Cold case: New information sought in the 23-year-old murder of Second Avenue Deli owner Abe Lebewohl

[Photo yesterday by Derek Berg]

There are new reward posters up on all four corners of Second Avenue and Fourth Street... the NYPD is seeking information about the murder of Abe Lebewohl on March 4, 1996.

On that morning, Lebewohl, owner of the Second Avenue Deli, was making a $10,000 bank drop — NatWest Bank at the time — on the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Fourth Street.

Here's more via a March 2013 ABC 7 story:

"That morning he never had time to get out of his van. They got him right before he got out of his van," said retired NYPD homicide detective Jimmy Piccione.

Piccione responded to the crime scene, just a few blocks south of the eatery whose owner had become almost as famous as his steady stream of celebrity visitors.

"It was 8:30 in the morning, I remember thinking there is going to be a witness and it's going to be solved quickly, and 17 years later, here we are," said Piccione. "That morning Abe pulls up to that parking spot right there but before he gets out, he's accosted by one or more persons. He's taken to the back of the van and he's shot. Someone drives the van to First Avenue."

Abe, dying, manages to crawl out of the van onto the sidewalk.

"A passerby says, are you okay, and he says, "They got me."

The gun was found 2 days later in Central Park. It was later linked to 3 different shootings, but never to Abe Lebewohl's murder.

"We've been to Las Vegas, New Orleans, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina. We went wherever a lead would take us," said Piccione.

Piccione retired from the NYPD in 2011. In 2015, he joined his ex-NYPD partner, Jeff Salta, who had just retired and joined the Manhattan DA's office as an investigator.

As the Daily News reported this past March 4, the two remain determined to make an arrest in this case.

The Second Avenue Deli (Second Avenue at 10th Street) closed in 2006 thanks to a rent hike. There are two other locations now in the city, run by Abe's brother Jack Lebewohl with his sons.

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

A renewed effort to restore and preserve the Yiddish Theatre Walk of Fame on 2nd Avenue

If you've walked on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and 10th Street outside the Chase branch, then you've likely noticed the five-pointed gold stars set into granite celebrating names such as Abraham Goldfaden, Bessie Thomashefsky and Michal Michalesko ...


[Top two photos from 2014 by Derek Berg]

In 1984, Abe Lebewohl, who owned the Second Avenue Deli in this corner location, installed this Yiddish Walk of Fame to commemorate when the area was a vibrant Yiddish theater community in the early 20th century.

In recent years, many of the stars in the double row have become worn down or broken and are mostly illegible. Higher rents forced Second Avenue Deli to vacate here in 2006. (Lebewohl was murdered in March 1996.) Since then, the building's landlord, Jonis Realty, who's responsible for maintaining the sidewalks, hasn't apparently done much to repair the stars (though at the same time they didn't have them removed).

There's now a fresh movement afoot to preserve and protect the Walk of Fame in an effort led by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and several other community groups. Yesterday, EVG regular Daniel noted that reps for Friends of the Abe Lebewohl Yiddish Walk of Fame were collecting signatures of support on this corner...





Here's more on the history of the Walk of Fame ... via the GVSHP...

The Second Avenue Deli closed its doors at this location in 2006. Luckily, the Walk of Fame remained despite the closure. But now this civic tribute is deteriorating. Friends of the Abe Lebewohl Yiddish Walk of Fame is working to promote the history and culture of Yiddish Theatre and the neighborhood inspired by the granite stars first embedded in the sidewalk of Second Avenue by restauranteur Abe Lebewohl. GVSHP is proud to be working with fellow stakeholders, with the support of the Lebewohl family, to secure the future of this important piece of our neighborhood history.

Here's what they have planned ...

Friends of the Abe Lebewohl Yiddish Theatre Walk of Fame seeks to preserve, educate, inspire and reinstall a recreation of the historic plaque tiles in the area of cultural relevance and with long term stewardship. We will work to gently remove the original plaque tiles.

Exhibit them as part of a permanent or traveling exhibition. Support programming that highlights the Yiddish Theatre and the neighborhood, and inspire the continuation of the rich artistic tradition. And we will commission a recreation of the original plaque tiles to be reinstalled somewhere relevant and nearby, with long term stewardship as our goal.

Learn more about the preservation efforts here.

Why you don't always want to follow the 2nd Avenue Deli van

Yes!

Oh.

Second Avenue at First Street.

Today in wishful thinking

Second Avenue and 10th Street. Spotted Saturday morning outside the deli's former home on Second Avenue.

Flashback via The Daily News:

[Hughes/News via]

Post: NYPD has suspects in 1996 murder of Second Avenue Deli owner

Per the Post today:

Cops have finally zeroed in on several possible suspects in the fatal shooting of beloved Second Avenue Deli owner Abe Lebewohl in 1996. Authorities said that development — along with a whopping $130,000 reward — could soon solve the baffling slay case.

On March 4, 1996, Lebewohl was about to make his Monday morning deposit at the NatWest Bank at Second Avenue and Fourth Street when he was shot and killed by unknown assailants.