Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Last day for Ink

In case you missed our post from Sunday... today is the last day in business for Ink, the newsstand-convenience store at 66 Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street. 

As we first reported here and hereowner Ben "Benny" Dahud has been in a legal tussle with the private equity firm that bought the block-long building last fall for $64 million. 

So Benny has decided to step away, noting that his "kids are grown up and have completed their education, and this is the perfect time to retire."

Since Sunday, items have been going for $1-$3. Interesting items for sale include racks of rare postcards, including photos by Genevieve Hafne.

The store hours are usually 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., though we really don't know how late the doors will stay open.

The newsstand dates to 1987, Benny said, though he took it over in the early 1990s. Here's how it looked in 1997 (photo by Dave Buchwald) ...
Benny worked in the kitchen at Café Mogador on St. Mark's Place when he first got to the city from Israel. He later realized that the restaurant business wasn't for him.

Based on responses from past and present residents, Ink will be dearly missed ... as well as Benny's everyday presence on the block. 

Enjoy the retirement (and day trades!) Benny...
Above photo last month by Stacie Joy

12 comments:

stephen b said...

oh my heavy heart

Mark said...

This just sucks. I love that place. Wishing Benny the best moving forward.

Pennys herb co. said...

Benny🥇♥️
Ya got a good 36 years there🥊🥊
Thank you for being there.
Be well☕️🥮🥢

Rainer
Susan
Kim

(Ole ole customers🍇

Sarah said...

This sucks.

Anonymous said...

Take care Benny and " Thank You "

Anonymous said...

Oh, this is just so sad!!! No words!!!

Anonymous said...

I also want to say thank you for having Internet connection during a blackout, etc. I cannot tell you how sad this is....

DAVID NATOLI said...

When I moved to NYC in the 90's there were loads of magazine shops. Universal News had many locations. Around the World near Bryant Park, just to name a few.

The irony is that there is an explosion of independent magazines these days.
There was just a 2 day magazine trade show in NYC by a group from London called Mag Culture. It's not a dying art at all.

And yet, in NYC there are fewer and fewer places to buy them. To the the point that places like Casa on 8th avenue and Iconic on Mulberry are heavily venerated. Not that they aren't great, but it's they are considered the "last of the breed."

What is really happening here is about predatory landlords greatly diminishing our neighborhoods because of greed. It sucks.

I was up in Saratoga NY of all places this weekend and was astonished by their thriving downtown full of every kind of shop you can imagine. I was jealous, which is kind of ridiculous since I live in the so called "greatest city in the world" which in reality has been living off its laurels for decades.

Anonymous said...

Huge loss and agree with most of the above

Anonymous said...

Tuesday’s NY Times crossword was all about magazines being out of stock and the constructor asked people to thank their local magazine vendor. sniff.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/10/crosswords/daily-puzzle-2023-07-11.html

Anonymous said...

I will really miss Ink and Benny (as well as the other very nice staff). It was one of the few remaining places to get print newspapers and hard to find magazines. Ink will be missed!

StevenS said...

Loved this place. Navigating the back area was a trip. There's so few stores that sell magazines and newspapers these days, this is a real loss.