Wednesday's parting shot

Thanks to EVG reader Sammy Silverstein for this wintertime scene in Tompkins Square Park...

Return of the permanent signage for Ben's Deli (& Grill) on Avenue B

Photos yesterday by Stacie Joy 

The new permanent signage for Ben's Deli has arrived. 

The Avenue B stalwart underwent a gut renovation and reopened here between Second Street and Third Street late last year. 

However, the previous new sign didn't pass muster with the city, and they levied a $6,000 fine and ordered the offending sign to come down. 

Anyway, the sign is now in place ... (like the previous new sign, the business is going by Ben's Deli & Grill).

It makes sense, as the revamped deli counter area features the return of legendary grillman Oscar (pictured in the top photo!). Oscar left Ben's several years ago and is back making excellent egg-and-cheese sandwiches. 

Ben Gibran sold the decades-spanning business to his cousin Sammy in early 2023.

Ben's Deli has GRANDLY reopened

Photos by Stacie Joy 

A renovated Ben's Deli has reopened at 32 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street. (Perhaps you noticed the variety of grand opening signs?) 

The renovations, dating to September 2023, took longer than newish owner Sammy Ksem wanted... in any event, the place looks spiffy... (Yes, there's still temp signage out front.) 

The all-new deli counter area features the return of legendary grill man Oscar... who left Ben's several years back and is behind the counter again... a welcome sight for anyone missing those egg-and-cheese sandwiches...

Ben Gibran sold the decades-spaning business to his cousin Sammy in early 2023. You can still expect to see Ben around the new-look space, too. 

Ben's Deli is really truly ready to reopen SOON

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Temp signage went up this week at Ben's Deli, the closed-for-renovations market at 32 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street. 

Owner Sammy Ksem (pictured above left with Sam) said a new permanent sign is coming. However, they want to make sure the new one is correct. In August, the city made Sammy remove the previously new sign, saying it was too large. The city also hit him with a $6,000 fine. 

Sammy said he is frustrated with how long the renovations have dragged on at the shop. (They closed in September 2023.)

However, Ben's is ready to reopen ANY DAY NOW...

The space includes a revamped deli counter with, among other items, an all-day breakfast...

There's also a party in the works to welcome the neighborhood back. 

Meanwhile, you can still expect to see previous longtime (40-plus years!) owner Ben Gibran and his family at the shop. Ben sold the business to his cousin Sammy in early 2023 and has remained a presence here... chain smoking in his van outside while watching Snakes of Africa videos on YouTube.

A signage setback at Ben's Deli

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

You may have noticed that the newish new sign at Ben's Deli (and now with a & Grill) disappeared this past week. 

Owner Sammy Ksem (pictured above) told us that the sign (see below) that went up in February at the under-renovation shop at 32 Avenue B was "too deep/too big." Aside from levying a $6,000 fine, the city made them remove it. 

So Sammy and company ordered a new one, which they hope will arrive within the next week. Sammy seemed philosophical about the fine but eager for the store to be approved and opened.

It has been slow going to date. The market between Second Street and Third Street temporarily closed this past September for renovations, including new shelving and lighting. Longtime owner (40-plus years!) and Avenue B legend Ben Gibran sold the business last year to his cousin Sammy.

Ben is still around ... and oversees the work and watches wildlife videos from his office van.

Week In Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a ride-share photo on 9th Street by Derek Berg)... 

• Mayor Adams unveils the 14th Street Community Improvement Coalition for long-problematic East Village corridor (Friday) 

• A visit to Groove Garden, a community music studio on Avenue C (Wednesday) 

• Ruby/Dakota opens on 2nd Street: Gallery is a tribute to family legacy and personal healing (Friday)

• The end and beginning of curbside dining (Monday) 

• Little Poland appreciation post (Thursday) 

• TLK by Tigerlily Kitchen closing as demolition looms on 3rd Avenue (Saturday) 

• 2 members of Team USA are featured in this local band's new music video (Tuesday)

• About the Show Brain Festival 2024 in Tompkins Square Park (Friday) 

• Have you been to the new location of Sammy's Roumanian Steak House? (Thursday) 

• Elisa's Love Bites closes its 9th Street storefront (Wednesday)

• The summer of stolen plaques continues with thefts at New York Marble Cemetery, the former Club 57 (Tuesday) ... The plague of plaque thefts (Thursday) 

• Manhattan's first medicinal marijuana dispensary is now for lease on 14th Street (Monday) 

• Coming attractions: Korean rice bowls for 309 E. Houston St. (Tuesday) 

• Grand openings: G's Cheesesteaks on Avenue B at Houston (Monday)

• 14th Street's twinkling lights tree returns to its roots (Tuesday) 

• Sidewalk bridge removal reveals a business closure on 1st Avenue (Monday) 

• The Black Ant has closed on 2nd Avenue (Monday) 

... and the National Night Out Against Crime took place this past Tuesday. Here are a few scenes from the annual community-building campaign at the 9th Precinct on Fifth Street (photos by Stacie Joy).

Have you been to the new location of Sammy's Roumanian Steak House?

Photos by Stacie Joy 

Sammy's Roumanian Steak House returned to the Lower East Side to much fanfare in April. 

However, since opening at its new home, 112 Stanton St., between Essex and Ludlow, we haven't heard too much (where are the reader reports?) about the NYC institution that spent 47 years through the start of the pandemic serving up ice-encased vodka, smeared pitchers of schmaltz and enormous platters of meat from the lower level at 151 Chrystie St. 

Sammy's announced its closure in January 2021, vowing to return to the neighborhood. 

In June, Matthew Schneier, chief restaurant critic at New York Magazine, wrote that "things are as they ever were." 

These photos are from before Sammy's opened for service for the evening—even before the bottles of schmaltz were placed on all the tables and Dani Luv fired up the keyboards.

It's hard to replicate a classic, as Schneier noted. 

All is not identical. Sammy's now finds itself at street level, though it approximates the cave quality of the original by covering its front windows. The room is long, narrow, and black, like a high-school black-box theater, albeit with some of the worst acoustics I have ever experienced in a restaurant. It was so hard to hear that everyone at my table spent the entire meal screaming in vain at one another, in the great Jewish tradition. 

Still: "Forty-nine years after its founding, Sammy's is a tradition unto itself." Sammy's expanded the hours of service earlier in the summer. 

The listed hours are Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday: 4-11 p.m., with an 11:30 p.m. close on Fridays and Saturdays.

Sammy's does reservations (recommended) the old-fashioned way: 1-646-410-2427 or sammys157@yahoo.com

Week in Grieview

Posts that past week included (with a Friday evening photo from 4th and A)... 

• Details on the arrests for the deadly shooting in Tompkins Square Park on July 12 (Friday) 

• Former St. Emeric property will yield to housing for seniors and formerly homeless individuals (Friday) 

• A few more details on the future of East Village classic bar Lucy's (Thursday) 

• Scoop: After nearly 30 years, Starbucks is closing its Astor Place location (Sunday) ... Farewell to the Astor Place Starbucks, now officially closed (Monday) ... Before (and after) Starbucks on Astor Place (Tuesday) 

• Report: Whole Foods leasing the former Associated space on 14th Street in Stuy Town (Monday) 

• ICYMI: Mount Sinai receives conditional approval from the state to close Beth Israel (Monday) 

• Report: RYCO Capital buys 6 East Village rentals in $103-million deal (Wednesday) 

• Reopening day at International Bar (Thursday) 

• Oh no! O'Flaherty's has departed its gallery-performance space on Avenue A (Friday)

• A broken window at Two Boots (Tuesday) 

• Cuts & Slices bringing its acclaimed oxtail pizza to the Lower East Side (Wednesday) 

• A new restaurant for the former Mighty Quinn's space on 2nd Avenue (Tuesday) 

• Aoi Kitchen closes on 6th Street; owners announce new concept for the space (Monday) 

• EV restaurant roundup: Four Four South Village, Don Chicken, De La Soul donuts and more (Wednesday) 

• Sammy's Halal reopens on 1st Avenue (Tuesday) 

• The J. Crew-Jack's Coffee combo has opened in NoHo (Monday) 

• Buy Me Flowers pushes up daisies on 7th Street (Thursday)

• These are the opossum days of summer in Tompkins Square Park (Thursday)

• Curbside advice about discarded couches (and other large items) (Tuesday) 

... and on the heels of recent posts about East Village NYC T-shirts for sale at a Forever 21 in San Diego and a neighborhood named for the East Village in Downington, Pa., ... a reader shares this signage from Barcelona, home to a well-reviewed vintage shop called Loisaida...

Sammy's Halal reopens on 1st Avenue

Photos by Steven 

We thought Sammy was a goner. 

Sammy's Halal looked all but closed in the spring, with boxes stacked inside the front window. The space was dark for weeks. 

And then we saw some activity this month ... then Sammy's Halal reopened last week at 109 First Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street with new signage and interior design. 

The counter in the previous space was in the back, and it didn't look inviting to enter. Now, you can order right inside the front door. There are also a few seats for dining.

You can check out the Sammy's menu here. 

The Sammy's signage first arrived in January 2018... taking over the address from Polish G. I. Delicatessen, the Eastern European specialty foods shop that closed in July 2017 after 21 years in business.

Family sells 8 East Village buildings for $38 million after decades of ownership

Eight East Village pre-war apartment buildings owned by the same family since the 1960s have sold for $38 million, per a press release and published reports. 

The Eis family reportedly owned the portfolio, which totals 82,245 square feet and includes 99 apartments and nine retail units. Three separate buyers picked up a handful of the properties. 

Per the press release and the Commercial Observer, the buildings are: 

• 105-109 First Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street (pictured above — Mister Paradise, Huertas and Sammy's Halal*) ... sold for $13 million to Lawrence Movtady. 

• 110 East First St. at Houston (across from Katz's) ... sold for $7 million to Alfred Sabetfard of the Sabet Group.  

• 58 and 60-62 Second Ave. between Third Street and Fourth Street ... sold for $11.8 million to Alfred Sabetfard of the Sabet Group. 

• 425 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and First Avenue ... sold for $3 million to Son Dinh Tran. 

• 543 E. Sixth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B... sold for $3.2 million to Tran.

* Sammy's Halal seems to be a permanent shutter now at 109 First Ave.

Week in Grieview

Posts this past week included (with a photo of the roomy new porta-potties in Tompkins by Derek Berg)...

• EARTHQUAKE (Friday) 

• Lower East Side legend Sammy's Roumanian Steak House announces its reopening dates (Tuesday) 

 

• Essex Card Shop robbed on Avenue A (Saturday) 

• Turn it up: East Village Radio returns this spring (Monday) 

• The porta-potties of Tompkins Square Park now have hours of operation (Saturday)

• Why the International Bar has been closed (Tuesday) 

• On the April CB3-SLA docket: a Rice Thief outpost for the East Village (Monday) ... The Onion Tree Pizza Co. (Wednesday) 

• Vacated 9th Street parking garage fetches $14 million for likely residential conversion (Tuesday) 

• The $24 million renovation of the Nuyorican Poets Café is officially underway (Thursday) 

• At Tabby Twitch's 'Prime' (Wednesday) 

• Weekday lunch service begins at Superiority Burger on Avenue A (Monday) 

• After 8 years in the East Village, Fortnight Institute has closed its doors (Thursday) 

• Mr. Throwback gets a spin-off on 9th Street (Wednesday) 

• The 'Kim's Video' documentary unreels at the Quad; Alamo Drafthouse next (Friday)

• On Avenue B, damaged façade shutters Gruppo (Thursday) 

• A new pizzeria for the former pizzeria at 36 St. Mark's Place (Monday) 

• A new awning for East Village classic Veniero's (Thursday)

• Openings: Yokox Omakase on Avenue B (Wednesday) 

• Let's look inside the Five Guys slated for 2nd Avenue and 12th Street (Thursday)

 

• Signage alert: Lilly's Shakes & Crepes on 1st Avenue (Monday) 

...and checking in with the St. Mark's Place Welcome Committee...

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Lower East Side legend Sammy's Roumanian Steak House announces its reopening dates

Get ready to break out the schmaltz: Sammy's Roumanian Steak House has announced its return to the Lower East Side. 

For two nights this month (April 22-23), Sammy's will be at its new home, 112 Stanton St., between Essex and Ludlow ... before service on every Friday and Saturday in May. From June on, Sammy's will be open daily.

Per their return notice:

Exciting announcement! Sammy’s is making a comeback and we couldn’t be happier to return to the Lower East Side. Huge thanks to our loyal customers and fans for keeping the Sammy's spirit alive over the years.

We're kicking things off with a two-night Passover special, followed by weekends in May leading up to our grand reopening in June. Enjoy entertainment featuring the one and only Dani Lev, along with our original menu and staff.

Sammy's closed in early January 2021 after 47 years of serving up ice-encased vodka, smeared pitchers of schmaltz and enormous platters of meat from the lower level at 151 Chrystie St.

The restaurant had been shuttered since the PAUSE of March 2020, and this wasn't a business ready-made for delivery or outdoor dining.

In an Instagram post at the time, owner David Zimmerman left the door open for a return.

We may be closed now, but when all this is over and we feel safe enough to hold hands during the hora, we will be back stronger, louder, and tastier than ever before. We are New York. We will survive this. We will always cherish the memories we shared with all of you.

Last May, as we first reported, Community Board 3 approved an application for 191 Orchard St. between Houston and Stanton. 

We're not sure what happened with the Orchard Street space ... as previously mentioned, it had been vacant for nine years and needed a lot of work to bring it into service. Apparently, the Sammy's team needed to move on from the location.

You can make reservations at the new location by calling (646) 410-2427.

Welcome back, Sammy's!

Signage alert: Ben's Deli gains a Grill on Avenue B

Photo and reporting by Stacie Joy

The renovations at Ben's Deli on Avenue B, an establishment here for 40-plus years, took a significant step forward yesterday with the arrival of new signage. 

The business name has been expanded to include a "& Grill" in the name, marking a new chapter in its history. (While the signage sentiment in the EVG newsroom was wholly positive, we are waiting for EV Signage and Font Troll to weigh in...)

The market between Second Street and Third Street temporarily closed this past September for renovations, including new shelving and lighting  ... an expected move after longtime owner and Avenue B legend Ben Gibran sold the business earlier last year to a cousin, Sammy Ksem. (Don't worry — Ben still hangs out here. See below.)

Ben's Deli, which played a pivotal role in season one of "Russian Doll" on Netflix not to mention a Kim Petras video, is expected to be back open in the weeks ahead, which is rather vague, though you try to get Con Ed and the Department of Buildings scheduled for the necessary approvals. 

Last evening, the sign was lit, so to speak... 

Ben was outside in The Office (aka his Astro van). When I asked him if he liked it, he said, "Yes, looks good, right? Nice. Very nice." Then, he fired up a cigarette and continued watching a nature video on his iPad.

A look at the under-renovation Ben's Deli on Avenue B

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

Interior renovations are progressing at Ben's Deli, 32 Avenue B, between Second Street and Third Street.

The market temporarily closed in September for the work... an expected move after longtime owner and Avenue B folk hero Ben Gibran sold the business earlier last year to a cousin, Sammy Ksem. 

Here's a look ... upgrades include new shelving and light fixtures...

Ben's Deli, which played a pivotal role in season one of "Russian Doll" on Netflix, is expected to be back open in another month (or so).

Even with the renovations, Ben's regulars can still be found outside the shop, commiserating on the day's events. And despite his retirement, Ben still pops by a few times a week. We've spotted him watching lions of the Serengeti videos on an iPad from his office, aka his Astro van parked on B.

This past fall, before the renovations really kicked in, the gang used the space in the evening to play dominos ... and to finish drinking the leftover Bud and Coors Light from the cold but denuded store shelves...

Week in Grieview

Posts this week included (with a PediCab Santa photo by Derek Berg) ... 

• Up in the under-restoration belltower at Most Holy Redeemer (Thursday) 

• Paulie Gee's Slice Shop in the works for the former Huertas space on 1st Avenue (Monday) 

• RIP Phil Klein (Friday) 

• A memorial for Bill Dean (Thursday) 

• Landmarks Preservation Commission approves hotel project that could potentially damage the city's oldest residential landmark (Wednesday) 

• A new CO at the 9th (Monday) 

• Sammy's Roumanian Steak House now looking at a new Lower East Side space for its return (Monday) 

• Local elected officials call out landlords renting to unlicensed cannabis shops (Wednesday) 

• A bad sign at Numero 28 Pizzeria Napoletana (Tuesday)

• On the sales market: 180 1st Ave., home of the dual Michael Jackson murals (Tuesday) 

• Construction watch: 183 Avenue B (Tuesday) 

• Calamari with fries at Ray's (Wednesday) 

• Kung Fu Tea closes on St. Mark's Place (Tuesday) 

• Dates released for Mulchchella 2024, where the headliners are your Christmas trees (Tuesday) 

• A Total by Verizon for Avenue A (Monday) 

... and if you won the door prize, don't worry, it's on its way... (photo by Derek Berg)...

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Follow EVG on Instagram or X for more frequent updates and pics.

Sammy's Roumanian Steak House now looking at a new Lower East Side space for its return

When Sammy's Roumanian Steak House returns to the Lower East Side, Stanton Street will now likely be the location for the new home. 

Owner David Zimmerman will appear before CB3's SLA committee tonight to license 112 Stanton St. between Essex and Ludlow...

In May, as we first reported, Community Board 3 approved an application for 191 Orchard St. between Houston and Stanton. 

We're not sure what happened with the Orchard Street space ... as previously mentioned, it had been vacant for nine years and needed a lot of work to bring it into service. Apparently, Zimmerman and Sammy's team needed to move on from the location.

The method of operation (questionnaire here) will be similar on Stanton Street as it was proposed on Orchard Street ... and the same as when Sammy's reigned on Chrystie Street. The proposal calls for six tables to accommodate 66 guests... and a "Sammy's Dinner Show" twice-nightly (6 and 9).

Sammy's closed in early January 2021 after 45-plus years of serving up ice-encased vodka, smeared pitchers of schmaltz and enormous platters of meat from the lower level at 151 Chrystie St. between Delancey and Rivington.

The restaurant had been shuttered since the PAUSE of March 2020, and this wasn't a business ready-made for delivery or outdoor dining.

In an Instagram post at the time, Zimmerman left the door open for a return. 

112 Stanton St. was previously home to Sushumai Asian Fusion.

Tonight's SLA meeting starts at 6:30. Find the Zoom link at this link.

This is a hybrid meeting, and there is limited seating available for the public — the first 15 people who show up at the Community Board 3 Office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery.

Ben's Deli is temporarily closed for renovations

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Ben's Deli is now temporarily closed for renovations here at 32 Avenue B between Second Street and Third Street. 

This was expected after longtime owner Ben Gibran sold the business earlier this year to a cousin, Sammy Ksem. 

The shop, expected to be closed for two to three months, will still go by Ben's Deli. 

Here's a look at the last night... as the shelves were thinned out ...

You can also expect the return of the excellent in-store vendor Los Tacos Poca Madre...

On the last night, Haas was behind the counter...

... as well as Ben, making a rare return to this spot where he greeted generations of customers...

We still hope to see Ben on the block from time to time...