Workers put in a new awning yesterday at the Golden Food Market on First Avenue at East Seventh Street.
That's when they discovered the great old sign of a previous tenant — Warsaw Bakery...
[Photo by Molly Fitch]
Ali at the market said that Molly Fitch, who owns the International two doors up as well as the Coal Yard one block to the south, could have the sign for one of the bars.
Unfortunately, some carelessness took care of that.
"The workers basically dropped it onto the sidewalk smashing it all to bits," Molly said. "Oh well, another piece of 1st Avenue history lost again. It would have looked so cool in the backyard of the Coal Yard."
As for the bakery ... anyone recall when it closed? We heard it was in the early 1970s… And Molly heard that the storefront was a radio shop in the 1930s...
While dropping the sign is a bad ending, there's something about this story that really makes me happy. A quick glimpse to the secret past that is still around.
ReplyDeleteThanks EVG.
A couple of references to Warsaw Bakery:
ReplyDelete- 1968: "Passionate Shopper," New York Magazine, a review of food shops on lower First Avenue.
- 1960: New York Times, when Nelson Rockefeller's wife toured the lower East Side and told a 13-year-old boy wearing a Kennedy pin, "That's a terrible thing you've got there."
is that neon?! drooooooooooooool
ReplyDeleteThis harkens back to the golden era when this neighborhood was teeming with bakeries. There's only one now, Moishe's, which used to be Ratner's. (And I don't count those cupcake and gluten-free bakeries as bakeries; nor Italian pastry shops that cater to suburbanites.)
ReplyDeleteI guess young hipsters -- or their counterpart landlords who know best for them -- don't like bakeries.
Ugh, what a shame about the sign!
ReplyDeleteso wait, the workers removed the warsaw sign??? why didn't they just leave the remains there?
ReplyDeleteDid Moishe's really used to be Ratner's? I recall Ratner's as being where Met Foods now is...
ReplyDeleteThe Ratner's restaurant was where Met Foods is now, but there was a Ratner's Bakery where Moishe's is now. The restaurant closed a long time ago but the bakery continued . As a little girl, my parents and i would stop there after attending St George's Church
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said:
ReplyDelete(And I don't count those cupcake and gluten-free bakeries as bakeries; nor Italian pastry shops that cater to suburbanites.)
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Actually, I see a salutary trend in more bakeries being gluten-free or at least having gluten-free options, and and especially bakeries that are vegan, or at least have some vegan options.
Some people are not able to eat gluten, or egg, or dairy. Like it or not, this is a trend that's been a long time coming, and is gathering momentum.
Molly (owner of I-Bar next door) wanted to buy the old sign, but the workers just dropped it on the street. None of them spoke any English.
ReplyDeleteOn Walter's comment @ 4:52am "None of them spoke any English."
ReplyDeleteWell, at least *something's* like the old days in this neighborhood!!
Criminal stupidity.
ReplyDeleteI would like to note an important difference between two Italian pastry shops in the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteOne is virtually as it was 100 years ago and seems to welcome its neighbors (by name, often). The other has many double-parked cars (for birthday cake pick up?) and seems to cater more to tourists...
Which is which?
DeRoberti's rules, baby! Veniero's can suck it!
ReplyDeleteBoth DeRobertis and Veniero's have been in the neighborhood longer than anyone reading this and each provide wonderful service to the area. Why would Veniero's offend you because people come from far away to buy their products?
ReplyDeleteAnon 12:15 PM, the hipsters need to have an experience when they do anything, so they can relate that they had an experience on their twit or slavebook accounts. Moishe's doesn't provide them with an experience, like say at workingmen's coffee where a simple espresso is made out to be some kind of sacred issue. Its not enough to just be delicious, the hipsters need to believe it is part of their electronic fog world. Or their pants that tailored above the ankle. "You kids waiting for a flood?"
Dear NYG: One place is friendly to me, and the other is not, and never has been... speaking not as a hipster, but as a neighbor who has been frequenting both places since '79.
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