With gas shut off, Tompkins Square Bagels owner wonders why the city isn't helping small businesses during pandemic

On Nov. 13, we told you that ConEd shut off the gas at the Avenue A location of Tompkins Square Bagels. 

At the time, a carbon monoxide sensor went off related to the storefront's hot water heater. Workers discovered a hole in the flue that brings in replacement air. Because of the hole, replacement air wasn't getting into the basement, thus the high carbon monoxide reading, owner Christopher Pugliese said. 

Regardless of the find and fix, ConEd still turned off the gas to the storefront at 165 Avenue A between 10th Street and 11th Street.

To keep the popular shop running, Pugliese, who helped feed the homeless and essential front-line workers during the pandemic's worst days in the spring, spent $7,000 to buy three electric grills and have three 220-volt power lines installed so his team could cook.

Pugliese provided an update. 

It has been an incredible struggle to keep the doors open at the Avenue A location. We are basically working around the clock at [the Second Avenue location] to feed Avenue A. My staff, guys who have been fighting and pushing with me since April, are absolutely shot. 

The cost of running an entire store on electricity as opposed to gas is also extremely costly.  I'm not sure how much longer we can keep this up. At the same time, I have 15 full-timers and 10 part-timers who depend on their jobs to feed their families, pay rent or get through school. 

There is no end in sight and this is all extremely frustrating especially since the original issue was not gas related. Somehow, I've still had to file permits with the DOB, amendments with the DOB, and apply for gas with ConEd as if I were a brand new operation. I've heard stories of similar issues from other shop owners who waited months or even a year to have their gas restored. 

It makes no sense and seems incredibly unjust. Small businesses who have already jumped through the hoops and paid filing fees shouldn't be forced to start from scratch when a gas issue arises. Further, I believe we should be given some sort of expedited preference as our livelihood, and the livelihood of our employees depend on keeping the doors open.  

Pugliese is hopeful that a local elected official or community group will help advocate for small businesses like Tompkins Square Bagels and others in similar situations. (Pangea on Second Avenue is said to also be having gas issues with ConEd.) 

At the very least, in their own self-interest, the city should be wise enough to help the few small businesses left who are still creating jobs, paying sales, state and other taxes, and keeping neighborhoods vibrant and alive. It almost seems like they don't want us around and I just don't get any of it.

I'm hoping someone out there with enough power might be interested ... to help us, and make it so others don't have to go through the same ordeal. I know I'm one of the lucky ones. Many were not able to recover and lost their businesses. It has to stop.  

"I don't know what to say, except that the whole neighborhood is in mourning"

A double-whammy on the P & G from the Observer.

First.

At the end of the year, the beloved corner bar at Amsterdam Avenue and 73rd Street will be forced to close. (New tenant? Bank. Fucking Branch.) Anyway, P & G's owners sign a new 20-year lease on the former Evelyn lounge space at 380 Columbus Avenue.

As the Observer reports, "The new venue will also have a more refined look than the previous stripped-down dive. One corner of the new L-shaped space, for instance, will feature a fireplace, chess tables and shelves of books. “I want to really do it up like a man’s study in deep burgundy and walnut,” [owner Steve] Chahalis said, explaining, “On Columbus Avenue, you can’t just open a shithole.”

But what about that great P & G sign? As the paper notes:

"Your heart almost gets ripped out every time these things happen," said City Councilwoman Gale Brewer, calling just past deadline on Tuesday to comment on the hallowed P & G bar's looming departure from its longstanding location at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 73rd Street.

"Many patrons of P & G call me all the time," Ms. Brewer said. "Even though it's not leaving the neighborhood, I hate to have it move -- and I don't know what happens with the sign."

"I don't know what to say, except that the whole neighborhood is in mourning."

Brooks has been following this story at Lost City...he has a nice tidbit about the new location.

When a beloved neighborhood bar relocates...

Do the regulars follow? On the eve of the P & G closing and moving, the Times looks into the issue...

[I]f drinking and dining have always been a moveable feast in New York, is charisma cartable? Can the character of everything from venerable pubs to palatial eateries migrate with their names and owners? This portability issue has gained new urgency in a season of economic disarray, when property owners are less willing to extend the leases of even the most beloved old-timers.

Loyalists can be fickle, and geography perilous. “New York is so provincial, three blocks is a huge distance,” said Patrick Daley, the owner of Kettle of Fish, the classic step-down barroom at 59 Christopher Street in Sheridan Square, in the space formerly inhabited by the Lion’s Head, a lionized writers’ pub, which closed in 1996.

Not in the article but worth noting: Sophie's moved from Avenue A to its current location on East Fifth Street in the mid-1980s.

Previously on EV Grieve:
An appreciation: the P & G Cafe

I just had to look (but you don't have to)

Found myself on the Upper West Side yesterday afternoon...As you know, the P & G Cafe at Amsterdam Avenue and 73rd Street closed on Jan. 31...and is moving to a new location. Brooks at Lost City had a photo of the iconic neon sign being removed from the building last week...

This is what is used to look like...



I knew it would be ugly...but I walked by anyway.



Ugh. Nothing is left inside, of course. I still looked. While I was peaking inside, another fellow stopped and took it all in. "Wow," he said.

Yes.

Check out Ken Mac's photos of the P & G (how we will remember it) at Greenwich Village Daily Photo.

Alex also paid his respects this weekend over at Flaming Pablum.

An appreciation: The P & G Cafe

Found myself on the Upper West Side late yesterday afternoon. So I stopped by the beloved P & G Cafe — the family-owned saloon that has graced the corner of 73rd and Amsterdam since 1942. Perfection. The front door was open. A small group of regulars were joking around with each other. The Yankees game was on. (Well, the Yankees are hardly perfection these days...)

Nothing new to report on the bar's fate. Latest rumor is still a Baby Gap. There has been talk of relocation. I didn't ask any questions. Was just there to enjoy it while I can. Like-minded fellows have also paid their respects in the past, including Jeremiah and Lost City.

Flagpole Day in Tompkins Square Park

The flagpole in Tompkins Square Park was in need of refinishing and repainting ...



A crew was out today, as these photos via EVG Flagpole Correspondent Steven show... here's the final product...





Looking sharp for the upcoming summer season (Flag Day, July 4) ... and maybe a corporate sponsor? There's plenty of room for a message.

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How you can celebrate the 100th birthday of William S. Burroughs in the East Village

[Burroughs in 1965 via the Evening Standard/Getty Images]

A monthlong celebration of William S. Burroughs in the East Village features an array of events at the Anthology Film Archive, the Stone and the Poetry Project, among other places.

Artists scheduled to appear to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth include Laurie Anderson, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Lydia Lunch, Bill Laswell, G Thirlwell, Thurston Moore, Anne Waldman, Steve Buscemi, Nick Zedd and John Zorn, among many others.

There are too many events to mention here… so check out the whole lineup at the WSB100 blog.