Angels on A has closed

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

After 18 months at 66 Avenue A, Angels on A has closed. 

On Sunday, I came across a sales rack of clothing outside the partially shuttered storefront between Fourth Street and Fifth Street...

Inside, the store was nearly empty ...

Owner Angel Ramirez, who launched the business as Downtown Threads in the fall of 2023, said that they decided to call it quits. 

"With rising rent and real estate taxes so high, it didn't make sense to continue to operate," he said.

Still, Ramirez hopes to find a more affordable storefront somewhere downtown. 

"We are looking at a new space to potentially relocate, looking at spaces on the Lower East Side," he said. "I'm a lifelong resident of the area, and it hurts to have to close." 

He said people can follow the shop's Instagram account for relocation updates. 

"Thank you to the community for the continued support," Ramirez said. "In the last few days, we've received tons of really sweet messages of love and support. Appreciate everyone: Big hugs."

This was the third business Ramirez closed in this stretch of storefronts in the block-long building that sold in the fall of 2023. He was also behind Angels Boutique and Café Social 68/Viva! Café, which went dark in January. 

Three businesses remain on the once-livelier block — Mast Books, March Gallery and the liquor store, which changed hands earlier this year.

Signage alert: Bánh Mì Café on 10th Street

Bánh Mì Café, offering Vietnamese coffee and sandwiches, is coming soon to 241 E. 10th St. just west of First Avenue. 

It is primarily a to-go operation, though there is seating for a handful of patrons inside. 

Some signage remains from the previous business here, To East Sushi, which quietly closed earlier this year (photo below by Steven)...

To Eat Sushi offered fresh sushi and sashimi with sake and Japanese craft beer starting late summer 2023. 

There was no official word about the closure.

An impromptu goodbye party as Sabor A Mexico closes on 1st Avenue

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

After 15 years at 160 First Ave., Sabor A Mexico has shut its doors. 

The nook of a restaurant closed on Monday.

On Tuesday evening, I found (from left) owner Maria Escamilla, her brother, chef Enebidio Escamilla, and staffer Antonia Escamilla inside the space...

They welcomed me in to take some photos, discuss the decision to close, and drink some strong house-special passion fruit margaritas. 

Like other small business owners, Maria cited rising costs as the driving factor behind the closure.

"The economy, rent, supplies. I couldn't afford to pay my employees anymore, and I wanted to quit while I was ahead," Maria said. "The cost of ordering food was going up." 

She does not owe back rent and decided to leave the storefront between Ninth Street and 10th Street before she dug herself into a deeper hole. 

Maria will take a few weeks off to plan her next move, but she says her current focus is on shutting down the shop.

"Thank you to all the guests, our customers, and the support we received. The business was a way to give my kids an education," said Maria, who has two adult daughters, a son, and several grandchildren. "The restaurant also helped employ other people and provided for them. My friends, family, and clients, this means a lot."

Originally from Guerrero, in southern Mexico, Maria moved to the United States in 1988.

"This was my dream, my restaurant, my cuisine," she said. "I learned my style of cooking from my momma. This keeps the tradition going." 

As I eyed my still-half-full margarita, people stopped by to thank the family. 

An impromptu party broke out, with Maria giving everyone souvenirs from the place.

These bars and restaurants are temporarily closed, and at least one is permanently shuttered

In recent weeks and months, we've received several reader queries about a handful of bars and restaurants that have not been open during advertised business hours. 

Among them: 

• Taverna East Village 

Taverna East Village has been closed since at least early December at 228 First Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street. 

According to a patron in December, the Greek restaurant was closed without any notice to the public until a sign later arrived noting the closure due to a "required Con Edison" inspection. The rolldown gates have been down lately. 

The restaurant's website still notes: "We are currently closed due to a Kitchen Renovation project. We are working very hard to reopen as soon as possible." 

The outpost of Astoria's favorite Taverna Kyclades opened in the fall of 2013. However, ownership changed hands, and the name change to Taverna East Village was made public last June.

• The Cabin 

The bar-restaurant remains closed at 205 E. Fourth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

An Instagram post from Dec. 26 states the bar-restaurant is temporarily closed due to "building maintenance." 

Yelp states that the Cabin will reopen on March 31.

• Grillify-NYC 

The bar and grill specializing in burgers has been closed in recent weeks at 540 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

A Feb. 26 Instagram post states, "Sorry we are temporarily closed." 

Estefanie and Luis Cuahutle, a brother-and-sister team, took over ownership of the former Le Burger space last summer. People seem to like this low-key spot, so hopefully, they will return.

• Down & Out NYC 

The bar at 503 E. Sixth St., between Avenue A and Avenue B, has been dark for months, and we have been waiting for an official notice about its closure. (Google lists the business as permanently closed, but we have not received a reply to our messages about its status.) 

The top photo, from Jan. 12, showed legal documents affixed to the front door. 

The cocktail and oyster bar opened in late 2022. 

The address was previously Cholo Noir, the Chicano-inspired bar-restaurant that closed in August 2018 after 13 months. No. 503 was also home for five weeks to Long Bay, a Vietnamese restaurant that closed in the spring of 2015. 

Several years earlier, the space housed Gladiators Gym.

This longtime convenience store has closed at 124 2nd Ave.

Top photo by 2ndAvenueSilverPanther

2nd photo by Steven 

Village Convenience closed its doors yesterday at 124 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. 

Workers cleared out the space, marking the end of an era for the longtime business. (One neighbor said the space has been a convenience store under various names since the mid-1970s.)

There have been signs of distress lately, starting with the store's closure during usual business hours and reopening with a 50%-off sign on the storefront. 

While there were unfounded reports that the store lost its license to sell cigarettes and lottery tickets (a lucrative piece of business) after selling to a minor, no official confirmation has surfaced.

Another local Duane Reade by Walgreens closes

The Duane Reade by Walgreens on the SW corner of Broadway and Fourth Street closed yesterday. (H/T to the EVG reader who shared this info.) 

 Prescription holders here are being sent to the CVS on Bleecker...

As USA Today reported last month: 

The thinning of Walgreens locations has been in the works. Walgreens said in October 2024 it planned to close about 1,200 underperforming stores across the U.S. as a strategy to offset declining profits resulting from low drug reimbursement rates and sluggish retail sales. 

This is the latest Walgreens or Duane Reade to shutter around here in the past 5-6 years. The oddly configured Walgreens on 14th Street and Fourth Avenue closed in January 2022, the Walgreens on Astor Place closed in August 2020, and three neighborhood Duane Reade by Walgreens locations shut down: The outpost on Avenue D at Houston and First Avenue between 14th Street and 15th Street shuttered in November 2019, while the storefront on 10th Street and Third Avenue shut down in early March 2019. 

Still, it seems like there are still a lot of Duane Reades around.

Holy farewell: Saint Pizza is leaving Avenue B

After less than two years of serving solid slices, Saint Pizza closed at 223 Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street. (H/T Salim and Russell K!)

In an Instagram post from Friday (below), ownership stated, "Some sad news: We are leaving our Avenue B location for circumstances beyond our control."

The post also says they will be relocating elsewhere...

 

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After 10 years on 1st Avenue, SenYa has closed

Photos by Steven 

A pizzeria is taking over the SenYa space at 109 First Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

There's now a rather generic-looking sign up on the gate of the former Japanese restaurant with the coming-soon info. 

SenYa debuted here in the spring of 2015. 

On the topic of pizza... a few blocks to the south between Third and Fourth, we have a cheap-slice switcheroo, with Basilic Pizzeria taking over for the short-lived Halal Bites Pizza...

The now-former Korean Street Foods space is for rent on Avenue A

Photo by Steven

Yesterday, workers placed a for-lease sign at 147 Avenue A's retail space between Ninth Street and 10th Street, marking the official end of Korean Street Foods.

The quick-serve business offering Korean street foods opened in the spring of 2023, taking over the space from corn dog specialists Two Hands.

The asking rent for the 800-square-foot space (plus basement): $9,995.