[Photo by Steven]
Space 194 is now officially closed. There wasn't any public notice — via a sign or an Instagram post — from ownership about the closing.
On Dec. 27, we mentioned the for rent sign that arrived on the door here at 194 First Ave. between 11th Street and 12th Street. The hybrid tea-coffee shop-gallery opened in December 2018.
Meanwhile, as we also noted on Dec. 27, Koko Wings, which specializes in Korean fried chicken, is now open right next door. This is Koko's second NYC outpost.
The address was previously the Neptune, the Polish-American diner shut down in December 2016 after 15 years in business. According to one source, the rent doubled.
After Neptune's departure, the landlord divided up the restaurant into two retail storefronts. Chelsea Thai gave it a try for five months in the space that Koko now occupies. Upon closing last January, Chelsea Thai founder-chef Saruj Nimkarn said that there wasn't enough business here for him to make the rent. He had been in the Chelsea Market for 21 years.
