A visit to First Avenue Laundry Center

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

Anne DeVita, the about-to-turn 87 years of age manager of First Avenue Laundry Center has a lot of friends and visitors dropping by while I am interviewing her. 

She’s been managing the laundromat at 33 First Ave. at Second Street for 39 years, and proudly mentions it will be 40 years on Memorial Day. 

She works seven days a week, arriving before 7 a.m. most days, and has no plans to retire.

Between making change for customers “I am the change machine!” she jokes when I ask her about quarters vs. tokens (quarters only), Anne tells me about growing up in the neighborhood, working as a barmaid at Club 17 on Avenue D and Third Street, and about the bar she used to work at on 14th Street that had “girls for sale for a dollar upstairs.”

Anne’s friend Joe drops by with some fried chicken “he gets it somewhere on Avenue C,” Anne tells me, and local artist Scooter LaForge shows up with a Payday candy bar (it’s Anne’s favorite, he confides).

People pull up a chair and chat in the back of the laundromat while I talk further with Anne. Everyone looks at me like I’m crazy when I ask if there’s a website or social media profile to link to.

Machines have old-school pricing, $2 for a small load, $3.50 for a medium, and $4.50 for the triple-loader, and dryers are 7 minutes for a quarter. 

Drop-off service is available and is $7 for the first 8 pounds, with a 50-cent increase for every additional pound. Hours are daily from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m., with the last wash at 6 p.m.