Tuesday, December 17, 2024

The retail space — the former Sidewalk Cafe — at 94-96 Avenue A is for lease

Photo by Stacie Joy 

A for-rent side now hangs above the retail space at 94-96 Avenue A at Sixth Street. 

The Newmark listing notes that this storefront is "prominently located in the East Village dining/nightlife scene." 

The monthly rent for the 6,500 square feet of space over two levels is available upon request. 

The corner spot has been home to Offside Tavern since spring 2023. This is a new iteration of Offside, which had a three-year run at 137 W. 14th St. until the pandemic-related PAUSE of March 2020. During the NHL season, OT is a hockey bar — specifically for fans of the New York Islanders. They will apparently move on once a new tenant is secured. 

August Laura had a brief run at the address, opening in October 2019 ... then a haphazard schedule during the pandemic before finally shutting down in December 2021. 

They took over the space from what some people considered an East Village institution — Sidewalk, the restaurant bar and live music venue (home of the Antifolk Festival) that closed in February 2019 after 34 years.

Pini Milstein, who retired, was the principal owner of the building and the operator of Sidewalk. According to public records, Penn South Capital paid $9.6 million for the property in March 2019. The building's new owners added a one-floor extension here in 2020. 

Some readers/residents had been hopeful that the post-Sidewalk life of the space would be something more interesting than a charmless, overpriced bistro or another sports bar. Perhaps the third time may be a winner.
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1 comment:

  1. Scuba DivaDecember 21, 2024 at 12:16 PM

    I bet no one remembers the punk French restaurant at 6th and A called "Le Boycott;" it was in a downstairs space, but I don't recall which corner it was on. This was back in the early 80s. (I never went there; I was a poor student at the time.)

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