Curb alert! Your chance to score free items from the now-closed Obscura Antiques and Oddities

Mike Zohn, co-owner of the now-closed Obscura Antiques and Oddities, is cleaning out the basement of the shop at 207 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street.

This afternoon (Monday, Feb. 17), he'll be putting out a few items on the curb for anyone to take. Up for grabs: Some folding chairs from Cafe Pick Me Up, a 2015 Avenue A casualty.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• A visit to Obscura Antiques and Oddities, closing soon on Avenue A

• After 20-plus years in the East Village, Obscura Antiques and Oddities is closing

Gelato shop opens on Avenue A

Workers removed the plywood from around the northwest corner space on Avenue A and Ninth Street back on Friday. (Thanks to EVG regular Daniel for the photos.)



As previously noted, a gelato shop is opening here... the place is called Gelarto ... (it appears to be the first U.S. outpost of this Italian brand)...



Gelarto opened on Sunday afternoon ... an EVG reader said they have a variety of gelato flavors as well as milkshakes and cappuccinos.


[Photo by Steven]

A help-wanted ad for the place describes it like this: "We are a Gelato Café in the east village of Manhattan. Think sophisticated flavors, italian cafe and the Italian lifestyle our product hails from. We handcraft all of our gelato from scratch in Italy. We also prepare gelato creations."

Previously here ... Cafe Pick Me Up moved out in May 2015 after 20 years in business. They were housed at 145 and 147 Avenue A, and had two different landlords — Icon on the left, Steve Croman on the right. Café manager Rossella Palazzo told DNAinfo in March 2015 that a rent hike from No. 145 landlord Icon Realty was the reason for the closure.

Updated 6/21

The bricks were painted white out front.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rent hike forcing Cafe Pick Me Up into its smaller space next door on Avenue A (59 comments)

[Updated] Cafe Pick Me Up expected to close for good after May 31

Ghost signage and (eventually) gelato at 9th Street and Avenue A

Ghost signage and (eventually) gelato at 9th Street and Avenue A

Workers have been gutting the former Cafe Pick Me Up space at 145 Avenue A at Ninth Street... multiple readers have noted that some ghost signage has been exposed from a previous business — Wholesale Wine & Liquor Merchant... EVG Ghost Signage Correspondent Steven took these photos...









Anyway! As for the new tenant, word from a worker here is a gelato shop.

Cafe Pick Me Up moved out in May 2015 after 20 years in business. They were housed at 145 and 147 Avenue A, and had two different landlords — Icon on the left, Steve Croman on the right.

Café manager Rossella Palazzo told DNAinfo in March 2015 that a rent hike from No. 145 landlord Icon Realty was the reason for the closure. (Icon listed the storefrontat $15,000 a month for the space, which includes 600 square feet on the ground floor and 724 square feet in the basement.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rent hike forcing Cafe Pick Me Up into its smaller space next door on Avenue A (59 comments)

[Updated] Cafe Pick Me Up expected to close for good after May 31

Icon Realty adds the for rent signs at the former Cafe Pick Me Up

The for rent signs have arrived at 145 Avenue A, former home of Cafe Pick-Me Up, who was rent hiked out of its 20-year home here at East Ninth Street. (The cafe is now doing business from its sister restaurant Gnocco at 337 E. 10th St. just west of Avenue B.)

As for No. 145, the asking rent is $15,000, according to the listing, which also notes the space is perfect for "restaurant, bar, clothing store, salon, and all general retail uses."

An EVG reader sent along this photo showing what's left of the interior last week...



The owners still have five years left on the lease in the adjacent space at 147 Avenue A. Co-owner Gian Luca Giovanetti told DNAinfo that they were unsure what will become of this storefront.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Rent hike forcing Cafe Pick Me Up into its smaller space next door on Avenue A (59 comments)

[Updated] Cafe Pick Me Up expected to close for good after May 31

Café Pick Me Up closes Sunday night ahead of a move to share the Gnocco space on East 10th Street

More about the new Café Pick Me Up-Gnocco combo on East 10th Street

Have you tried the Gnocco-Cafe Pick Me Up combo?

Café Pick Me Up on Avenue A at East Ninth Street closed for good after service on May 31.

The owners added the cafe portion to the other restaurant they operate, Gnocco at 337 E. 10th St. just west of Avenue B.

The combined Gnocco-Cafe Pick Me Up opened for service last Wednesday. They're serving coffee, pastries and lunch items starting at 9 a.m. before Gnocco's menu kicks in for the evening hours.

So far we've heard positive comments from readers about the space.

"I think this will be a nice addition for this block," said one EVG regular, who noted that some familiar faces from Cafe Pick Me Up are working here.

A rent hike forced Cafe Pick Me Up from its 20-year home at 145 Avenue A, which is on the market for $15,000 a month via Icon Realty …



The owners still have five years left on the lease in the adjacent space at 147 Avenue A. Co-owner Gian Luca Giovanetti told DNAinfo that they were unsure what will become of this storefront.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rent hike forcing Cafe Pick Me Up into its smaller space next door on Avenue A (59 comments)

[Updated] Cafe Pick Me Up expected to close for good after May 31

Café Pick Me Up closes Sunday night ahead of a move to share the Gnocco space on East 10th Street

More about the new Café Pick Me Up-Gnocco combo on East 10th Street

More about the new Café Pick Me Up-Gnocco combo on East 10th Street

As we previously noted, Café Pick Me Up on Avenue A at East Ninth Street will close for good after service on Sunday.

The owners also operate Gnocco, and plan to move the cafe to that restaurant at 337 E. 10th St. just west of Avenue B next week.

DNAinfo's Lisha Arino has a few more details on how all this will work.

Gnocco has only been open for dinner, but beginning June 3, it will expand its hours and will start serving most of Café Pick Me Up’s coffee and food offerings, including pastries, sandwiches and omelets, said Gian Luca Giovanetti, who co-owns both locations with Pierluigi Palazzo and Clemente Valguarnera.

Daytime customers will also be able to order pizza at lunchtime, Giovenetti added. Gnocco will be open for breakfast, lunch and delivery every day starting at 10 a.m., he said.

Gnocco seats 74 people, he said, and includes a backyard outfitted with a few power outlets.

The Café Pick Me Up-Gnocco mashup is expected to open Wednesday, where you can get a free coffee starting at 10 a.m.

Café Pick Me Up's owners have said that a rent hike at 145 Avenue A courtesy of Icon Realty as well as higher property taxes led to the decision to close the 20-year-old space.

Icon is currently listing the storefront… asking $15,000 a month for the space, which includes 600 square feet on the ground floor and 724 square feet in the basement.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rent hike forcing Cafe Pick Me Up into its smaller space next door on Avenue A (59 comments)

[Updated] Cafe Pick Me Up expected to close for good after May 31

Café Pick Me Up closes Sunday night ahead of a move to share the Gnocco space on East 10th Street

Café Pick Me Up closes Sunday night ahead of a move to share the Gnocco space on East 10th Street

[EVG file photo]

As previously reported, the 20-year-old Café Pick Me Up on Avenue A at East Ninth Street will close for good after service on Sunday.

However, they won't be going too far. Café Pick Me's Facebook page has more details on the move to East 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B:

It is with great regret and sadness that we have to close this location of Café Pick Me Up due to a forced closure. It has been such a beautiful experience and pleasure to serve this neighborhood and our friends for so many years.

Luckily, we are able to move our operation to GNOCCO at 337 East 10th Street. We know this won’t be able to replace the memories and location of the original Café Pick Me Up, but we think this will at least partially fill the vacuum of a chapter that lasted so many years.

CAFÉ PICK ME UP WILL OFFICIALLY CLOSE MAY 31ST AT 10PM.

The first Monday in June will begin the week-long auction of the historical content in the café (including sale of all objects, furniture, and tables).

You are all invited to the opening at GNOCCO on June 3rd with free coffee for all starting at 10AM and served till 4pm.

Thank you all for your business over the years and see you soon at GNOCCO!

PS: Stay tuned for the next venture at 147 Avenue A.

¬-The Café Pick Me Up Team

Café Pick Me Up is currently housed at 145 and 147 Avenue A, and they have two different landlords.


[Image via Facebook]

Café manager Rossella Palazzo told DNAinfo in March that a rent hike from No. 145 landlord Icon Realty is the reason for the closure. (Icon is currently listing the storefront… asking $15,000 a month for the space, which includes 600 square feet on the ground floor and 724 square feet in the basement.)

The Cafe rents the smaller storefront next door at 147 Avenue A for use as a dining room from landlord Steve Croman of 9300 Realty. From the sound of the Facebook message, Café Pick Me Up has plans for the 147 space.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rent hike forcing Cafe Pick Me Up into its smaller space next door on Avenue A (59 comments)

[Updated] Cafe Pick Me Up expected to close for good after May 31

[Updated] Cafe Pick Me Up expected to close for good after May 31

Staff has been telling patrons that Cafe Pick Me Up will close for good at the end of this month.

The 20-year-old cafe on Avenue A at East Ninth Street has been rumored to be closing now for months. However, in March, DNAinfo reported that the owners would vacate the corner space and move into its smaller storefront they use for a dining room next door. However, as we're told, that's no longer happening.

Cafe manager Rossella Palazzo told DNAinfo in March that a rent hike from landlord Icon Realty is the reason for the closure.

“I don’t know who can afford that much rent,” she said, declining to say how much the landlord charged. “I know it’s a nice location on the corner but it’s way too much for what they’re asking.”

Icon is currently listing the storefront… asking $15,000 a month for the space, which includes 600 square feet on the ground floor and 724 square feet in the basement.



One tipster told us that the staff wanted to buy the space from the cafe's owners, though that never materialized.

Icon Realty bought the building at 145 Avenue A for $10.1 million in April 2014, according to public records.

Updated 9:23 p.m.

Earlier today, Gothamist heard from a Cafe Pick Me Up assistant manager that:

… the cafe will live on in some form down the street at Gnocco, an Italian eatery [on East 10th Street near Avenue B] owned by the same people. "We're moving June 3rd," Kristen told us. "We're still going to have our breakfast and some of our staff moved. They're usually just doing dinner, but now we're going to be serving breakfast, lunch, brunch and dinner, cocktails. We're going to expand a little as well."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Rent hike forcing Cafe Pick Me Up into its smaller space next door on Avenue A (59 comments)

Rent hike forcing Cafe Pick Me Up into its smaller space next door on Avenue A

[Image via Facebook]

The rumors about the demise of Cafe Pick Me Up have turned out not to be true. However, the 20-year-old cafe, which has been on and off the market the past year, is losing its prime corner space on Avenue A and East Ninth Street.

Cafe Pick Me Up currently occupies two adjoining spaces in two different buildings, and each side has its own lease. As Lisha Arino reported at DNAinfo, the lease on the larger corner property expires in May, when they will move the operation entirely next door. (The kitchen is also in this space.)

A rent hike is to blame, manager Rossella Palazzo told DNAinfo.

“I don’t know who can afford that much rent,” she said, declining to say how much the landlord charged. “I know it’s a nice location on the corner but it’s way too much for what they’re asking.”

Icon Realty bought the building at 145 Avenue A for $10.1 million last April, according to public records. At least two of the storefronts on the East Ninth Street side have vacated the building apparently due to rent hikes.

Sidewalk bridge arrives at 145 Avenue A

Workers are erecting a sidewalk bridge on the northwest corner of Avenue A and East Ninth Street right now… some debris apparently fell from a window unit on Sunday evening … closing Cafe Pick Me Up's sidewalk cafe for the time being.

There could be bigger problems with the building. According to a complaint on file with the DOB, in their all-cap style: "STEP CRACKING AT FLOORS 2 THRU 4 WITH BULGING PROMINENT AT AREA BETWEEN 2 AND 3RD FLOORS."

No other new work permits have been issued just yet.

Meanwhile, Cafe Pick Me Up remains open.

Cafe Pick Me Up sidewalk cafe remains closed

As you can see, the Cafe Pick Me Up sidewalk cafe outside 145 Avenue A at East Ninth Street has been closed all day…

This after a little drama last night around 6:30 …



… when the NYPD and FDNY responded to a report of falling debris at the building…



As you can see, part of the widow framing on the third floor fell …



No word on the extent of the damage (the DOB website is down) or when the sidewalk cafe will reopen.

Unrelated, Icon Realty bought the building last month for $10.1 million, according to public records.

Thanks to EVG reader William Klayer for the photos from last evening.