Owners of Frank-Lil' Frankie's-Supper taking over the former Graceland space

Earlier today, I posted information about the new "eco-friendly" Italian restaurant coming to the former Graceland space on Avenue A and Second Street... Well! Thanks to some sleuthing by EV Grieve reader RyanAvenueA .... we now know the person behind this new eatery are none other than Frank Prisinzano, who owns Frank, Lil' Frankie's and Supper... (For the record: Ryan called the number on the CB3 flyer and got the Frank Caters voicemail...) More to come on this...

[Image via]

"Inexpensive eco-friendly" Italian restaurant coming to old Graceland space

The signs posted at the former Graceland space provide the details... eventually the owners will want a sidewalk cafe here...




And if you notice the address, it's 150 E. Second St., which also happens to be the address of Nicky's. I asked the folks at Nicky's if this meant they are moving. However, a family member said the restaurant is just for the Graceland space. The family member said they will find out in another four weeks if they keep the East Village Nicky's location. (They also have a shop in Boerum Hill and one coming to near City Hall...)

Meanwhile, the new Italian restaurant is one of many up for CB3/SLA review on June 14.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches leaving the East Village?

Nicky's staying in the East Village; Graceland moving out?

Graceland's graffiti is going, going...

I mentioned this a few weeks ago... better check out the remaining tags at the former Graceland space on Avenue A and Second Street sooner rather than later ... workers were starting to scrub down down the building yesterday afternoon...




Previously on EV Grieve:
Appreciating Graceland's graffiti

The remaining piece of urban archeology at 24 Avenue A

On Friday afternoon, EV Grieve reader Paul Dougherty (check out some of his NYC-centric films here) captured a little bit of urban archeology under the former sign of Graceland on Avenue A at Second Street... As he says, the sign shows some of the old neighborhood when Avenue A was the baby-nursery furniture district... (BaHa snapped some photos too earlier last week.)



However, by Sunday, all traces of the ghost signage had been removed by workers....





The space now just sits and awaits its fate.

Previously on EV Grieve:
"All uses considered" at former Graceland

More here.

Lamenting two lost groceries on Avenue A

With yesterday's three-alarm fire that knocked out four businesses along 14th Street at Avenue A... several readers had nice things to say about the Stuyvesant Grocery....



...another reader mentioned that, with the recent closing of Graceland down on the corner of Second Street, Avenue A has lost two of its neighborhoody friends...

"All uses considered" at former Graceland

Thanks to EV Grieve reader BaHa for these photos from yesterday afternoon outside the former Graceland on Avenue A and Second Street... workers removed all of the former Graceland canopy...




and new "for rent" signs are up...



Workers told Graceland regulars before closing that another grocery was taking the place here... that doesn't necessarily appear to be the case... here's the listing... it's going for $115 a square foot... anyone have high hopes that something good for the neighborhood will take this place...?



Yeah, me neither.

Two signs coming down quickly on Avenue A

Yesterday, EV Grieve reader Ryan on Avenue A sent along some photos of workers removing the Graceland canopy/sign on Avenue A and Second Street......revealing the former tenant...



I went by later to catch a look at the sign...




Unfortunately, I was too late to see the sign on the Second Street side... workers had already ripped it off...




Previously on EV Grieve:
Graceland sign removal reveals previous tenant on Avenue A

Graceland sign removal reveals previous tenant on Avenue A

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Ryan on Avenue A for the following shots... Workers just removed the Graceland canopy/sign on Avenue A and Second Street...



...revealing the sign of the former tenant...




Previously on EV Grieve:
Graceland has closed

Appreciating Graceland's graffiti

Appreciating Graceland's graffiti

Speaking of paint jobs... I'm wondering how long before the now-vacant Graceland gets groomed on Avenue A and Second Street... in preparation for its new tenant, apparently another grocery -- one that can afford the $22,000 monthly rent. Part of Graceland, which closed on April 25, has been painted over...




Anyway, just an appreciation before it's all gone...







And you'll spot a familiar name...




As others have commented, it seems strange to find this corner dark at night... and with all the stands and partions removed...



...though, after this happened, I was able to spot part of the store's original sign...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Graceland is closing in the next 10 days

Nicky's staying in the East Village; Graceland moving out?

Graceland addresses its customers

Graceland gutted

Speaking of Graceland, workers started gutting the former grocery yesterday...

With Graceland's closure comes a loss of community

As mentioned last night, Graceland closed for good on Avenue A and Second Street ...



EV Grieve reader and food blogger BaHa wrote a short tribute to the space at Daily News:

Twenty-five years ago, there wasn’t much shining on Avenue A past midnight: In 1985, the hottest businesses in the area pushed heroin, not cupcakes. Graceland was transformative. Not only was it a place to get cilantro and light bulbs at four in the morning, it was part of the community. Halloween candy was handed out; if a regular didn’t show up for a while, they were asked about...

Rumor has it that another grocery may come in its place. Better than a bank, I guess, but you can get find food on pretty much any block in the neighborhood now, from vegan to gluten-free. What you can find less and less, however, is something far more important: a sense of community.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Graceland is closing in the next 10 days

Nicky's staying in the East Village; Graceland moving out?

Graceland addresses its customers

Graceland has closed

Graceland, the deli that has been at the corner of Avenue A and Second Street since 1991, closed for good tonight ... (thanks to BaHa for letting me know the official date...) The doors were locked some time around 6:30 tonight, a neighbor said... several people walked by and were surprised to see the familiar 24-hour bodega grocery closed...







Several readers said that the rent was being increased to $20,000 a month by the landlord... Another grocer is expected to take over the space... some of the crew here will go to work next door at Gracefully...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Graceland is closing in the next 10 days

Nicky's staying in the East Village; Graceland moving out?

Graceland addresses its customers

Graceland addresses its customers

At Graceland, the corner deli on Avenue A and Second Street, signs are now up announcing its closure...




EV Grieve reader Ryan says, "At this point it sounds as though some of the employees will be kept on, fingers crossed. Unfortunately I can't imagine a new place is going to clear enough $ to make up for the astronomical rate hike. Unless they jack everything up to Gracefully prices."

Word is the rent is being hiked up to $20,000 a month. Grace Dancyger owns Graceland as well as Gracefully, the more upscale sister deli two doors up the Avenue.

Graceland looking empty

Walked in Graceland on Avenue A and Second Street the other night... looking rather barren ... the shelves up top are empty...




Has anyone heard any updates on it closing?


Previously on EV Grieve:
Graceland is closing in the next 10 days

Graceland is closing in the next 10 days

Last Thursday we reported that Graceland, the corner deli on Avenue A and Second Street, is going to be forced to close because the landlord wants a substantial rent hike.



Several EV Grieve readers who shop at Graceland, which opened here in 1991 with a $4,000 monthly rent, got confirmation of the closing this past weekend.

Per EV Grieve reader Ryan:

Talked to people at Graceland last night and they confirmed the landlord was asking for a 35%+ raise on rent. I'll be really pissed ... there's a lot of fun characters that work there, and with the continued storefront wasteland of Avenue A, who knows what we'll get in there, if anything.

And EV Grieve frequent commenter BaHa, who also blogs at With Leftovers, was told by a worker on Friday that Graceland closes in 10 days. The Graceland employee said they clear about $800 a day... "so, with a rent increase to $20K, they didn't have much choice. We were both choking up a bit."

This New York magazine feature from 2005 has more about Graceland's owner, Grace Dancyger.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Nicky's staying in the East Village; Graceland moving out?

Nicky's staying in the East Village; Graceland moving out?

Following up on our scoop last week about Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches on Second Street possibly closing up shop...



An EV Grieve reader talked with another member of the Dang family. Per the reader:

"They will not be closing until the next 2 - 3 months ... it is up to the landlord. He says that they are going to be moving just a block or 2 away from the current EV location and will have more space, less rent and still play 'The Simpsons.' The FiDi location will be run by his sister."

And this:

"He also said that the deli around the corner, Graceland (not the high-end one) is going to be forced to close as well as the landlord wants a substantial amount more in rent."



Which, I suppose, makes sense: Graceland and Nicky's share the same building...