Monday, March 28, 2022

Essex Card Shop is now in its reconstruction phase on Avenue A

An "Under Construction" banner went up on Friday at the fire-damaged Essex Card Shop at 47 Avenue A.

This marks the next phase of the reopening for the longtime East Village business that a fire destroyed on Jan. 10.

In an email, Saba Aslam, the daughter of owner Muhammad Aslam, told me they are finishing some interior demolition. The Aslam family has a meeting with the contractors in early April to better understand how long the reconstruction process will take.

The photos below, via Saba's sister Mehnaz, show the current state of the interior...  
We also asked Saba about Jayant "Jay" Patel, the shop's longtime manager: "Jay is safe and well. He is living with his family in New Jersey!"

Meanwhile, supporters of the business have helped it raise more than $90,000 in a GoFundMe campaign. 

You can check out our previous posts on Essex Card Shop, located in the retail space of the Ageloff Towers between Third Street and Fourth Street, for more background on what has transpired to date.  
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5 comments:

  1. stephen bMarch 28, 2022 at 7:55 AM

    So happy to hear all are well and the work proceeds. We all wish you good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 28, 2022 at 9:41 AM

    Good news!

    ReplyDelete
  3. OlympiasEpiriotMarch 28, 2022 at 1:51 PM

    I need a couple stationary items and I'm putting off purchases as long as possible to see if I can wait until they are up and running again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMarch 28, 2022 at 2:00 PM

    Good to hear. I hope the family gets enough from the insurance company to re-stock. I wonder what happened to the kid who started the fire, and hope that kid's family understands what this has done to another family.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMarch 28, 2022 at 10:44 PM

    So happy to hear this! I gave $$ to Go Fund Me. Glad to see it was for a good cause and being used.

    ReplyDelete

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