Acclaimed pastrami purveyors Harry & Ida's will close this month on Avenue A

[File photo]

Another day, another high-profile closure on Avenue A.

The owners of Harry & Ida's have announced that their Meat and Supply Co. will close the weekend before Thanksgiving at 189 Avenue A at 12th Street.

Siblings Julie and Will Horowitz, who are also behind Duck's Eatery on 12th Street, discussed the pending closure in an Instagram post:

We are heartbroken to announce that we will be closing up shop at the end of the month. We have so loved being part of your community, your celebrations, your lunches, your dinners, and your hearty snacks in between.

Never in a million years would we have imagined that our (not so little) sandwich, once a late night pop-up @duckseatery would receive so much attention this many years later. As painful as it is, we are proud to go out on a high note with the shop busier than ever, our pastrami still holding strong on top national lists and the support of you, our beloved customers.

While our presence on Avenue A will come to an end, we will be carrying on the H&I name with some exciting projects on the horizon. Be on the lookout for our usual array of quirky, cured and smoked products, with a little more plant and a lot less meat this time around. To our fellow delis, we are proud to have served alongside you. Keep the tradition (and the not-so-traditional) alive.

They do not cite any specific reason for the closure.

In August 2018, they shuttered their offshoot Harry & Ida’s Luncheonette in the Financial District after 10 months in business.

Harry & Ida's arrived on Avenue A in June 2015, and immediately drew raves for their pastrami. The market, which specializes in a variety of preserved foods and smoked meats, was named for their great-grandparents Harry and Ida Zinn, Hungarian immigrants who had a store in Harlem.

In October 2017, workers finally removed the sidewalk bridge and scaffolding from the Avenue A side of the Steiner East Village condoplex between 11th Street and 12th Street. For 19 months, the entrance to Harry & Ida's was obscured by all this construction. In total at the time, 19 of their 29 months in business had been under the doom and gloom of a sidewalk bridge.

Other recent closing announcements on Avenue A include Obscura Antiques and Oddities and Three Seats Espresso.

H/T Kenny and Dave!

After 20-plus years in the East Village, Obscura Antiques and Oddities is closing

Obscura Antiques and Oddities, a wholly unique and one-of-a-kind shop on Avenue A where you can find an array of curiosities, will by packing up its storefront in the weeks ahead.

"Our lease is up at the end of February and we are a bit burned out," co-owner Mike Zohn recently told me. "The business has changed as has the neighborhood, plus the expense and overhead are high."

Yesterday, EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the shop and talked with Zohn about the decision to close ... and tracked Obscura's East Village evolution.

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My first experience with Obscura Antiques and Oddities was in the early 1990s, when it was called Wandering Dragon Trading Company, co-owned by Adrian Gilboe, Mike Zohn and Evan Michelson, in a storefront at 263 E. 10th St.

A few years later it moved across the street to 280 E. 10th St. and became Obscura Antiques and Oddities (incorporating the name 18 years ago last month) before finding its most recent home in 2012 a few blocks away at 207 Avenue A between 12th Street and 13th Street.

It’s been a neighborhood staple for more than a quarter of a century, which is one of the reasons it’s so hard to come to grips with the fact that the shop is shutting its doors. The store will close at the end of this year, with a possibility of limited hours in January to liquidate remaining items before the lease expires in February. Zohn talked with me about the store’s history, why they are closing and what’s next.

The store’s rent, back in the day, was $250 a month, and it was always a party, Zohn says. Cheap rent, parties every night, music, artists, drinking and smoking — a good time. Gilboe eventually moved to Brooklyn and Michelson and Zohn took over the shop, renamed it, and began working in earnest on the business.


[Mike Zohn]



The store and its two owners became the subject of a popular Discovery Channel TV series in 2010 called "Oddities" and possibly a victim of its own success.

Oddity-type shops popped up all over, the business changed, and more folks were buying and selling the merchandise. Overhead grew, taxes and regulations went up, and as Zohn points out, the neighborhood changed. Rents increased exponentially and parking became impossible. (Zohn lives in Easton, Pa., and Michelson in Plainfield, N.J., and both need a vehicle to transport goods and commute.)

Even though the store’s East Village front is closing, the shop will still be in existence online, and Zohn will continue to produce his Oddities Market and plans to look into the possibility of pop-up Oddites shops, maybe even the East Village one day.

I spoke by phone to Michelson — home sick, recovering from a recent work trip — about her plans for the future. She says there are a million things that interest her, but she won’t settle on anything until after the closure of Obscura.

She’s a founding member of Morbid Anatomy Museum and a scholar-in-residence at its library, and says she’s comfortable with the decision to close the shop. Although sad, she says that it’s organically time to go, that the world, the East Village and NYC are different now. Michelson saw Obscura as an outgrowth of the East Village performance and underground art scene and is eager to begin her next chapter of life, something experiential, not commercial.

Neither Michelson nor Zohn feel rushed into making this decision and both seem conformable with timing and the process. Zohn notes that if you have always wanted something special from Obscura, like, say, the two-headed cow or genuine human skull or a Freemasons book written in code, now is the time to come by.

In addition, fixtures from the shop will be available for sale. Shop hours are flexible, most likely every day from 12:30 to 8 p.m.



Look for more photos from inside the shop in an upcoming A Visit To ... feature on EVG.

2 neighborhood Duane Reade locations are closing this week

After four years in business, the Duane Reade by Walgreens outpost on Avenue D at Houston (officially 310 E. Second St. for some reason) is closing today (Nov. 6) here in the retail space of the Adele residential complex.



In addition, the Duane Reade on First Avenue just north of 14th Street is also shutting down after today. DR relocated here from around the corner on 14th Street in 2013 ... setting up their drug store right next door to a CVS.


[1st Avenue DR via Steven]

In August, Walgreens announced that it was shutting 200 stores nationwide to slash costs by a $1.5 billion.

Some background via CBS:

The Deerfield, Ill.-based company operates over 18,000 stores worldwide, including the Duane Reade pharmacies around New York City. Walgreens acquired the familiar New York pharmacy chain in 2010.

Walgreens also acquired almost 2,000 Rite Aid stores in a $17.2 billion deal last year.

In June Walgreens reported a 24 percent decline in quarterly net income and predicted that annual earnings would be roughly flat with the prior year. Walgreens has been hit by challenges including reimbursement cuts and lower price increases for branded drugs.

According to published reports, there are 91 Duane Reade locations in NYC, down from 253 less than 10 years ago, when people figured a Duane Reade would be the new tenant in any newly vacated retail space.

Around here, you can still find a Duane Reade on Avenue B and Second Street, 10th Street and Third Avenue, Third Avenue and 14th Street, and Union Square.

Thanks to @artisanmatters for the Avenue D tip! And to dwg for the First Avenue scoop!

Enz's Boutique has closed on 2nd Avenue

As of yesterday, Enz's Boutique has ended its long tenure in the East Village.

Owner-designer Mariann Marlowe has run the rockabilly and retro clothes shop at 125 Second Ave. for the past 18 years after relocating from St. Mark's Place. (The store dates to the 1970s on Grove Street.)

Marlowe told EVG correspondent Stacie Joy that she has enjoyed serving her clientele, including various musicians and artists through the years, but has grown tired of the hostile retail climate and the daily rigor of running the shop.

She has had to manage a variety of issues outside the shop here between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place in recent years, including the new-building construction next door, the presence of travelers on the nearby corner and even an impromptu Amazon distribution center on the Avenue.

However, Marlowe isn't leaving the retail business entirely. Starting on Nov. 16, she'll have a kiosk at the new Turnstyle Underground Market in the Columbus Circle Station. You can also find some of her designs at Jimmy Webb's I Need More boutique on Orchard Street.

And who knows, you may even see her back in the East Village one day.


[Photo of Marlowe from 2014 by Stacie Joy]

Updated: Jeremiah Moss has more shop history here.

Hot Kitchen closes on 2nd Avenue

That's all for Hot Kitchen at 104 Second Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street...



The no-frills, authentic Sichuan restaurant opened in 2011. Last year, Hot Kitchen transformed its menu and added traditional Sichuan Skewer Hotpot and BBQ to their menu.

Apparently another transformation is afoot. A worker yesterday told EVG correspondent Steven that they'd reopen in a few weeks with a new name.

Steamy Hallows, the Harry Potter-themed coffee shop on 6th Street, closes after Halloween

Steamy Hallows, the Harry Potter-themed coffee and dessert shop at 514 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, closes after service tomorrow (Oct. 31).

According to the Steamy Hallows Instagram account, the owners couldn't come to an agreement with the landlord on a new lease. The more recent Steamy Hallows outpost in Kingston, Pa. remains open.

This was the latest venture from Zach Neil, the pop-up theme bar entrepreneur behind Beetle House on Sixth Street as well as the now-closed Will Ferrell bar Stay Classy on the LES and the short-lived 'Merica NYC on Sixth Street.

Steamy Hallows debuted in February in space that briefly housed Cake Shake, the extreme milk-shake shop that debuted in August 2018.

So long Dean & Deluca

From over at Broadway and Prince earlier this afternoon ... EVG reader Robert Miner shared this photo showing the auction sign up at the flagship location (circa 1988) of Dean & Deluca.

As we first noted earlier this month, the financially strapped high-end grocer and cafe had put up a "temporarily closed" sign here that no one really believed. The company was up to its green tea truffles in debt.

And this afternoon, the once-grand brand auctioned off all that remained inside the shop.

As of now, only two U.S. locations — both in Hawaii — are believed to be in existence. The Dean & Deluca website has also expired.

The Salvation Army Family Store on 4th Avenue is closing next week

In recent years I've been surprised that the Salvation Army Family Store, seemingly out of place along this increasingly upscale corridor, remains open on Fourth Avenue.

Sure enough, as EVG reader David pointed out yesterday, the shop at 112 Fourth Ave. near 12th Street is closing: Oct. 31 is the last day in business.



I reached out to the Salvation Army's NY office to find out why this location is closing. (I also want to know how long this outpost has been here — more than 25 years at least.) Will update when/if I hear back.

Anyway, sorry to see them go. I've also picked up a variety of dishes, records and clothes here through the years...

Updated 1:30 p.m.:

Heard back from Tim Raines, marketing and development director at the Salvation Army: "Our lease has been terminated by the landlord. We continue to search for new properties that will allow us to serve our loyal customers, donors and most important, the people we serve thanks to the proceeds from our Family Stores."

He noted the following: Donors may find additional dropoff locations or schedule a free pickup of their donation by visiting SATRUCK.ORG or by calling 800.SA.TRUCK.

Afandi Grill is closing on 1st Avenue

[EVG photo from September 2018]

After nearly 13 months in business, Kamola Akhmedova, the owner of Afandi Grill at 149 First Ave., has announced the closure of her restaurant between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

Here's part of her farewell via Instagram:

[W]e would like to announce that we are closing our physical location permanently. No, Afandi is not going anywhere. We will continue as a #catering brand.

We enjoyed this period that we were in #eastvillage 💕 This neighborhood became our home.

Tomorrow (Oct. 24) is the last day. The restaurant opened in the late summer of 2018, serving creative cuisine via Central Asia.

You can check out the Afandi Grill website for catering info.

H/T EVG reader Jason!

After 10 years, Luke's Lobster is closing its East Village outpost on Oct. 31

After 10 years of operating in the East Village, Luke’s Lobster is closing their original operation at 93 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue at the end of this month.

While business is strong for the ever-expanding brand, the small space on Seventh Street no longer fits the company's vision for a Luke's dining experience.

Founders Luke Holden and Ben Conniff discuss the impending closure and share the story of their origins here via a blog post at the Luke's Lobster website.

It's hard to believe it's been over 10 years since we first walked into the space formerly known as "Sousa's Closet," a recently closed consignment shop at 93 E. 7th Street. It wasn't exactly what we would have envisioned for a lobster shack — just 225 square feet in one little room, with a tiny bathroom in the back corner that also served as an office. The walls and ceiling were painted an inexplicable combination of dark brown and light blue.

The space was cooled by an old window AC unit, and there was about enough electricity to power that and the overhead lights, and that's about it. But with the shoestring budget we had, this little shoebox was the biggest and best space we could find to launch Luke's Lobster.

In just 30 days, we and our friends and family did the best we could to turn that closet into an approximation of a lobster shack. We painted the walls a (slightly) better yellow, decorated with Luke's actual lobster buoys and traps from his time on the water, and added the basic mechanics: a dish sink, some electrical power, fridges, and a toaster. On day one we were slammed, and the seed for a growing business was planted.

It's been amazing and humbling to celebrate our 10th Anniversary this month. But there is one accompanying bit of sad news that we have yet to share, and that is the closing of our original location at 93 E. 7th Street at the end of this month.

Our 10 year lease is up, and we have had to think carefully about the space's future. As we've grown in New York, we've focused on building unique shacks that truly evoke the feeling of Maine, and with each one we've made changes that make our guests happier, including more space to sit and enjoy your meal. And over time, our guests have increasingly chosen those other Luke's locations to share their everyday celebrations with family and friends.

It would have been easy to just sign a lease renewal and keep our pocket of nostalgia going on 7th Street. But our responsibility to provide the best possible experience for all our guests and make the right decision on behalf of those 600 teammates and lobstermen partners outweighs that nostalgia (rest assured the whole 7th Street team has jobs at our other locations).

We hope that all our friends in the neighborhood will continue to visit us just a short walk away at our Union Square location [University Place between 13th Street and 14th Street] after we close on Oct. 31. We'll never lose the memories that our 7th Street location afforded us over the last 10 years, but we're lucky to still have the core of that day one team working with us toward the same mission today, and to have lasting friendships with those who have moved on. It's time for 93 E. 7th Street to help launch someone else's dream, and we can't wait to visit and support it.

Today, Luke’s Lobster has more than 30 locations across nine U.S. cities and internationally in Japan and Taiwan.

Here's a look back at our first EVG post on Luke's when the homemade coming-soon signage arrived in August 2009...

Three Seat Espresso will close by the end of 2019 on Avenue A; founder blames Starbucks

After three years at 137 Avenue A, Three Seat Espresso is planning its departure by the end of 2019 here between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street.


[Photo by Steven]

The owners made the announcement on Instagram yesterday:

Three Seat Espresso will be closing for good. Not immediately but before years' end. Halloween marks our 3rd and last birthday. We have tried to serve the community as best we can, however, ultimately we can no longer do so.

Thanks to everyone who has supported and continued to support us — staff, investors, customers, friends, family, vendors and partners.

Please stop in when you can, as the staff and I would love a chance to say our goodbyes before throwing you back into the coffee abyss!

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Updated 12:30
Aaron, the founder, added more background about the closure this morning in an Instagram post:

Three Seat wasn’t perfect. Nothing ever is. A lot of shit went down in those four walls. Starting as a cafe and barber concept, along with the barber aspect came physical fights between barbers in front of cafe customers, theft, police involvement, plus more. Barbers and barber shops are a culture unto themselves. I could write a book on this!

At the same time, the cafe was pretty busy and it made sense to expand into the barber shop area, removing the barber service.

It didn’t work. Over the last year, the cafe has only become quieter and quieter, significantly reducing sales — our Achilles heel. The Shitbucks effect has hit hard and they have only become busier and embraced by the community. They opened approx 50 feet from me. I have people say to me every day 'I just don’t get it, why would people go there?' Fact it is, it doesn’t matter. People do and increasingly so. There is nothing I can do about it, having tried so many things already. The mega-billion-dollar-shit-in-a-cup-boheimouth has worn my business down and now out. This is a case of where having the best coffee, the best aesthetic, the best service, the best music etc. doesn’t matter.

But, what an experience it has been! Working with staff and investors who have become dear friends, customer who have become mates and wonderful cafe and hospitality partners. When thriving, Three Seat was a wonderful part of the East Village community.

---

Per EVG reader Nick, who shared news of the closure: "I enjoyed going there of the past few years — they were always very nice and friendly, and the coffee was good. Curious to see what will be next."

Another reader who chimed in about the pending closing wondered what impact Starbucks, which arrived a few storefronts away in August 2017, may have had.

After two-plus years of life as a coffee shop-barber combo, Three Seats expanded the cafe in place of the barber last November.

The previous tenant here, the always-busy Top A Nails, moved next door to No. 139 in May 2016.

St. Mark's Market is dead

St. Mark's Market has officially closed at 19-23 St. Mark's Place. An EVG reader said they wrapped up this past Thursday evening.

As made known last Monday, the grocery between Second Avenue and Third Avenue was having a buy-one, get-one-free deal to thin out its stock.

We heard a variety of reasons for the closure (nothing related to rent, however). One worker blamed the sidewalk bridge that has been out front for the past two-plus years as a cause for business to drop off. (And as one commenter noted: "The dope fiend brigade hanging out under the scaffolding didn't help matters.")

Several EVG readers mentioned that the store changed ownership several years ago, and the quality of the produce and other offerings diminished — especially in the face of newer competition such as the Westside Market on Third Avenue at 12th Street.

There were anecdotes that Daniel Craig was a semi-regular here while renting the place upstairs. One reader claimed he once cut in line and used an Amex Black Card for a small purchase.

I do recall the place seeming pretty upmarket when it opened in 2003 in the now-mall-like building that replaced layers of history at the address that included the Dom, the Exploding Plastic Inevitable (featuring the Velvet Underground as the house band) and the Electric Circus.


[Photo from Saturday]

Prediction: The landlord will chop up the former market into several smaller retail spaces to make renting possibly easier.

St. Mark's Market is closing for good

Over the weekend we heard from multiple tipsters that St. Mark's Market at 21 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue had started its going-out-of-business sale.

An employee confirmed the closure to EVG correspondent Steven yesterday. He did not know the final day.

For now, store items are on sale...



And there's still a pretty good inventory...






[Photos by Steven]

There were signs of trouble back in July, when the one-time 24/7 market went dark for several days before reopening. At the time, a store manager cited multiple problems, starting when a resident on the building's third floor complained about a gas leak. The fire department came shut the store down. The FDNY said they were leaking freon gas. The store’s technician disputed that finding, claiming that their refrigerator tanks were full.

And it can't help that this building has been draped with a sidewalk bridge for the past two-plus years.

This address has a storied history (you can read about it here)... the building was demolished in a mall-style upgrade in 2003, which marked the arrival of the market.

The Chipotle upstairs in the complex closed in August 2018. A Chinese restaurant is going into that space.

Report: Associated expected to close by the end of November

As previously reported, the Associated on 14th Street in Stuy Town will be closing later this year.

Norman Quintanilla, who has been the manager at the store for 16 years, recently told Town & Village that they have told employees the last day will be Dec. 10. However, he said that the supermarket, which has been here for 26 years, will likely close by the end of November.

Quintanilla said that the decision wasn’t easy for store ownership and a number of regular customers were upset by the news.

“A lot of people are crying and upset about it,” he said. “It especially affects a lot of elderly customers that we help with phone orders. They don’t know where else to go.”

Quintanilla said that he wasn’t involved in discussions with Associated’s ownership and Blackstone regarding why the store is closing but he said that business has been steadily decreasing every year.

Joseph Falzon, the store’s owner, previously told Crain's that a confluence of factors had cut business nearly in half. For starters, construction on 14th Street for the L train obscured the supermarket with a 12-foot fence these past two years.

There's also increased competition, including the Target on 14th and A that opened in July 2018 with a large food-and-beverage selection. In addition, the Trader Joe's is expected to open early next year right across 14th Street.

In an email earlier this month, Stuyvesant Town General Manager Rick Hayduk told residents that they are "working on finding a new tenant with full understanding that a local grocery store is important to the community; but this will take some time."

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Associated on 14th Street in Stuy Town is said to close by year's end

Southern Cross Coffee has closed on 5th Street

[Photo by EVG reader Sheila Meyer]

You may have noticed the for-rent sign that recently arrived in the front window of Southern Cross Coffee at 300 E. Fifth St. near Second Avenue.

Obviously not a good sign... and after service on Monday, the Australian-Argentinian coffee shop closed ... the owners left a note of thanks for patrons...



No word on why Southern Cross Coffee, named in honor of the Southern Cross constellation, decided to close.

As noted before, this is a coffee-rich zone with numerous nearby choices, including (but not limited to!) the Coffee Project on Fifth Street just off the Avenue... the new 787 Coffee on Second Avenue at Sixth Street, Cafe Mocha on Second Avenue and Seventh Street, the Bean on Second Avenue and Third Street, Kona Coffee and Company on Second Avenue between Third Street and Fourth Street, and Porto Rico Importing Co. on St. Mark's just east of Second Avenue ... and Spiritea opened in May a few storefronts away on the corner.

Southern Cross debuted in February 2017 in these newly renovated storefronts. Jamie the check-cashing guy previously worked from this space before the renovations.

Frisson Espresso has closed on 3rd Avenue

After 20 months in business, Frisson Espresso has closed on the west side of Third Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

A sign on the door thanks customers... and notes that Frisson's West 47th Street location remains open...



On one hand, this appears to be a potentially prosperous spot for coffee given the proximity to many college students (NYU and Cooper Union have dorms across the Avenue) ... on the other hand, there is a lot of competition right around here, including (but not limited to!) the Bean and City of Saints Coffee Roasters.

In recent years, we've seen Pushcart Coffee on Third Avenue at 12th Street in NYU's Third North dorm close ... as well as Wayside and Greekito on 12th Street at Third Avenue and Starbucks on Ninth Street and Broadway and Ninth Street and Second Avenue.

One big factor: Frisson opened here in January 2018. And the storefront-obscuring sidewalk bridge that surrounds the residential building (The St. Mark at 115 E. Ninth St.) has been up that entire time.

Now the Basics Plus on University Place is closing

Store closing signs are now in the windows at the Basics Plus on University Place at 13th Street. (Thanks to EVG reader Doug for the above photo!)

The signage directs future patrons to visit the East Village BP on Third Avenue at 12th Street (seen below)...


[Photo from this past weekend]

As you'll recall, back in March, the Basics Plus on Third Avenue announced that they were closing. At that time, customers were directed to shop at the University Place outpost...


[Photo from March by Steven]

However, closer to their announced April 29 closing date, the housewares store changed plans, and downsized their square footage at the Third Avenue location.

Who knows what might happen next with Basics Plus, which opened in the East Village in August 2014.

The Basics Plus website lists eight NYC locations.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Basics Plus apparently not closing on 3rd Avenue after all

An LES coffee casualty

A for rent sign now hangs in the front window at 182 Allen St., bringing an end to this outpost of Hedgehog Coffee between Houston and Stanton.

There wasn't any notice about a closure at the shop or online. Hedgehog only arrived at this narrow space last August, taking over for the Swedish espresso bar Konditori.

Hedgehog Coffee also has a location in Park Slope.

Upscale nail salon casualty on 13th Street

Côte, "a luxurious nail care destination," has closed its outpost on 13th Street between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue, per EVG reader Laura K.

No word from ownership about the closure... no note for patrons. The place was just suddenly gone.

This was the first NYC location for the L.A.-based business, opening here in August 2017.

Polytima Designs is closing on 9th Street

EVG regulars Vinny & O bring word of a store closing at Polytima Designs, a small boutique at 442 E. Ninth St. just west of Avenue A...



Eleni, the owner here, opened the shop in 2011. She previously sold her jewelry designs to department stores, per Manhattan Sideways.