Friday, April 8, 2011

[Updated] Another East Village corner market closes; 13 and counting for the last year or so

The Fuji Apple deli on First Avenue at 12th Street is the latest corner market to close.


The deli shuttered on Monday. (The space has been on the market — "perfect for any use.")


So many deli/markets have either closed or gone upscale in the last year or so in the East Village that I've lost track...Some of the replacements are just too bland and even more expensive with the ambiance of an airport terminal...

Anyway, let's try to piece this together.

Olympic on First Avenue at 13th Street closed and will become an upscale market...



Roger's Garden on First Avenue between First Street and Second Street closed for renovations back in early January... and is now a new food courty-looking place ...



The market on the corner of Seventh Street and Avenue C closed and reopened as a Wholesome Foods...


[Photo by Bob Arihood]

On Avenue C near Eighth Street, the market/deli just off the corner closed and reopened as a Yankees Deli 2...


Christine's on 10th and C moved and reopened with more upscale items...


Jay's on Avenue C and 11th Street closed and reopened as the Yankees Deli...


The market on 12th Street and Avenue C remains closed...


The East Side Gourmet Deli on the southeast corner of Avenue B and Fourth Street closed and reopened under new ownership...



Across the street, Finest Pizza and Deli closed last June.... and reopened as the East Village Finest Deli......



The Houston Deli & Grocery on Avenue A and Houston closed to make room for the new fancy Union Market...


The market that took over half of the Dunkin Donuts space on Second Avenue closed and is now part of the liquor store.


And how could I have forgotten this... Graceland on the corner of Avenue A and Second Street...



I'm sure there are more just from the last year (not including the fire-stricken Stuyvesant Grocery on A and 14th Street or East Village Farms on Second Avenue and Fourth Street.) Let me know what I'm forgetting...

18 comments:

  1. Allen Street deli. You've covered that one a bit but its old photo is worthy of a mention here maybe.

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  2. Clearly, the real-estate-moguls-that-be want to insure that we are never again able to buy poptarts at 3 a.m. Another ding to the reputation what was formerly the highly civilized EV (cheap heroin and pricy comestibles 24/7).

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  3. Sad decline at the fruit stand on 1st and 12th St. In the last year, she seemed to be having cash flow problems, with fruits and vegetables barely stocked. There are hardly any fruit stands left now. The best one ever was the one on 14th St between 1st and Ave A owned by John and his dad, the really nice Korean family, and stocked by those two friendly Mexican brothers who turned me on to Zaragoza's. John told me back then that rents were too high anywhere on 14th St to continue on when his lease was up.

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  4. @anon 8:14

    Ah! How did/could I forget Graceland. Thanks. I updated.

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  5. Mindboggeling!!No place for a good cheap coffee or roll anymore for sure.

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  6. the two first avenue markets probably couldn't pay the rent and buy staples for the store.
    fuji had major structural problems and seemed to always to be under construction. and at times they felt dirty, unsafe and under stocked.
    the olympic space (didn't a great diner-type try out there some years ag?) also had a hard time keeping stock, and the prices were quite high.
    the second avenue folks were young and enthusiastic - but how could they think they could pay rent at the same rate as the former duncan donuts ? even for smaller space. especially with a "deli" on almost ever block.
    and as food prices continue to rise it will be even harder for stores.

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  7. The people at Olympic on 13th were evil, once insisted I pay a quarter for a book of matches (just went to Fuji). Fuji was always really, really dirty. Their fruit was rotten, their bulk beer was expensive, they were under-stocked a lot, they had no deli, and their selection was strange to begin with.

    The well-run Best Price is across the intersection and Olympic was down the block, so the deli/grocery over-saturation couldn't have helped either.

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  8. Just finished reading "My Korean Deli" by Ben Howe. It was his experience as a short-lived deli owner that during times of financial shortfall, the city cracks down extra hard on all types of violations. For deli owners operating on a thin profit margin, this can be devastating. That may have affected some of the delis, especially in tandem with commercial rent increases.

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  9. Fuji Apple had been in decline for a while. 4-5 years ago it was one of my favorite places to pick up fresh produce, but I gave up on them because the quality kept slipping. First Ave below 14th is getting a bit desolate.

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  10. The magazine shop on the SE corner of 2nd Ave and 6th St has recently upgraded itself by adding a deli counter. The guys in there are super nice and play awesome music...

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  11. Not for nothing, across the board prices for everything have been rising, despite the rents charged in the east village. Said price increases have been anticipated - reports in any number of periodicals as well as commercial publications like the Times, and the rags, like the Post and News, insisted on a 13% increase minimum. so no doubt accountants were telling brokers who were willing to speculate on lease increases. Gives me a headache writing about this.
    As such, with the warmer foot traffic weather looming time to shoo away the last contingent of lease holders and get some fresh payers of outrageous rents and hold on to them for another years, without having to maintain -- as in fix the plumbing, repair the broken tiles in the entry way to the or install a code smoke detection system.
    Or conversely, do major capitol improvement as was done on 7th and C to allowing for the tolerated percentage of increase in rent.
    I guess the Cobra Highway is dead.
    In the short, it means that the death toll of the east village is speeding.
    In the long run, be aware that Bloomberg's next deviant development step is to make Canal Street into Times Square South.
    Soon
    Sooner than you think.

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  12. Maybe their signs were too offensive to the "community".

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  13. My deli's have always been kind to me in good times and bad. I called them bodega's, but not the point. Stuy deli 14th and A, the 12th and B bodega and now Ben's- if i'm short that week they are always willing to help me out. Break ups, job losses, they are always there with a joke and smile with my egg sandwich. I did have a "deli" not bodega twenty years ago uptown and the owner was amazing. But there is something incredibly special about the local bodega in the East Village. The day we get a 7/11 here is the day I move to Portugal.

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  14. @Ken - I'm with you on missing the market on 14th. We called them the "happys," (as in "I'm going to run to the happys to get some broccoli") as opposed to the "meanies" who ran the other market on 14th between A&B (long gone). I miss them every day. It's not a coincidence that there is a regular sidewalk fruit market right outside where they used to be - people still buy food on their way home from the subway, but the vendors can't afford the rents to have a real store.

    They had those wonderful wedding photos of their family on the wall. They came out of the store and stopped me on the way home from the hospital when I was carrying my newborn and gave me a pumpkin.

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  15. Does anybody have any info about the Stuy Town deli at 14th and A? Are they still planning to reopen? I heard they were, but the latest rumor going around is that the slimelord sold that corner to NYU, which would be horrible.

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  16. i would like to know if grieve and folks on this comment list think part of this is being caused simply by wholepaycheck moving in..??

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