the end of the summer, when the long-delayed construction project was expected (ha!) to be completed, per The Lo-Down.

Looks as if someone got the Stand fast-tracked, as it arrived this week. (Updated 6-5: This stand is only temporary, we didn't point out. The verdict on the final location will come once the construction is done along Houston and East First Street.)



Meanwhile, Taxi Relief Stand or not, the plaza in front of Punjabi is as construction-fucked as ever.



You have to follow a narrow maze of barricades to enter Punjabi…



A spokesperson from the Department of Design and Construction told NY1 yesterday that the agency has continued to reach out to Punjabi. The spokesperson said that they have started aggressively working at the site again and expect work to be done this summer.

Eventually here's how the new Greenstreets and street configurations at Avenue A and Houston will look ...



Previously on EV Grieve:
How you can help Punjabi Grocery & Deli stay in business

Never-ending construction continues to hurt Punjabi Grocery & Deli

Frustration and declining sales at Punjabi Grocery & Deli

In case you missed this, BoweryBoogie has a good update on the ongoing construction drama that's having a major impact on Punjabi Grocery & Deli's business.

The never-ending East Houston Reconstruction Project is killing off the 21-year-old shop's business at 114 E. First St. between Avenue A and First Avenue.

As previously noted, through the years, cab drivers made up a good chunk of Punjabi's business. The reconstruction, however, has prevented the cabs from being able to stop by for an inexpensive vegetarian meal.

Punjabi started an online petition asking the commissioner of the Taxi And Limousine Commission to approve a taxi relief stand Their proposal is to create a taxi stand comprised of seven parking spaces on East Houston and two additional spots on the bend of East First Street.

The online campaign launched last July.

What's happening these days? We'll head to BoweryBoogie, who spoke with owner Jashon Singh, for more:

The DOT has been unwilling to talk to, or meet with Singh, according to their lawyer/advocate Ali Najmi. Instead, the city agency is forcing the operators to wait until after Community Board 3 considers the matter next month. This directive isn’t sitting well, though, since there’s apparently been some behind-the-scenes meddling with the application itself. Punjabi accuses the DOT of “rearranging” their CB3 proposal – without consultation – to include a different taxi stand around the corner on Avenue A (4 spots).

“It’s way far down and not what we requested,” Singh says. “[Changing the agenda item] is completely unethical and unprofessional considering DOT hasn’t given us even five minutes of their time.”

During the construction these past five years, Singh said that his sales are down some 60 percent.


[EVG photo from April 11]

The East Houston Reconstruction Project timeline shows that workers will begin excavating and installing green street plan on First Street at Avenue A this spring.

Which may explain this pile of dirt that arrived back on April 8.


[Photo by Carl Bentsen]

Previously on EV Grieve:
How you can help Punjabi Grocery & Deli stay in business

Never-ending construction continues to hurt Punjabi Grocery & Deli

Never-ending construction continues to hurt Punjabi Grocery & Deli

The plight of Punjabi Grocery & Deli on East First Street near Avenue A/East Houston got some much-needed attention this past summer. The never-ending East Houston Reconstruction Project is killing off the 20-year-old shop's business.

Through the years, cab drivers made up a good chunk of Punjabi's business. The reconstruction, however, has prevented the cabs from being able to stop by for an inexpensive vegetarian meal.

EVG reader Vinny paid a visit yesterday, and shared these photos noting the new configuration of East First Street… (notice you can no long access First Street from Avenue by motor vehicle)





And to show you where Punjabi is buried in here...



Vinny also noted that Punjabi had to raise its prices across the board by 50 cents to $1 ... still, given the size of the portions, it's still an insanely good deal... and arguably the best around...



And as you may recall, Punjabi started an online petition asking the commissioner of the Taxi And Limousine Commission to approve a taxi relief stand at Avenue A and Houston Street. You can find the petition here. (It's up to 3,300-plus signatures.)

The East Houston Reconstruction Project is now scheduled (PDF!) to be completed by mid-2016, according to the latest city estimates.

Here's a look at the new Greenstreets and street configurations at A and Houston...



Previously on EV Grieve:
How you can help Punjabi Grocery & Deli stay in business

More on Punjabi Grocery & Deli and the never-ending East Houston construction

[Photo via Jeremiah's Vanishing New York]

As Jeremiah Moss first reported back on Wednesday, the never-ending construction along East Houston has put a big dent on business at the 20-year-old Punjabi Grocery & Deli on East First Street.

Gothamist has a feature on the situation as well.

A favorite of hungry cab drivers in search of good food and a spot to rest between fares, the span of East 1st in front of Punjabi between 1st and A was once lined with the parked yellow cabs of satisfied customers. Now that span is home to a battered cement median, some orange cones, and not much else.

Given the lack of parking, cab drivers have to go elsewhere … and miss out on Punjabi's inexpensive vegetarian fare. ($5 gets you a very large portion of food.)

So, in case you didn't hear ... Punjabi started an online petition asking the commissioner of the Taxi And Limousine Commission to approve a taxi relief stand at Avenue A and Houston Street.

You can find the petition here. (We posted about this on Thursday.)

Meanwhile, an EVG reader told us the following on Friday about the work along East First Street. "People have basically given up, and assume that this construction will go on forever," the reader wrote in an email. "It's very hard to unload a cab since stopping effectively stops all traffic on the block. This situation is especially hard on residents who cannot park on their own block and load bags, etc."

Yesterday morning, the street was closed for construction.



The reader also noted what looks like a grill amid all the construction materials.



"If the construction site can make room for what looks like a a grill (could it be an actual piece of construction equipment?), then it can make room for some parking."

What East First Street will look like after the Houston construction project

Earlier today, we talked about the construction on East First Street between Avenue A and First Avenue...and how that might impact the cab-heavy business at Punjabi Grocery & Deli.

I was unaware of the extent of the infrastructure changes planned on East Houston from the Bowery to FDR ... So many thanks to a reader for sending along the plans... I'm still sorting through them... but the area on East First between A and First Avenue will see significant changes... see the plans for yourself....




Vehicles will no longer be able to enter First Street right off Houston at Avenue A (a dangerous intersection, if you ask me...) mostly because they'll be a greenstreet ... There's a similar greenstreet planed for Avenue D...

Work is expected to be completed by the summer of 2013.

Bye bye First Street entryway!



Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming soon to East Houston: Construction, hell, rodent control stations

Long-threatened East Houston reconstruction starting this month

Outside Punjabi Grocery & Deli: Where are the cabs?

The East Houston construction project continues... apparently there's work to do on along East First Street too... the path between Avenue A and First Avenue has been a mess...




Something noticeable missing here: Cabs. Punjabi Grocery & Deli is, of course, a favorite stop for cab drivers to get tea and some affordable vegetarian food... not to mention use the restroom...



I'm not sure how long First Street will be a mess... I'm wondering what kind of impact this will have on Punjabi's business...




I was ready to duck inside the other day, and saw a healthy crowd inside ... enough to deter me from going in... the cab drivers seemingly just have to park a little further away for now...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Coming soon to East Houston: Construction, hell, rodent control stations

Long-threatened East Houston reconstruction starting this month