David's Bagels

A tipster sent in the news that David's Bagels on 1st Avenue and 14th Street will be closing at the end of August after 21 years of business. I spoke with the owner, Vilai Wangkeo, and she told me that since the landlord opened a Hot & Crusty franchise next door, "He doesn't want the competition," so her lease will not be renewed.



"When you work somewhere for 21 years," she said, "you get good customers, and when you have to move, it's really sad. This is like my second home. I've been here every day, 6 days a week, for 21 years."

When Ms. Wangkeo's children grew up and she needed work to do, she opened David's Bagels in 1987. I asked why a former nurse and a native of Thailand would decide to open a bagel shop. "We have no bagels in Thailand," she chuckled, "but my brother had a side job at Bagel Nosh and he learned how to make them there."

"Is your brother named David?" I asked.

"Nobody is David," she laughed, "But a lot of Jewish people have that name." So David just made sense for a bagel shop.



Ms. Wangkeo has a second bagel shop further uptown and she is searching for a new location for this one, but it's hard to find a spot for a small business in Manhattan. "Nothing is empty," she said, "nothing for less than $15,000 a month."

That's a lot of bagels.

First Avenue Fiasco

In the city today, entire blocks can be erased with the swipe of just one man's hand. You already know about 9th Ave between 17th and 18th. Now a VNY reader sends in this scary info, following up on last month's news of David's Bagels closing, about 1st Ave between 13th and 14th:

"Turns out, the landlord wants to close/sell an entire string of stores along 1st Ave: Kathy's Jewelers, David's, and Wines on 1st, possibly continuing down the rest of the block (sushi place and small deli; not sure about GNC). A friend connected to one of these stores tells me the landlord wants to at least use the three stores named to open a bar (cuz lord knows what we need in the East Village is another effing bar). I blame the A Building for all of this."





The buildings that house these businesses were once furniture warehouses, turned into condos back in the 1980s, with two-bedrooms then priced at $184,000.

Already, the Lucky Huang gift shop next to Wine on 1st and the "Nail Nail Nail" nail salon next to that have long been shuttered. August 29 is the last day for David's Bagels:



If the news is true, then pretty much this entire block is about to go up in smoke. My fingers are crossed that the neighboring H&W Hardware, founded in 1924, isn't marked for destruction too. *Update: I can quit crossing my fingers, according to a commenter here, the landlord is hiking the rent on H&W's lease. Now that leaves just the two anchor stores on the block, both chains: GNC and Hot N Crusty.

• More photos of this block

2008 Vanishings

The year in review. It's a staple. To keep it simple, if hardly exhaustive, here's my list culled only from the 2008 Vanishing New York archives. For other end-of-year lists and round-ups, see Lost City, EV Grieve, Bowery Boys...

Last year I added ages to the vanished places. This year the list is too long to bother tracking all that down. Also for 2007, I broke it up into two posts, one for the vanished and another for the probably-will-vanish. This time I've combined it all into one.


VANISHINGS
Vanished:
Second Childhood
Armando's
The Minetta Tavern (as it was)
Bobby's Happy House (and more of 125th)
Mili Quality Cleaners
A. Fontana Shoe Repair



Chez Brigitte
Taxi Ray Kottner
Nick's Hairstylists
Cafe Figaro
Nusraty Afghan Imports
Kim's Mediapolis
Tribal Soundz
The Pioneer Theater
The Tower of Toys



Chelsea Liquors
Five Rose's Pizza
Angelica's Herbs
David's Bagels
Burritoville
Nikos newsstand
8th Street Salvation Army
Yankee Stadium
Shea Stadium
Florent



Along with more vanishings of:
Newsstands
Parking Meters
The Bowery
Elizabeth Street

Not coming back?
The Holland Bar (suspiciously gutted)
Vesuvio Bakery (rumored to be sold)
M&G Diner ("on vacation" since the summer)



STILL KICKING:
Antiques Garage: lease extended
Sweetheart Coffee: successfully reopened
Kim's: opened a new store on 1st Ave
Cheyenne Diner: still planning a move to Red Hook
International Bar: reopened under new management
12th Street (now Atlantic) Books: moved to Brooklyn
Yes, This Is Charlie's: moved to Ave C
St. Brigid's Church: preserved by anonymous donor
Sophie's and Mona's: saved by a family member
Sunshine Hotel: lease extended
Streit's Matzo Factory: off the market



TO VANISH IN 2009:
Love Saves the Day: closing in January
The Henington Press: closing in January
P&G Bar (as it is): moving in February
Chez le Chef: closing in March
Chelsea Mobil: sold
Pen & Brush Club: for sale
Kim's Video Collection: going to Sicily
David's Shoe Repair: in trouble

*Everyday Chatter

For what it's worth, I am now on Facebook--with a regular page and a fan page. Not really sure what I'm doing there, but...

Some insider tips on how to research a building. [TM]

Now at Bergdorf's, for a mere $1850: "Marc Jacobs has been able to effectively channel some of that punky East Village spirit in his new St. Marks Hobo, a quilted black satin handbag that’s been studded (like most St. Marks denizens) for extra edge." [EVG]

Read it and weep. Writes Matt Harvey: "Traffic halts while the five blondes flash their popsicle-colored thongs as they drunkenly pile into a cab on East Houston Street..." [NYP]

Aww...bodega cat asleep amongst the Dipsy Doodles:


Artist Damon Rich maps foreclosures on the Panorama of NYC--a "pink stigmata" across the city. [NYT]

Developers in Harlem go bust--one considers "chopping up [a] home, which belonged to a Harlem family for nearly 90 years, and renting it out" to college kids. [NYT]

Joe Jr's closing covered by Serious Eats and NY1.

David's Bagels spot is still empty--says East Village Idiot, "serves their old landlord right." [via Eater]

The artisanal fetishists are now doing their damnedest to ruin pizza--"The only thing they haven’t brought over is the water from that polluted Bay of Naples." [NYT]

Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks" spot to be covered by MTA ventilation monstrosity. [Curbed]

*Everyday Chatter

Mike Albo spies "pencils that have been chewed by the celebrated TriBeCan writer Max Blagg on sale for $25 each" at the new J. Crew store (in a former bar that was a liquor store). [Times]

...and take a look back when J. Crew Liquor store was an actual liquor store:


Unearthed! The pool where Esther Williams once swam for Fox Movietone, long buried beneath Sony BMG's soundstage on 54th, now demolished for another condo tower. [Avatar]

Back to Doyers, where the battle for Chinatown rages on: Says Apotheke partner, “I’d like to maintain authenticity while I’m at the same time gentrifying.” Another says only the neighborhood natives have a right to complain. Exactly why we all must speak up. [TO] via [Eater]

More on the David's Bagels closure backlash. [Gothamist]

The EV fights back against bars--The Box and more denied liquor licenses. [Eater] & [SLES]

At Philippe Starck's appropriately nicknamed "yoo" condo tower, a fiddler fiddles while Wall Street burns. [EVG]

On the new Yankee Stadium: "the lettering 'Yankee Stadium' behind home plate is gold leaf. Its glass windows, which workers inside were cleaning with squeegees, are shiny and reflective like an office tower’s." [Times]

Business is tough in the Kingdom of Teacups. [Times]

On the new pixelated Rubik's Cube known as 56 Leonard: "it is another step in the transformation of Tribeca into Triburbia, where nannies push strollers by day and black towncars idle at night. Manhattan as stage set for wealthy foreigners and tourists."[TM] via [Curbed]

*Everyday Chatter

The David Barton sales office is open at Astor Place. Maybe if that Barnes & Noble's catchphrase had been "Read Fucker!" they could've made it:


Remembering David Foster Wallace: "He talked about how difficult it was to be a novelist in a world seething with advertisements and entertainment and knee-jerk knowingness and facile irony..." [Salon]

...he "used his prodigious gifts as a writer...to create a series of strobe-lit portraits of a millennial America overdosing on the drugs of entertainment and self-gratification." [Times]

Novelist and playwright Arthur Nersesian on the new East Village: “Oh, God, we’re living in a hell that I can’t even begin to describe!” [Times]

Scary 57-story monster condo coming to Tribeca looks like a precarious Jenga tower just waiting for a strong wind to topple it. [EVG]

...and fully loaded with amenities, the monster condo will even squeeze out a giant mirrored poo (that some poor slob will have to polish daily):


Anyone remember that scene in Gattaca where Uma takes Ethan's hair to a DNA tester to see if he's a good catch? Well, 11 years later and we're already there. Choice quote (there are many): “I have a very low chance of becoming obese,” Ms. Trump said. “That makes me exceedingly happy.” [Times]

Celebs see High Line as a metaphor for Calvin Klein: "an old, functional thing that’s now going a bit wild." [Villager]

A StuyTown resident writes an open letter, boycotting the 14th St. Hot N Crusty that "killed David's Bagels." [ST&F]

Back in February, a VNY reader wrote in about their concerns for 89-year-old Jefferson Market. Now the owner is asking for "support during a rough patch." So go buy some quiche, already! [NYM]

Some little somebody in the shadow of the big old Toll Brothers tower is jealous--and undergoing Extreme Makeover-style surgery to compensate:

*Everyday Chatter

Just a week after my visit to Nom Wah tea parlor on Doyers, the Department of Health has shut them down. Hopefully, this is temporary. Either this happens all the time, or it's going to begin happening all the time--now that the Joneses have moved onto the Bloody Angle. [LC]

Astroland dies this weekend? I'm blocking it out of my mind. [Curbed]

It's about time we had a cupcake backlash in this town. [Times]

Lone holdout keeps fighting the good fight against Columbia's effed-up use of eminent domain. [NYO]

The next Slacktivist Donut Social is happening tonight--and it's going to be as quiet as a vacuum cleaner. [NMNL]  ...unlike the NFL Kickoff Concert, and that illegal, unpermitted, very loud concert from last month. But football and fashion shows are really important, right?

Hey LES, here's your 9 millionth boutique hotel. [Curbed]

David's Bagels has left the building after 21 years. How soon before the rest of the block will follow? [Blah] via [EVG]

The Paris Theatre turns 60--and still TV-commercial free! [Times]

Sept 14: The Brooklyn Book Fest will be loaded with New Yorkers who actually still give a shit about books. [VV]

Here's the Edgar Oliver Goodie that Romy commented about in this week's Carlton Arms post--see his 10th Street show at Axis, starting Sept 25.

*Everyday Chatter

Today is the last day of business for David's Laundry, shuttering after 41 years in Park Slope thanks to a landlord who is forcing them out. [HPS]

Contrary to previous reports, today is the last day of H&H bagels. The counter lady told me last night. You have all day today and this evening to get your last bagels from 80th and Broadway before it becomes a bank. And here is my last:


"What many natives of the West 70s and 80s have long prophesied has come to pass: The neighborhood is finished." [NYT]

Details on last night's rally to save H&H. [WSR]

I fucking love Fran Lebowitz: "What kind of moron would put their bag on the floor of a cab? Anyone who does that deserves to lose it. That’s what I mean — that’s a tourist. What New Yorker would let their bag out of their clutches? I have all the habits of someone who lived here in the ’70s, you know? Which is that, if I have a pencil, I have a death grip on it. I see the people on the subway, they take their Blackberry out, I think really? If that got stolen, I wouldn’t even feel sorry for you." [CR]

Free LGBT weddings on the LES all year long. [EVG]

What will become of the Essex Street Market? [BB]

Eleanor Henderson talks about her new novel Ten Thousand Saints: "These days, it’s hard to fear for your life when you walk down St. Mark’s Place, the East Village street that was the acid heart of the punk-rock scene in the eighties. Now it’s a caricature of its rowdy past self, a goth kid’s Disneyland." [NYer]

Saying goodbye to P.S. 122. [AF] & [MAC]

Bloomberg: "If New York City is a business, it isn’t Wal-Mart–it isn’t trying to be the lowest-priced product in the market. It’s a high-end product, maybe even a luxury product." Read an interview with Julian Brash on Bloomberg's Way. [OTC]

Bloomberg exploits the "pilot" program--undemocratically--to change the face of the city. [NYT]

Cro-Mag John Joseph offers a "three-hour walking tour of Alphabet City and takes you beyond the trendy upscale boutiques, coffee shops and condominiums that you see now, to the great music, drugs and violence that used to inhabit the surrounding area." [GG]

And here are H&H Bagel's light fixtures, lying on the floor: