House of Cards & Curiosities

VANISHING

On 8th Avenue in Greenwich Village since 1994, the House of Cards & Curiosities will be closing for good on May 31.



A small space stuffed with stuff, it's a neighborhood favorite for its selection of greeting cards and, of course, its many curiosities, including Day of the Dead skeletons, odd little toys, and a Wunderkammer filled with taxidermied lizards, bones, and shark teeth. Actress Molly Shannon called the shop "one of those downtown neighborhood places that are so great."

As we know, those great downtown neighborhood places are vanishing fast.

"Was it the rent?" a long-time customer asked.

"It was everything," the cashier replied.

The shop's neighbor, Chocolate Bar, also recently announced its closure, citing rising costs and slow sales, thanks to three years of street construction outside their doors.

The House of Cards is currently having a 30% off everything sale.

Chocolate Bar

VANISHING

Chocolate Bar on 8th Avenue in Greenwich Village is closing. Already, a "Store for Lease" sign has appeared in the window.



Owner Alison Nelson has written to her employees:

"It is with sadness that after 13 years of business and much contemplation, I have decided to close our West Village location. Over the past year we have fought the struggle with rising costs and stagnant sales due to street construction and difficult weather. We have seen much of our neighborhood change over the past few years, fought 3 years of street work right outside our door and watched many of our fellow small businesses and neighbors leave due to rising rents and expenses. All of this has taken a steady and sometimes biting toll upon us and our operations. Know that it is with a very heavy heart that I have made this decision. I never envisioned leaving the West Village, a place that had been my home for nearly 20 years, and Chocolate Bar's home for over a decade."

Their last day will be Sunday, April 26.

Small Biz Crawl for 2nd Avenue

This Saturday, starting at 12:00 noon, #SaveNYC is organizing a Small Business Crawl along the stretch of Second Avenue impacted by the recent gas explosion and fire.


photo: Janko Puls

After such a disaster, small businesses struggle to survive. Some don’t make it. Especially the old-timers. Like elderly people, they are often the most vulnerable to upheaval and interruption--and the least resilient.

Already, beloved businesses like The Stage diner and B&H Dairy have lost tens of thousands of dollars--and they still have not been able to reopen. The local businesspeople here need our help. So we're working to bring customers, cash, and attention to those mom-and-pops in most need.


Paul's Da Burger Joint, by Kirsten Theodos


B&H Dairy, by Kirsten Theodos

The Small Biz Crawl starts at Gem Spa (since 1957), on the southwest corner of Second Avenue and St. Mark’s Place. Buy your magazines, cigarettes, and egg creams at this first stop.

From there, head down towards 7th Street. Do some gift shopping at Himalayan Visions (since 1997). Have lunch at the B&H Dairy (since 1937) or Paul’s Da Burger Joint (since 1989). Other small restaurants here include Bar Virage (since 1998), Hot Kitchen, MisoYa, San Loco, and Taqueria Diana. Dine at the spot you most want to save.

(Fingers crossed B&H reopens, at least partially, by Saturday. The Stage will likely still be shuttered, and Moishe's is not open on the Sabbath. #SaveNYC will do our best to return to these businesses with help in the future.)


Bar Virage, by Kirsten Theodos

After lunch, weave your way across the barricades of 7th Street to stock up on groceries at the New Yorkers Foodmarket, and then unwind with an espresso or glass of wine at Café Mocha.

Your dollars go a long way. So does your good will and emotional support. When small businesspeople know they are loved and cared about, they are more likely to fight for survival. Let them know how valuable they are to you, to the East Village, and to the whole city as it drowns under a tsunami of dull chain stores.

We simply cannot afford to lose one more legacy mom-and-pop.


New Yorkers Supermarket, by Kirsten Theodos

Please bring your #SaveNYC sign to let everyone know who you are and why you’re there. Click here to print out signs--and to find out more about #SaveNYC.

Click here to view the Facebook invitation for this event.

Donate to help save the B&H Dairy here.

See more of this story on News Channel 7:

5 Spot

Quintessential New York is Frank O'Hara's poem "The Day Lady Died," with its bouncy, urban "I do this, I do that" listing of the poet's day and then the last, heart-stopping lines:

"I am sweating a lot by now and thinking of
leaning on the john door in the 5 SPOT
while she whispered a song along the keyboard
to Mal Waldron and everyone and I stopped breathing"



Years ago, I tried to find the original site of the 5 Spot. I ended up at a bar inside the now demolished 35 Cooper Square, mistakenly thinking it was the right place. There was no Internet back then and I had little to guide me. Now there's a Wikipedia page for the 5 Spot and this site, 5 Spot Artifacts, put together by the daughter of former owner Joe Termini.



The original 5 Spot was at 5 Cooper Square, between 4th and 5th. It was a favorite place for many painters and poets, including Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Larry Rivers, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg.



It was demolished and a second 5 Spot opened on the corner of St. Mark's Place and Third Avenue in the 1960s.

Billie Holiday died in 1959, so it wasn't at the second Five Spot that O'Hara leaned on the john door and stopped breathing.





The second Five Spot is now a pizza place and some open-street shops that sell hats, sunglasses, and marijuana paraphernalia.

"Tea," as it was known in the jazz scene. "Reefer" and "Mary Jane." Billie Holiday loved it. But she probably never smoked it through a bong attached to a gas mask.

P.S. Happy belated birthday to Billie.




Thelonious Monk and Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter get into her Bentley outside the Five Spot cafe, New York, 1964. Photograph: Ben Martin/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Yormark's Sign

VANISHED

Back in 2012, I posted about an antique sign for J. Yormark Shoes. It had been revealed and partly restored when a barbershop moved into its old spot on 8th Avenue near Jane Street.

Last year, the barber shop moved out and more portions of the sign were revealed. Above the stained glass was a second sign: SHOES YORMARK SHOES.



Then scaffolding went up, and the stained glass sign was not treated with any apparent care.





Now the renovation of the storefront is complete. Sadly, the antique sign has been removed, replaced with plain glass. The sign above it has either been removed or covered up. 



J. Yorkmark Shoes opened sometime in the 1890s. For historic family photos of the shop, click here.

Donut Pub's 50th

This year mark's the good old Donut Pub's 50th anniversary. The celebratory banner says, "Always fresh! Since 1964!" So maybe it's their 51st anniversary?



In any case, for the grand occasion, they've created a special Golden Anniversary doughnut.

The Golden Anniversary doughnut is rather elusive. Rarely made, it may or may not be available when you visit. I've been trying for weeks, and didn't get my Golden Anniversary doughnut until my fifth visit. (In the midst of my slightly obsessive quest, I dreamed about this pastry. In my dream, it was topped with flakes of real gold leaf.)

In reality, the rare delicacy is a regular doughnut glazed in yellow (for the "golden" part) with green stripes (for reasons unknown).



Was it worth the effort? Any visit to the Donut Pub on 14th Street is worth it. Next time, however, I'll stick with my usual honey dipped.


Also:
A Day at Donut Pub
Donut Pub Defeats Dunkin

Oyster Bar Blight

After 55 years in business at 54th and 7th, the Famous Oyster Bar was forced to close one year ago. The owner of the restaurant said a new landlord took over the building and the rent was hiked, from $12,000 to $50,000 a month.

The hostess told me that the new landlord refused to renew their lease. "I think she'll keep it empty," the hostess said. "I think the building is coming down."



One year later, the space is still empty. Gutted and stripped. (The antique neon sign made it to Delancey Street.)

Landlords are allowed to do this in New York. They're allowed to kick out long-term, beloved businesses by jacking up the rent or simply refusing to renew the lease. They're allowed to leave the spaces empty for years, waiting for property values to increase, waiting for Starbucks to make the right offer.

In the meantime, we're left with a dying city. And no one is doing a thing about it. #SaveNYC.


Previously:
Oyster Bar to Close
Neon Sign to Delancey