Ride on, Cowboys: Stillwater Bar & Grill closes after 15 years on 4th Street

[Image via @stillwaternyc]

Multiple EVG readers shared the news that the Stillwater Bar & Grill closed its doors on Fourth Street last night after 15 years on the block here between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

At least one regular chalked up the closure to a "landlord dispute."

Since 2008, the neighborhood sports bar also served as home to the NYC Cowboys — the official alumni group for Oklahoma State University.

News of Stillwater's closure made it all the way to this Oklahoma State superbooster ...

Over the years, #okstate fans in NYC have gathered at @stillwaternyc to watch games and connect with fellow Cowboys. Sad to hear the place will be closing. Here’s a good memory from 2011 when @darrenrovell and I met up at the restaurant. @NYCCowboys pic.twitter.com/uh9ol1gbbP

— T. Boone Pickens (@boonepickens) March 29, 2019

The bar was actually not named for the city in north-central Oklahoma, but rather owner Matt Keane's love for fishing.

Stillwater Bar & Grill opened in August 2004.

What's in your empty storefront? Capital One is closing both of its East Village branches

After May 8, Capital One will no longer have a bank branch in the East Village.

Closing notices are up in the locations on Third Street and Avenue C (above) ...



... and 10th Street and Second Avenue...


[Photos on 2nd Avenue by Steven]



The Capital One on the southeast corner of Third Avenue and 14th Street closed in July 2016 (that retail space is still for rent).

The bank is sending customers over to the newish multi-level flagship location on 14th Street and Broadway. (An EVG tipster first told us about these pending closures in January. Per the tipster: "It's Union Square or be damned" for Capital One customers.)

This continues the trend where banks are closing down local branches. Last June, The Wall Street Journal reported that banks across the United States have closed nearly 9,000 branches this decade "as more customers rely on digital tools to complete routine banking transactions."

In recent years, Citi, Chase and Santander all shuttered their outposts on Avenue A, making it a bank-branch-free zone for now.

Timna announces April 14 closing date on St. Mark's Place

Timna, the Israeli-Mediterranean restaurant at 109 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue, is closing after service on April 14.

Chef Nir Mesika shared the news on the restaurant's Instagram page Friday:

Four years ago, I‘ve had an idea to cook modern Israeli food, to open a small place with a small but dedicated staff.

We have invested all our energy in cooking and hospitality, bringing the Israeli essence and character to the plate, here in NYC. Timna was created out of thin air, built with our own hands. We’ve always kept our modesty and our feet on the ground. I promised myself and my clients that everything will be at the highest standards, to best of my ability (and budget), whether it's the food, our attitude toward the customers, and the employees who work with us.

Unfortunately, after four amazing but undoubtfully challenging years, we are forced to close Timna.

The restaurant will remain open until April 14th — so come and celebrate with us the years that we’ve had, and those that still await all of us.

This is undeniably a very difficult decision, which I did not really want to make but was really forced to make. Financial issues and all sort of disagreements have led me to deal with running the restaurant without support, to such extent that it can no longer be sustained.

I know that many people will miss Timna, I certainly will, but I choose to remember all the good things, embrace and learn from the bad, and realize that there is no choice but to move on to the next big thing.

I would like to thank my beloved staff who accompanied me all these years, each of you have added character and color to this place called Timna, and of course a huge thanks to our customers, coming from afar or from across the street. Each and every one of you who walked into the restaurant in these past four years would make me excited every day that you’ve chosen to dine at Timna.

Timna opened in April 2015 in space that was formerly an outpost of the mini-chain of Hummus Place restaurants.

H/T Vinny & O!

Croissanteria is closing on Avenue A

Croissanteria, the bakery and cafe offering coffee and a croissant-centric menu, is wrapping up nearly seven years at 68 Avenue A between Fourth Street and Fifth Street.

On Friday, an EVG reader noted a sign on the door saying the shop was closing in the next few days. On Saturday, that sign was gone, replaced by a notice of an auction ("everything for sale"), which takes place April 1 at 1 p.m.

The last day is said to be Wednesday. [Updated 3/28: As of today, the shop was still open.]

The cafe opened in October 2012.

H/T Steven and SB

Now-closed Classic Man Barber Lounge space for rent on 9th Street

[Photo yesterday by Steven]

For rent signs arrived yesterday at the Classic Man Barber Lounge, which had been closed of late here at 445 E. Ninth St. at Avenue A. The upscale barber shop opened in early 2018.

Three of the four new businesses that opened in Icon Realty's renovated retail spaces along 441-445 E. Ninth St. (aka 145 Avenue A) have now closed in recent months.

BeetleBug, the floral design shop, quietly shut down last month. They opened in early 2017, and were the first tenant to arrive after Icon bought the building for $10.1 million in April 2014.

Another new business in this strip, Mahalo New York Bakery, which served Hawaiian-inspired desserts, closed last fall after seven months in business.

Poke N' Roll is the lone business now on the Ninth Street side of the building.

One pre-Icon retail tenant here in 2015 said that the new landlord either wasn't renewing leases or offering terms with unmanageable rent increases.

Y Cafe has closed on Avenue B

Y Cafe, the low-key, health-focused restaurant at 182 Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street, has closed.

Several EVG readers (H/T Etienne and Nobel Neolani!) reported that Y's last day was March 13. On Saturday, the for-rent sign arrived.

According to a reader, the lease was up on the small space, and the owners decided not to renew. (Whether this was due to a rent increase is not known at the moment.)

As EVG reader Etienne noted: "I really enjoyed their Thai-fusion food, friendliness and prices. It sort of saved me when Life Cafe closed."

Y Cafe opened here in April 2011... they were originally Wai? Cafe on First Avenue between 12th Street and 13th Street.

Durden has not been open lately

[Photo last week by Steven]

Several EVG readers (H/T Laura!) have noted that Durden remained closed through the weekend ... and paper hangs in the windows of the "Fight Club"-inspired sports bar here on Second Avenue at 13th Street.

There's no word about any closure, temporary or permanent, on the bar's website or lightly used social media properties. (Yelp lists Durden as closed.)

A closure wouldn't be a surprise. Back in December, Curt Huegel, who runs a handful of bars-reaturants around the city, including Campagnola, Printers Alley, Galli and Bill's NYC, received the OK from CB3 for a new liquor license for the space. (The application stated that the new venture will serve "classic modern American" food.)

The paperwork at the CB3 website listed this as a "sale of assets."

Durden opened in October 2013 ... in space that previously housed the Nightingale Lounge.

Todaro Bros. is closing April 2, ending 102 years of business

An EVG reader alert (H/T Val!) from outside the usual coverage zone... Todaro Bros., the Italian grocer at 555 Second Ave. between 30th Street and 31st Street, is closing on April 2.

The owners of the 102-year-old establishment shared the news on social media on Tuesday...



No mention if this impacts their Enoteca Wine Bar next door.

Todaro Bros. moved to No. 555 in 1961 (a few blocks from its original location), and long offered products that you couldn't find anywhere else ... the arrival in recent years of a Fairway directly across the street as well as a Trader Joe's on Third Avenue and 32nd Street couldn't have helped business.

Image via

A Repeat Performance, until July 31

[EVG photo; all other shots by Daniel Efram]

Photos and text by Daniel Efram

The wonderful East Village bric-a-brac store, A Repeat Performance on First Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street, will be closing on July 31 after 39 years in business.

In our ever-changing neighborhood, during an era of constant discussion surrounding the influx of short-lived businesses and the disappearance of some seminal mainstays, it is time for yet another of the latter to make its way into our memories and off of the streets.

A Repeat Performance has been a gem of a shop for quite some time. With its eclectic collections of old-school cigarette lighters, books, film slides, glassware, and recently even an old hand-cranked washing machine, it has provided me with never-ending escapism for my years in the vicinity.





The shop holds more significance than simply a reminder of what the neighborhood used to mean. A Repeat Performance has been perhaps the longest-running museum of the non-essential in my daily walk. Need an accordion, a slide viewer or some opera glasses? You may find them here.

It's a reminder of our family attics and basements, and the stuff we may have had to get rid of for lack of space, but still admire for the quality. This store is a reminder of days gone by, when artists could survive selling a uniquely artful selection of ephemera and maybe even meet a friend.

Beverly Bronson opened the store in 1980. Sharon Jane Smith arrived from the theater world in 1987 and hasn’t left.



“Since May 4 of 1987, I have worked with Beverly Bronson at A Repeat Performance. Now that Beverly has left this world I have to face the fact that I am not the businesswoman she was. It’s time for me to complete my stories of New Yorkers who stopped into the shop," Smith told me earlier this month.

Most recently Sharon showed me some beautifully shaped rocks that were being sold. These rocks were beautiful and looked like they were naturally carved, from a running stream in the Catskills, perhaps. She told me that the Knoephelmachers — Margaret and Joseph, a local couple — were stone collectors. These beauties came from the Sahara desert. Sharon has helped to find new homes for many. Sharon also mentioned her love for making tiling and mosaics, which is exemplified by the work she has done on the front door frame (see photo).



Go in and say hi to Sharon before July 31 and ask about the book she’s writing. You may walk out with a sweet stethoscope or typewriter.



Previously on EV Grieve:
Out and About in the East Village with Sharon Jane Smith

Basics Plus is closing on 3rd Avenue

[Photo by Steven]

Housewares shop Basics Plus is closing at 91 Third Ave. and 12th Street. A store employee told EVG correspondent Steven that March April 29 is the last day.

The going-out-of-business signs in the front windows direct future Basics Plus shoppers to the location on University at 13th Street. (Also, everything in the store is 20 percent off, per the signage.)

Not sure at the moment why his outpost, which opened here in August 2014, is shutting down. It seems like a good location given the proximity to several dorms (NYU, New School and Cooper Union) as well as multiple apartment buildings. Rising rents? Amazon? Too many Basics Plus outposts?

In any event, I reached out the the Basics Plus HQ to learn more about this closure.

Basics Plus, with multiple NYC locations, took over the space last held by Surprise! Surprise!, which shuttered after 25 years in business in April 2014.

H/T EVG readers Isobel and Doug!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Surprise! Surprise! will close at the end of April (42 comments)

Reader report: Basics Plus moving into the former Surprise! Surprise! space

Basics Plus confirmed for former Surprise! Surprise! space on 3rd Avenue

Last weekend for Leekan Designs

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Leekan Designs (@leekandesigns) on Feb 17, 2019 at 1:15pm PST

A heads up from an EVG reader that Leekan Designs closes tomorrow after 35-plus years in business... the shop, which specializes in antique and contemporary beads and jewelry and other accessories from China, Indonesia, India and Morocco, is at 4 Rivington St. just east of the Bowery.

💎Last 2 days of Closing Sale... ALL SILVER Jewelry and Beads 30%-50% OFF!!! Store Closes March 3rd!🎊 -#jewelry #silverjewelry #hilltribe #hilltribeaiover #karentribe #thailand… https://t.co/uoXfQZ4Hws

— LeekanDesigns (@LeekanDesigns) March 2, 2019

Owner Annie Lee recently told BoweryBoogie: "Time to close this chapter without sadness."

The business started in a SoHo loft, before relocating to the LES in 1999.

A last visit to Raul Candy Store

Photos by Stacie Joy

Friends and family gathered yesterday at Raul Candy Store, which wrapped up 43 years in business as I first reported.

Raul opened in 1976. The shop has been at No. 205 between 12th Street and 13th Street since 1981.

Owner Raul Santiago, 75, and his wife Petra Olivieri, 70, decided to retire.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by in the afternoon, where she notes there was a sad yet festive mood inside the shop. Raul and Petra's children came down from Massachusetts to help close up the shop. They gave away the last bags of free candy to a group of kids while Stacie was there taking pictures.





Several news outlets stopped by, including NY1 Noticias ...



...and some more scenes from the shop's last day...























Friends and neighbors had offered to raise money to cover rent for a year, but Raul and Petra declined, as they said "it's time to go."

Parting thoughts on the Sidewalk: 'grubby, unremarkable, and undeniably special'

[EVG photo from November]

Sidewalk Bar and Restaurant wrapped up its 34 years on Avenue A and Sixth Street on Saturday, as we first reported.

Over at Grub Street, Jason Diamond pens a closing ode to the familiar corner spot:

I hope this doesn’t sound mean, but Sidewalk Cafe was not very good. That’s what makes its closing such a bummer. The restaurant, bar, and live music venue ... was grubby, unremarkable, and undeniably special to those of us who spent weekends camped out at its outside tables slurping down frozen margaritas.

And...

Sidewalk was a quintessential New York City business because it was always there. That might sound like a slight, but think of all the things — and people — that come and go in New York. To live in this city for any real period of time is to feel bereaved at every corner, all of the time. We grieve for the friends that move to L.A., the places that close because the rent is too high or the guests are too few, and for the people we were when we first arrived.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New owners set to take over the 33-year-old Sidewalk Bar & Restaurant on Avenue A

The final days of Sidewalk

Last week for Puppy Love & Kitty Kat on 9th Street

Multiple EVG readers have shared the news that Puppy Love & Kitty Kat, the 10-year-old pet supplies and grooming shop at 420 E. Ninth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, is closing this week.

No word what's behind this closure at the moment. (Thanks William Klayer, Steven and Barley...)

Last call at Sidewalk and St. Mark's Comics, now closed after a combined 70 years in business

[Photo early Sunday by Day Clancy]

The Sidewalk closed after service on Saturday night... ending 34 years on Avenue A and Sixth Street. New owners are taking over the restaurant and live-music venue.

And there were many thank yous and goodbyes on social media from musicians who have played here through the years... just one example ...

View this post on Instagram

Thank you SideWalk for the memories! It has been a journey - And an absolutely incredible one at that. The only place in my book that welcomed me as a musician. Love you all, misfits, creatives, and Antifolks. 🖤❤️ #longlive @sidewalknyc #rocknroll #stairwaytoheaven #highwaytohell #Antifolk

A post shared by Natalie Asport (@natalieasportmusic) on Feb 23, 2019 at 7:24pm PST

Meanwhile, on St. Mark's Place, St. Mark's Comics closed its doors after 36 years in business last evening. Owner Mitch Cutler cited a variety of factors behind the closure. "I have been working 90 hours a week for 36 years, and I no longer have the wherewithal to fight them — all of these various reasons," he told me last month. The storefront at 11 St. Mark's Place is currently for rent.

amNY stopped by yesterday for a final report. You can read that piece here.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by amNewYork (@amnewyork) on Feb 24, 2019 at 12:30pm PST

The final days of Sidewalk

[Photo from Feb. 12]

Sidewalk Bar and Restaurant is winding down its 34 years on Avenue A and Sixth Street this week.

Staff is telling patrons that the last day of service is Feb. 23.

As I first reported on Dec. 10, hospitality vets Laura Saniuk-Heinig and Alyssa Sartor are taking over the space. (Saniuk-Heinig is the general manager at the Bar Room on East 60th Street; Sartor co-owned August Laura in Carroll Gardens.)

Many current Sidewalk fans are curious if the new owners will continue on with the nightly live music program, including the country's longest-running open-mic night.

In December, Saniuk-Heinig told me in an email that "we are looking forward to keeping the music aspect of the room still alive. Exactly what kinds of shows, we do not know yet." She also didn't know what the name will be moving forward.

In an email from early February, she said "Still working on the name and music aspect."

Meanwhile, as for the current Sidewalk, you can find the remaining (packed) music schedule here.. Saturday marks the final Sidewalk open mic. (Updated 2/20: Nick McManus captured some scenes from the final winter Antifolk Fest here.)

Sidewalk opened in the corner spot in 1985 ... eventually expanding to the space next door when Sophie's relocated to its current home on Fifth Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
New owners set to take over the 33-year-old Sidewalk Bar & Restaurant on Avenue A

Report: Danny Meyer is closing Martina on 11th Street

In case you missed this from back on Friday, Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group announced that it is closing Martina, the high-profile pizzeria on 11th Street at Third Avenue, Eater first reported.

March 31 24 is the last day. In a statement, Meyer said that "despite numerous efforts to turn around Martina's financial performance around ... we were not able to succeed at developing a large enough audience to sustain the business."

In December, Meyer and Co. changed up formats for this offshoot of Marta, switching from a quick-serve format to table service. (The pizza reviews had been so-so.)

Martina opened in August 2017 in a newly created space at 55 Third Ave., aka Eleventh and Third, the 12-floor residential building on the corner.

Patisserie Florentine has closed on 10th Street

[Photo by EVG reader Tyler]

After two years serving their signature almond croissants and other fresh-baked pastries, Patisserie Florentine has closed at 280 E. 10th St. just west of Avenue A. (Thanks to EVG readers Dan Scheffey and Tyler for the tip.)

A sign on the door greeting customers thanks everyone for their patronage .. and invites them to their two outposts in New Jersey. Patisserie Florentine is owned by brothers Tomer (the chef) and Itay (the accountant) Zilkha.

This space was previously Cafe Silan, another nice cafe spot that wasn't able to catch on despite quality food and service.

Also at this address and two storefronts away, the former Thirstea Café tea shop — which closed in September 2016 after seven years in business — was recently converted into a real-estate office.



Previously on EV Grieve:
About Patisserie Florentine, now open on 10th Street

Donosita on Avenue B is for lease

Here's another address to add to the rundown of empty storefronts on Avenue B. As previously noted, Donostia, the wine-and-tapas bar at 155 Avenue B between Ninth Street and 10th Street, had been closed since late November.

There's now a for-lease sign in the front window (and both Google and Yelp list the cafe as permanently closed) ...





According to the online listing, the rent is $3,824 per month, though there is key money — $175,000 "or best offer."

Donostia opened in November 2013. In 2017, Food & Wine named them one of "The Best Wine Bars In the U.S." This past October, Michelin named Donostia as one of its Bib Gourmand-designated restaurants for the fourth consecutive year.

In 2017, co-owner Jorge de Yarza reportedly decided to lobby for developer Gregg Singer, who has been trying, for 20-plus years, to covert the former P.S. 64 building around the corner on 10th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C into student housing. DNAinfo reported that de Yarza helped gather nearly 900 signatures in support of the dorm plan, asking the city to allow it to move forward.

Per DNAinfo:

The massive building's prolonged vacancy has made the block dark and unsafe, and has encouraged loitering, de Yarza added.

"All the places in the immediate area, they suffer," he said. "It's one of those stretches of 10th Street you don't even want to walk by, and it's a shame."

According to a post at the Lo-Down from September 2017, de Yarza also helped Singer support candidates running against Carlina Rivera in the most recent District 2 City Council race. Rivera, who won the election, is an ally of previous Councilmember Rosie Mendez, who has long opposed the dorm plan.

In November 2017, de Yarza helped organize a pro-dorm rally at City Hall, an event where a lobbyist later admitted they hired extras to fill out the group, The Villager reported.

Jerry's New York Central is closing on 4th Avenue

Several EVG readers (including Sheila Meyer and Ryan) shared this news... Jerry's New York Central, the art-supply store at 111 Fourth Ave. between 11th Street and 12th Street, is closing.

The shop sent out postcards last week about the closing sale... the info is now posted on their website...



No word on the reasons for the closure at the moment. We reached out to the store and home office for more info.

This location was an offshoot of Jerry's Artarama, a 15-store art-supply chain headquartered in Raleigh, N.C. Jerry's opened on Fourth Avenue in late 2013, taking over the space from Utrecht Art Supplies (now Blick), who moved into a new store on 13th Street between University and Fifth Avenue. (As reported in October 2013, Jerry's signed a 10-year lease for 4,452 square feet of ground floor space. Asking rent for the deal was $125 per square foot, per a release announcing the deal.)

As New York Central Art Supply was preparing to close at 62 Third Ave. in 2016 after nearly 111 years of business, Doug Steinberg worked with David and Ira Goldstein, who own Jerry's, to acquire the remaining paper inventory of the store.

With Jerry's closing this spring, the Blick outposts at 1-5 Bond St. and 21 E. 13th St. will be the remaining art-supplies stores in the immediate area.