Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
In the days/weeks ahead, the First Avenue Laundry Center will be closing for renovations at 33 First Ave. at Second Street.
Fear not! The laundromat will reopen.
EVG correspondent Stacie Joy recently talked with Anne DeVita, the 88-year-old manager (above left with her assistant Nellie).
"The dryers haven't been working well since there was a fire a few months ago due to lint accumulation. The fire department had to come," said DeVita, who has worked here for 40 years. "The plan is to close down for renovations. I think it will happen after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, if I had to guess."
The rest of the conversation went like this:
How long will the laundromat be closed?
"I don't know; your guess is as good as mine. Maybe a few months? When you see a sign out front saying 'CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS' that will be it. In 40 years there have been no renovations. The owners are going to take out the nonfunctioning dryers and put in new ones."
All new washers too?
"I don't know. Maybe they will paint too, or do some flooring work. I will be getting paid to be here every day to let the contractors and workers in. I'm not doing it for free."
Anyway, in our estimation, the frozen-in-time laundromat is PERFECT the way it is...
And H/T to EVG reader Steph!
Previously on EV Grieve:
11 comments:
Anne is the greatest! love her I have been going there to do my laundry for 35 years yes it does need to be renovated
Nice trip back in time but hope all goes well with the renos.
Still curious about what’s upstairs, though.
This would have been the purrrrfect catwalk for NYFW! Glad they will be reopening!
This building used to be taller - several stories IIRC - and was reduced to one story, then heightened to two at some point. Very interesting history.
Also, the laundromat doesn't look that bad all things considered.
A good excuse for the owner to raise the prices for the washers and dryers.
I love Annie! She's always been such a doll. Some of the dryers have been throwing flames literally for years. Good thing no one's been hurt and that these improvements are underway.
All I know is I wouldnt F around with her..She is TOUGH!
If you're gonna renovate you're gonna incur expenses. And this place looks like it needs it. This constant whining about owners who layout cash for such renovations and then raise prices is tiring. It happens. Get over it.
It makes me sad every time I read about this woman working still at 88. Hopefully she gets to enjoy some retirement!
She actually enjoys being active and working. Says it's good for her joints.
That laundromat has almost as much history as Grand Central Station. The stories we could tell…
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