"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.