this summer
We'd hoped it would reopen by now, but the place is looking grim.
A peek through the window shows a place in the process of being packed up. Bottles of alcohol stand on tables. Framed art has been taken down from the walls and placed atop cardboard boxes.
The white tablecloths, set for a meal that never came, are gathering dust. It seems that Lanza's is leaving us, slowly but surely.
This is breaking my heart.
today
Opened in 1904, Lanza's was started by the same family that started DeRobertis Pasticceria. As Annie DeRobertis once told me, her father’s father started DeRobertis and her mother’s father started Lanza’s. It has a history. The cafe left us two years ago and now this.
Here's what the place looked like last year at this time:
Dear Lanza's, what can we do to help you stay? We don't need another hipster foodie joint moving into the shell of an Italian classic. We need you.
I had Christmas Eve dinner there last year. Little did I know it would be their last. Being in Lanza's felt like being with a big happy family. Heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteAnother touchstone gone.....so sad.
ReplyDeleteHere's the most concise description I've seen of what the hell is going on in the larger realm (which is also, of course, part of the soul-less local developments):
http://www.citylab.com/politics/2016/12/did-jane-jacobs-predict-the-rise-of-trump/509987/
will paying the back taxes release the property? Can a go-fund-me page be started? What's the amount needed?
ReplyDeleteLanza's was bought by another restaurant or restaurant group a while back. This isn't about Lanza's, per se, it's about them...can't recall their name offhand, they have an Italian restaurant not far from Pete's near Irving Place....
ReplyDeleteIf Lanza's is not saved by somebody then there's something seriously wrong with this World and city. It's a SIN that De Robertis and other places like it; Gino's, Rocco's (Thompson Street), LUNA'S on Mulberry Street ... This places are almost like Living Museum Pieces and our city should do something to preserve them like starting some sort of committee and maybe a FUND where they buy buildings that have historical Restaurants, Bakeries, Cafes, etc, and Lease to qualified persons who would want to run them whereby preserving our various Ethnic Cultures and the Culture & History of New York .. One example is that when I hear DeRobertis would be closing I felt that it would be great if a successful business (Italian Bakery) like Rocco's Italian Pastries Bleecker Street would have taken over the running of DeRobertis and preserved its great history. If the city owned the building and preserved this great history, it would still be here and not Gone Forever . It's a "Dam SHame: What's next????
ReplyDeleteDaniel
https://greenwichvillageitalian.com/
My husband has vivid memories of his Polish father taking him out for dinner there in the 70's. It's terrible to hear this news.
ReplyDeleteFifty years of meals at Lanza's. How terrible. F*** New York City.
ReplyDeleteWhen you stop paying taxes, you're not going to stay in business very long....this is not news to the owners.
ReplyDeleteLanza's was bought by Anthony Macagnone, owner of Sal Anthony's, early in the 2000's. (Sal Anthony's is now a "movement salon").
ReplyDeleteLanza's was sold many years ago and the new "Lanza's" was not the same family run place that I used to frequent for so many years. But the dining room was untouched and remains as it was.
ReplyDeleteNaked City, the great TV series has a scene inside and outside of Lanza's. Episode #74 and filmed in 1961. Also many scenes across the street and in the neighborhood. This episode stars the great Nehemiah Persoff and Sorell Brooke, also a bit part for Brenda Vaccaro.
ReplyDeleteThe Restaurant has been renovated and should reopen soon. They even have a hiring sign on the window. I went in there soliciting for business as their accountant.
ReplyDelete