More from East Houston and Katz's circa 1986

Last week, we shared a photo from EVG reader Paul Dougherty looking at East Houston and Ludlow in 1986 before the onslaught of luxury apartments and hotels...

Flashback!



Paul found a few more from his archives showing Katz's...

...from 1981...



... and 1986...



... and the scene right before he moved from his apartment in the spring of 2007...



Meanwhile, EVG reader Corey shared a current photo that shows the obvious changes in the skyline...



A little half-assed with my Photoshopping, but maybe you get the idea...


[Click image to enlarge]

When East Houston Street was 'a sleepy backwater'

There has been a lot of talk this week about what's next for Ludlow Street ... with the impending closure of Motor City Bar ... the loss of the Pink Pony Cafe... and a cloudy future for The Hat ...

Which brings us to this photo that EVG reader Paul Dougherty recently came across. He shared it with us. It's a view looking south toward Ludlow Street and beyond from his East Houston Street apartment in 1986...



"I had lived in that building for six years and had just moved to a bigger apartment in the front with this great view ... Can't really put in words the sense of neighborhood context one gets from this. Maybe 'sleepy backwater'? Pretty sure this would have been before the first youth bar/restaurant the Ludlow Street Cafe — nice place. From this acorn a mighty oak — blah, blah, blah."

We don't have a compatible today photo ... one that would show the ongoing building boom, featuring The Ludlow, Thompson LES, et al. And not much else... Except for Katz's.

Tim Hortons will never win this neon-light battle on East Houston

That Tim Hortons-Cold Stone Creamery combo opened recently on East Houston near Ludlow... since then, the Hortoners added an admittedly pretty snazzy neon sign ...

But it's tough to compete in the neon-light category along here...

There was a black-tie wedding reception at Katz's last night

A reader sent us this photo from last night... Katz's was closed for a wedding reception...

A look at Twitter produced the following photos ... a look at the menu...

...and a look at the party favors.

Oh, and these were both via Ivanka Trump's Twitter account.

DJ Ray from Jarrell Entertainment provided the entertainment... or part of it... the above photo came from a Jarrell blog post on unique NYC wedding venues. "This weekend, DJ Ray is spinning at a wedding in a very unlikely location – the famous Katz’s Deli in NYC. Known for it’s hot pastrami sandwiches and potato pancakes, it may come as a surprise to some that the delicious deli could easily serve as a wedding venue too."

Now, we just need to know whose wedding it was (Bess & Steven on the Katz's wedding stuff) ... does anyone know Bess and Steven?

Updated:
Oh, a reader just said that the wedding was for public relations executive Steven Rubenstein and playwright Bess Wohl.

Updated 4:26 p.m.:
A reader who was there just sent this along... something else all the guests received as parting favors...

Updated:
Our friends at Runnin' Scared have more on the story here.

Katz's annexes the Punjabi Food Express next door

So while Katz's was closed for the wedding yesterday... they used the space next door for food to go ...

[Via the Katz's website]

[Photo by @roni_sue]

As BoweryBoogie noted, the space next door to Katz's has been a variety of restaurants... and they've all closed...

Now it looks as if the address has a new tenant...

The holiday line for pastrami

Outside Katz's this afternoon. By Dave on 7th.

Police say this woman is stealing purses from Katz's

The Daily News reports that police are looking for the woman in this video that they say has stolen three purses from Katz's since May. She is "stealing from customers as they're busy eating."



And only three? I could have stolen around 15 purses on my last visit... and maybe a backpack or two. People leaving stuff lying around unattended.

She also allegedly nabbed a purse from the Clinton Street Baking Company in June.

Anyway. You know what to do if you have information: Call 800-577-TIPS.

Oscar winners film TV commercial in Yonah Schimmel, Katz's

A reader came across this scene earlier this week at Yonah Schimmel Knishery on Houston ... a crew was on the scene filming a commercial. After a little digging, it turns out this is a high-powered crew — Tom ("The King's Speech") Hooper on the left and Guillermo ("Pan's Labyrinth") Navarro on the right. They were also filming a scene at Katz's ... it's for a credit card commercial...

Things that I wish I hadn't read: Katz's corned beef sandwich has 4,490 milligrams of sodium

Which is the same amount as 10 McDonald's hamburgers. (The New York Times via Grub Street)

[Image via]

From the EV Grieve photo files

From the Department of Good News -- Katz's edition

In an entertaining and thorough post this morning on the state of egg creams, Jeremiah delivers a comforting passage after an interview with Fred Austin, co-owner of Katz's

As for those perennial whispers Katz’s might be vanishing, Fred says, “Every so often I drop the rumor we might be closing, just to boost our business, but I like this place too much. We’ll be around for a long while.”

Meanwhile, here's part of a reel for a documentary this fellow is making about Katz's. Here's more on the project.




And more...