[Photo via Jeremiah's Vanishing New York]
As Jeremiah Moss first reported back on Wednesday, the never-ending construction along East Houston has put a big dent on business at the 20-year-old Punjabi Grocery & Deli on East First Street.
Gothamist has a feature on the situation as well.
A favorite of hungry cab drivers in search of good food and a spot to rest between fares, the span of East 1st in front of Punjabi between 1st and A was once lined with the parked yellow cabs of satisfied customers. Now that span is home to a battered cement median, some orange cones, and not much else.
Given the lack of parking, cab drivers have to go elsewhere … and miss out on Punjabi's inexpensive vegetarian fare. ($5 gets you a very large portion of food.)
So, in case you didn't hear ... Punjabi started an online petition asking the commissioner of the Taxi And Limousine Commission to approve a taxi relief stand at Avenue A and Houston Street.
You can find the petition here. (We posted about this on Thursday.)
Meanwhile, an EVG reader told us the following on Friday about the work along East First Street. "People have basically given up, and assume that this construction will go on forever," the reader wrote in an email. "It's very hard to unload a cab since stopping effectively stops all traffic on the block. This situation is especially hard on residents who cannot park on their own block and load bags, etc."
Yesterday morning, the street was closed for construction.
The reader also noted what looks like a grill amid all the construction materials.
"If the construction site can make room for what looks like a a grill (could it be an actual piece of construction equipment?), then it can make room for some parking."