Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
In the days/weeks ahead, the
First Avenue Laundry Center will be closing for renovations at 33 First Ave. at Second Street.
Fear not! The laundromat will reopen.
EVG correspondent Stacie Joy recently talked with Anne DeVita, the 88-year-old manager (above left with her assistant Nellie).
"The dryers haven't been working well since there was a fire a few months ago due to lint accumulation. The fire department had to come," said DeVita, who has worked here for 40 years. "The plan is to close down for renovations. I think it will happen after Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, if I had to guess."
The rest of the conversation went like this:
How long will the laundromat be closed?
"I don't know; your guess is as good as mine. Maybe a few months? When you see a sign out front saying 'CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS' that will be it. In 40 years there have been no renovations. The owners are going to take out the nonfunctioning dryers and put in new ones."
All new washers too?
"I don't know. Maybe they will paint too, or do some flooring work. I will be getting paid to be here every day to let the contractors and workers in. I'm not doing it for free."
Anyway, in our estimation, the frozen-in-time laundromat is PERFECT the way it is...
And H/T to EVG reader Steph!
Previously on EV Grieve: