Pommes Frites opens today in new home on MacDougal Street

[Image via Twitter]

Former East Village mainstay Pommes Frites, destroyed in the deadly Second Avenue gas explosion in March 2015, reopened today in its new MacDougal Street location.

The New York Times spoke with tearful co-owner Suzanne Levinson:

“Reopening is extremely poignant for me,” Ms. Levinson said. “But it doesn’t change what happened. The day that the building collapsed, I did not mourn the loss of my business. I haven’t mourned the loss of my business for one day. It’s just a business.” She added: “When I think about what happened to us, I don’t think about us, I think about what happened to the young men.”

She bowed her head and her shoulders heaved with sobs. The two young men, Mr. Locón and Mr. Figueroa, she said, are constantly on her mind.

“I don’t want it to be an opening with fireworks and fanfare,” she continued after a pause. “We are insignificant compared to the impact this had, compared to what happened to the families and loved ones. We’re French fries.”

They will be running with limited staff and hours for the next two weeks, per the Pommes Frites Facebook page.

The new location is at 128 MacDougal St. between Bleecker and West Third Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
With space too expensive in the East Village, Pommes Frites will reopen on MacDougal Street

With space too expensive in the East Village, Pommes Frites will reopen on MacDougal Street

[Image via]

Pommes Frites lost its Second Avenue home of 18 years in the deadly gas explosion this past March 26.

The owners wanted to reopen somewhere in the East Village, but couldn't find anything affordable, DNAinfo's Lisha Arino reports today.

“We looked at so many spaces that didn’t work for one reason or another,” said co-owner Omer Shorshi.

Shorshi and his partner, Suzanne Levinson, looked at more than 50 locations, mostly in the East Village, but found that spaces similar to their 500-square-foot former home were at least double the $5,000-a-month rent they paid at their 123 Second Ave. location, he said.

The owners ultimately signed a lease at 128 MacDougal St. near Washington Square Park. The new space will be much bigger at about 800 square feet, and will cost about $9,000 a month in rent, Shorshi said.

The owners said that they hope to be up and running this fall.

H/T EVG reader Pinch!