Proletariat is closing for now on 7th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Proletariat, the craft beer bar via Overthrow Hospitality, ends its 14-year East Village tenure on Saturday. 

However, there's a glimmer of hope for Proletariat's fans. Per the closing announcement on Instagram:  

Your three favorite bartenders can't let 14 years of amazing community end, SO we are working to acquire and keep Prol alive & thriving! We're still unsure whether we'll be able to stay here or have to find a new spot, but wanted to at least give everyone the heads up. 

For now, in its current iteration, April 11 is the last day. 

Overthrow Hospitality's Ravi DeRossi told us that they are expanding nationally, starting with Denver and Austin, and are scaling back in NYC.

The bar got its start in the back of Jane's Sweet Buns (blast from the past!) on St. Mark's Place in May 2012 before taking over the whole space. They moved to this larger storefront on Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square in June 2022. 

Meanwhile, next door, Overthrow Hospitality's mushroom-centric Third Kingdom closed on March 29.

"Third Kingdom was my favorite restaurant I ever opened, but it never did well enough to justify keeping it," DeRossi said.

You can find updates on the Overthrow Hospitality Instagram account here.

A Sunday shutter for Dim Sum Palace on 2nd Avenue

On Sunday, Dim Sum Palace will wrap up its seven-plus years in the East Village. (Thanks to EVG reader Garth for the photo below and tip.) 

A sign here at 59 Second Ave., between Third and Fourth Streets (once again under a sidewalk bridge), thanks patrons for their "support, trust and kindness over the years."

The restaurant's website lists five other Dim Sum Palace locations in NYC. 

The EV outpost opened in December 2018.

The Gray Mare has closed; new concept planned for the space

Image via @thegraymarenyc

After nearly 10 years at 61 Second Ave., the Gray Mare closed after service this weekend. 

However, the owners have plans for a new concept for the equine-inspired pub between Third Street and Fourth Street. 

Here's part of their farewell message on Instagram:

We are so humbled and deeply grateful for all of the love & support we have received over the last decade. It's on occasions like this that we take a moment to look back over those years and actually marvel at how genuine and decent the vast majority of our patrons have been. We love our neighbors & our East Village home. It has been such a pleasure to serve you. As we look ahead, we are beyond excited to begin a new chapter right here with a new concept in the very near future.

The Gray Mare took over from Dempsey's, which closed in 2016 after a 24-year run. 

Comings and goings on this block of 1st Avenue (and wither Tropic Berry)

Let's take a look at a few storefronts over on First Avenue between Second Street and Third Street — all part of 45 First Ave.

The gate has been down at Tropic Berry, the cafe serving smoothies, acai bowls and coffee, for the past few weeks (H/T Nat!).

There's no word of a closure, temporary or otherwise, on the cafe's website or social media. Google still lists them as open during hours in which the gate remains down. 

However, there was a "short-notice" online auction here last month, where much of the shop's appliances and supplies were sold. 

A few storefronts away, New Mott Cleaners is now open (first mentioned here) ...

And finally, there's paper on the windows of that long-closed convenience store.

There were various legal notices on the front door last fall... and someone apparently did a number on the interior, which was visible from the sidewalk for several months... (photos by Steven)...

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• City Fun expands into new 2-story space on 1st Avenue

Sliders up next at 34 St. Mark’s Place

St. Mark's Burgers & Dogs has closed at 34 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly when it shut for good — the quick-serve shop (which opened in December 2024) was often dark during its posted business hours.

Anyway! A new burger venture is already in the works for the space. Whits, specializing in sliders, is coming soon. 

You can follow them on Instagram for opening updates...

 

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Sunday is the last day for the Onion Tree Pizza Co. on 1st Avenue

Top photo by Stacie Joy from the spring of 2024

After nearly two years on the SE corner of First Avenue and 13th Street, the Onion Tree Pizza Co. will permanently close after service on Sunday. 

Chef Jay Jadeja and his wife Raquel Wolf-Jadeja, who have owned and operated several NYC restaurants in the past 20-plus years, also run The Onion Tree in Sea Cliff on Long Island's North Shore. That outpost will remain open. 

The Onion Tree Pizza Co. puts an Indian spin on classic Italian pizza, including their signature chicken tikka masala pizza.

Below is the closing announcement from Instagram yesterday. (H/T Salim!)

 

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Brooklyn Dumpling Shop closes flagship East Village location

Photos by Steven 

Brooklyn Dumpling Shop has shut down its flagship location on the southwest corner of St. Mark's Place and First Avenue. 

Door signage for patrons notes "we're closing this chapter and turning the volume WAY up — now coast to coast."

The expanding brand has outposts in cities including Philadelphia, Orlando, Dallas, Vancouver... not to mention at Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden... and in grocery freezers. You can also find them on the Upper East Side and, soon, actually in Brooklyn.

This location opened in May 2021 after a few pandemic-related delays. (The signage first arrived on March 20, 2020.) 

Brooklyn Dumpling Shop featured an automat-type arrangement serving more than 30 varieties of dumplings and spring rolls around the clock.

On St. Mark's Place, Moody Tongue will house Tokyo-based Pizza Studio Tamaki

The Moody Tongue space on St. Mark's Place will soon be serving Pizza Studio Tamaki's pies, an acclaimed Tokyo-based pizzeria led by Tsubasa Tamaki.

The owners of Moody Tongue Pizza, Jeremy Cohn and Jared Rouben, are still the tenants and operating partners of this Pizza Studio Tamaki location.

Ahead of the opening at 123 St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue this spring, the team will host a limited pop-up tomorrow and Wednesday from 6–11 p.m., marking Pizza Studio Tamaki's first appearance in the United States. 

According to press materials, during the pop-up, Tamaki will serve a small selection of pizzas and starters reflecting his Tokyo-style take on Neapolitan pizza ... where his dough is fermented for roughly 30 hours, made with a proprietary blend of Japanese and American flours, then baked at high temperatures in a custom oven. (Pete Wells has more about Tamaki at the Times here. You need pop-up reservations here.)

Following the pop-up, the space will be redesigned ahead of the permanent opening, with plans to refresh the concept while keeping Tamaki's core approach intact. 

Moody Tongue opened here in late 2024, billed as serving NYC's first Tokyo-Neapolitan pizzeria. 

Kissaki has closed on the Bowery

In other recent closings, Kissaki has shut down its Bowery outpost after nearly five years in service. 

However, 319 Bowery, between First Street and Second Street, won't be without more sushi for long. 

Sozo Bowery, an omakase restaurant, received administrative approval from Community Board 3 last month for a liquor license here...

Kissaki was the first retail tenant for the former Amato Opera.

In January 2009, Anthony Amato, the company's 88-year-old founder, announced that he had sold the building that was home to the opera since 1964. Amato Opera staged its last performance in May 2009. (Earlier history: The four-story brick building was a cigar factory from 1899 to 1926.) 

Steve Croman bought No. 319 in December 2008 for $3.7 million. The retail space, which initially asked $34,995 a month in rent, had been on and off the market since at least 2012. 

No. 319 also features three luxury residences. 

Croman, a convicted felon, faces more foreclosures on the properties he owns around the city for reportedly (and allegedly) defaulting on millions in loans, per Crain's. Foreclosure notices have recently arrived on several of his EV buildings.

Saba Candy & Groceries comes and goes on Avenue B

Photos by Stacie Joy

After an Oct. 31 debut, Saba Candy & Groceries has apparently closed at 106 Avenue B between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

The shop hasn't been open lately, and as our correspondent put it, Saba is looking "mighty closed," with empty shelves and no signs of activity.

Turns out there wasn't much of a market for a midblock candy-and-grocery stop selling Haribo Mini Rainbow Frogs, Tate's Chocolate Chip Cookies and Wish-Bone Creamy French Dressing. 

This is one of the two recently renovated storefronts in this building at No. 106.