Smith's Neon

When Smith's Bar & Restaurant closed in October, after more than 60 years off Times Square, we figured it was gone for good, another old joint vanished forever.

The tipster who tipped me said it was due to "lease issues." When the mainstream media followed up on the news, they discovered that staffers were let go, Smith's was done, but management wasn't talking. No one would--or could--reveal why the bar was closing.


Sign removed weeks ago--photo by Davy Mack

Patrons jammed the place for a last hurrah. The bar shuttered and we watched while the beautiful, old neon sign was ripped down. Many of us figured that demolition would soon follow.

But something else is happening here.



On a recent walk by, I found a pair of workers putting the sign back into place, its chrome restored to a perfect shine.



The red backing has also been replaced. And it looks like neon tubes are going in next.

I don't know what we're getting here--plain old renovation or upscale re-do with so-called "homage"--but it looks like, one way or another, we might not have lost Smith's Bar after all.

Previously:
Smith's Bar & Restaurant
Shack Effect

Stop the Vanishing, Save the Varnishkes!

Yesterday, our rally to save Cafe Edison was a big success. Thank you to everyone who spread the word, showed up, and made it all happen.


photo: Jennifer Leonard

In attendance were Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, NYC Council Member Corey Johnson, New York State Senator Brad Hoylman, and New York State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, along with members of the entertainment unions and a crowd of supportive community members--who brought signs like: "Don't evict Grandma!" and "The Yiddish are coming!"

Senator Hoylman introduced another great slogan: "Stop the Vanishing, Save the Varnishkes!"


photo: Jolly Holidays, via twitter

The Jolly Holidays carolers were also there, volunteering their time and talent, along with a personalized song for Cafe Edison. To the tune of "Silver Bells," they sang, "Matzo balls, matzo balls, we love our soup in the city..."


photo: Peter Ajemian, via twitter

The politicians gave rousing speeches in support of keeping Cafe Edison right where it is. The owners of Hotel Edison want the coffee shop to relocate, so they can upscale the space, but while relocation might look like a rescue, it could mean Cafe Edison's demise. It's a situation we've seen happen too many times--like in the case of Arnold Hatters.

A third-generation Times Square business, dependent on the Broadway community, much like Cafe Edison, Arnold Hatters was forced to move due to an eminent domain grab of the building they'd been in for 50 years. They relocated just four blocks south. But those four blocks made a big difference. The Broadway community did not follow, they went out of business, and 7-Eleven moved into their space.

"Manhattan’s funny," the co-owner of the hat shop told me in 2009. "We’re just four blocks away, but it’s another world down here. We’re down 40% of what we did in our last year in the old location."

We cannot let this happen to Cafe Edison.

"It is unimaginable," said Council Member Corey Johnson at the rally, that Cafe Edison "would be under the threat of eviction and closure... There really is only one good solution here. The only solution is to allow Cafe Edison to stay in this magical place, which has been their home, and to hopefully put the entire community-- New York City, the theater community, all of that--above, hopefully, a little bit of profit."

He added that the public advocates present, along with Mayor Bill de Blasio, "all stand ready to be of help and assistance in any way possible."


photo: Jennifer Leonard

But this is no easy fight. The Edison Hotel's owner, Gerald Barad, is partners in the Triumph Hotel chain with Shimmie Horn. As the Post reported back in 2011, Horn built his empire "by converting family-owned fleabag flophouses into chic spots," like the Upper West Side's Belleclaire, from which beloved Big Nick's was forced out after 50 years, thanks to a massive rent hike last year.

When Horn upscaled the Iroquois in 1999, out went a storied barber shop. Reported the Times, "For as long as anyone could remember, the Dumont Barber Shop occupied the street-level space on the Avenue of the Americas side of the hotel entrance. But what was acceptable in a budget hotel charging about $129 a night was not in one hoping to move up to the luxury level with rates starting at $275 a night and going up to $675 a night for a two-bedroom suite."




Previously:News breaks about Cafe Edison's forced closure
The first of many Lunch Mob draws 600 supporters
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer writes a letter asking for a lease for Cafe Edison
New York State Senator Brad Hoylman writes a letter
Councilmember Corey Johnson writes a letter

Join the Save Cafe Edison Facebook group
Tweet with #SaveCafeEdison
Sign the petition

Rally to Save Cafe Edison

After many successful Lunch Mobs and letters of support from local politicians, daily tweets and international press coverage, we got to the top. Mayor Bill de Blasio has joined the fight to save Cafe Edison. Earlier this week, he told the Strohls: "Your family is beloved and my team will do everything it can."

This Sunday morning, December 7 at 10:00 AM, we've planned a major rally and press conference with politicians outside the coffee shop on 47th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues.

Official Media Advisory:


In attendance will be Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, NYC Council Member Corey Johnson, New York State Senator Brad Hoylman, and New York State Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, along with members of the entertainment unions, including the Local One stagehands.

We're hoping the mayor will make an appearance (though he's got his hands full this week), and we've also invited a number of Broadway celebrities. Plus: The Jolly Holidays Caroling Co. will perform--possibly singing a seasonally appropriate tribute to matzo balls ("deck the halls with balls of matzo"?). Anything could happen.

So be there, rain or shine! (Soup will warm you up.) Please bring your signs of support urging the city and the Hotel Edison's landlord to Save Cafe Edison. Take this opportunity to tell the mayor and City Council it's time to help Save Small Businesses in New York City by passing the Small Business Jobs Survival Act. This is our chance to make our voices heard, make a difference, and stop the vanishing. Enough is enough!



Previously:
News breaks about Cafe Edison's forced closure
The first of many Lunch Mob draws 600 supporters
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer writes a letter asking for a lease for Cafe Edison
New York State Senator Brad Hoylman writes a letter
Councilmember Corey Johnson writes a letter

Join the Save Cafe Edison Facebook group
Tweet with #SaveCafeEdison
Sign the petition

Thrifty/American Beer

VANISHING

Reader Michael Berman of Pizza Centric writes in to let us know that "the Thrifty Beer store in Cobble Hill put up a sign last week that they're closing."



Also known as the American Beer Distributor, Thrifty opened on Court Street in 1947. Run by the Marino family, it has remained current and popular by catering to drinkers of microbrews. Time Out called it "one of Brooklyn's best destinations for beer."

Michael writes, "It's an old-school beer store surrounded by affluence. I do think all kinds of people--certainly the old-school ones--shop there. Fair prices, great selection. They used to have these yellow stickers shaped like beer cans that said 'Beer Makes You Shmart' that they gave away. (Not sure if I spelled Shmart correctly). The site will eventually turn into a new building and become condos, I hear."



Pardon Me For Asking also heard the news from a reader, who says, "I spoke to the owner and he said 'it's time.' he said that he would be open until the end of the year. They own the entire building."

Looks like condos are coming.

Bonelle Pastry Shop

The following is a guest post by Max Falkowitz

VANISHING

For 23 years, Rahita Raval has baked croissants and carrot cake in a 470 square foot storefront in Forest Hills, Queens. Now, as thanks for those pastries and two decades as a respectful tenant, her landlord has handed her an eviction notice. Bonelle Pastry Shop, today a fixture of the neighborhood, must clear out by the end of the year.


photo: Ed B Flowers, flickr

Raval isn’t facing eviction to make way for a new store that wants her space. Her landlord, the Brooklyn-based Babad Management Company, just signed a lease with Dunkin’ Donuts for a space down the street. Babad argues Bonelle would make undue competition for Dunkin’ and thus must vacate the premises. With only a verbal rental agreement, not a formal lease (it was foisted on her after her first 10 years as a leased tenant), she has few options.

The Daily News and Gothamist have been on the case, and over 850 people have signed a petition urging Babad to reconsider. Most recently, the Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee Scott Campbell has pledged his support for Bonelle, in an effort to highlight where the eviction pressure seems to be coming from: a massive real estate company that hardly has a sterling reputation. Babad’s company, meanwhile, has been unresponsive to journalists’ calls, and has not replied to Raval’s (or her lawyer’s) request for a meeting.

It’s unclear just what the original terms of discussion were between Babad and Dunkin’ Donuts. It’s uncertain if all this protest will have any effect, or, if it does, if Campbell won’t change his tune about Bonelle staying put.

But here’s what I can tell you about Bonelle and its place in Forest Hills.

Jeremiah spends his days chronicling the painful ways New York is losing its vital organs. Forest Hills has stood as a resilient counterexample to this necrosis, a neighborhood populated by decades-old businesses and the customers to keep them thriving. Take Eddie’s Sweet Shop, the marble-countered ice cream parlor with nearly 100 years of history behind it. Or the 80-year-old German chocolate shop Aigner’s, which makes its honeycomb candy just like always. Or Bonelle’s neighbor, Nick’s Pizza, which for 21 years has been slinging some of the borough’s finest pies.

I could tell you about the bagel shops that have stood the test of time. And Wafa’s, which years ago graduated from a lunch counter to a full restaurant, where chef Wafa Chami’s Lebanese cooking has a dedicated clientele.

And then there’s Bonelle, which loads its moist carrot cake with nuts and fat slabs of not-too-sweet cream cheese icing. You can buy oversized jammy hamentaschen there, and flaky rugelach, and sweet, dense petit fours. Raval doesn’t have a hot take on a cronut or much reason to change her menu at all. She’s a bakery owner succeeding where more and more New York small businesses are failing. And she has the fans to keep it that way.


photo: Daily News

Forest Hills has the advantage of housing some of Queens’s wealthiest residents. And those residents gladly shop at the many chains on Austin Street and Queens Boulevard. But they support their local spots with gusto and show no sign of stopping. Babad’s eviction notice isn’t an omen of gentrification; Forest Hills is already comfortably gentrified. Rather, it’s an awkward, unwelcome, and ungainly attempt at a powerplay fueled by the basest form of greed.

Raval is now fighting her eviction, seeking out a new space, and handling the rush of holiday orders all at once. She has no problem with a Dunkin’ Donuts opening nearby; she just wants to keep baking. “I would love for the landlord to come to the table. I’d love to have a five-year lease and to show him that the neighborhood supports us. He’s allowed me to be here for 23 years. All I would like is a few years more.”

Supporters can sign the petition at her bakery. You can also contact Forest Hills councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, borough president Melinda Katz, or call Babad Management Company at 718-633-7586 and urge them to respond to Bonelle’s request for a meeting.


Max Falkowitz is the national editor editor at Serious Eats, a James Beard award-winning food and drink website, where he covers dining in New York across the five boroughs.

Sturgeon Queens

The Sturgeon Queens, a documentary about Russ & Daughters, premieres tonight on Channel 13. Don't miss it. In the meantime, a Q&A with director Julie Cohen.



Q: What inspired you to make this film?

A: In 2008 I made a film for channel 13 called "The Jews of New York" of which Russ & Daughters was one of six segments. For that program I interviewed Anne & Hattie, two of the three "daughters" for whom the store was named. At the time of our interview they were 88 and 95. They had style, great, poignant stories to tell, and the comic timing of borscht belt entertainers. It also didn't hurt that they had lovely singing voices and reminded me of my own grandmothers. I'd always wanted to go back and make a film just about Russ & Daughters using more of that amazing 2-hour interview. With the store's 100th anniversary in 2014, I knew this was the year for it.

Q: What was your favorite part of making the film?

A: That's a tie: A) the day I spent with Anne & Hattie at their condo complex in Florida hearing what it was like to work 12-hour days in an unheated store pulling herring from barrels for demanding customers. And B) the day we recorded our narration. Ordinarily, recording voiceovers is a pretty boring, uneventful part of the process. But for this film our narrators were 6 longtime Russ & Daughters customers in their 70s, 80s and 90s. These aren't professional actors, so I was really blown away by the feeling they put into the reading. And the fact that they didn't always read the script exactly as I'd written it led to some of the funniest moments of that day, and ultimately of the completed film.


the narrators

Q: How has Russ & Daughters played an important role in the neighborhood?

A: The great thing about R & D is that they appeal to both elements that make the Lower East Side what it is: the older Jews who remember childhood trips to the neighborhood with their parents and grandparents, and the young, often tattooed hipsters who've decided, for whatever reason, that lox is cool. For the most part these two groups stick to their own territories. Russ & Daughters is the big exception, where the hip and the haimish converge. There's something pretty awesome about that.

Q: What's your favorite item on the menu?

A: I'd vote for the pickled herring in cream sauce. This is not the fanciest item, but the combination of that unique soft fish with the slightly sweet sour cream sauce and the crisp onions reminds me of childhood breakfasts with my grandparents, only better.

Q: How do you like the new R&D restaurant?

A: Love it. There are purists who believe that standing and waiting on the counter line at the store is an essential part of the Russ & Daughters experience. But I'm definitely not such a purist. To me, the cafe experience is more fun. I love sitting in a big comfortable booth to enjoy my smoked fish. And I'm an especially big fan of the new menu items: the borscht is incredible, the smoked fish salads make a great, healthy meal, and do not even get me started on the halvah ice cream. I have a serious sweet tooth and I'd put it up against any dessert at any restaurant in NYC.


The film will air on WNET/13 Dec 2 at 10 pm and on WLIW/21 Dec 3 at 7:30 pm. It is expected to air on PBS stations outside New York sometime in mid-2015.

Watch the trailer here

El Quijote's New Chef

A regular reader writes in:

"Two very rich moms bragged to me on two separate occasions recently that Lee Hanson is taking over the kitchen at El Quijote. Evidently, this is the guy behind the devastation at the Minetta and was the former head chef at Balthazar. Of course we knew it was coming, but still. I went to El Quijote for a meal and ate food that wasn't 'amazing'; instead, it was simply perfect."

[*Update: Rumor confirmed]



Back in May, I first broke the news that El Quijote--the beloved, rough around the edges restaurant in the Chelsea Hotel since 1930--would be changing management. I was told that the restaurant would be upscaled and sanitized in a fashion similar to what happened to Minetta Tavern.

My intel was soon confirmed. Ed Scheetz, the man who took over the hotel, took over El Quijote, too. His rep said they would "retain the signature look and feel of El Quijote" while "maintaining its authenticity."

Last month, another reader informed me of a "very intimate party celebrating the last night under Manny Ramirez," the long-time manager of the restaurant.


NY Times: Hanson, Nasr, McNally at Minetta's

And now we hear about Lee Hanson, who did the cooking for the Keith McNally empire for several years, along with Riad Nasr. "It's time for us to brave new challenges," the duo said when they left McNally last year.