Goodbye Stuyvesant Deli, Goodbye Stuyvesant Town



In New York City, every resident has their own favorite neighborhood bodega, a small grocery store where vital supplies (beer, lottery tickets, candy and the occasional sandwich) can be purchased 24 hours a day. Mine was the Stuyvesant Grocery Deli. That's it in the picture above, at shortly after 11 AM this morning.

Blogger EV Grieve has more on the devastating scene. I won't get there until after work today.

My heart goes out to the guys that run the place. They always asked me how my day was, or where I'd been if I hadn't stopped by in a while. If I find out any way to help them, I'll post it on this blog.

In a way, it's fitting that a place that helped sustain me for the past 6 years just now went up in flames. In a few weeks, I'll be leaving Stuyvesant Town and the East Village behind, moving to a place on 32nd and 2nd, in Kips Bay.

Yeah yeah. I know. Murray Hill. Does that mean I'll suddenly become a douchebag?

Maybe that's unfair to Murray Hill. Not everyone there is a douchebag. But if you're a New Yorker, you know the reputation. I'm leaving a place known for beatniks, punk rock and its rough and tumble character, for a place known for... well, the hair-gelled fist-pumping crowd at Joshua Tree and Brother Jimmy's. My New Haircut wasn't a joke in Murray Hill. It was a docudrama.

But maybe it's time to move on up. My favorite East Village bar, Musical Box, just closed a few weeks ago. Before that, my favorite hidden tiki bar, Waikiki Wally's closed. Before that, my favorite dancing and drinking place, Uncle Ming's closed. When your three favorite neighborhood bars shut down, maybe your neighborhood's trying to tell you something.

And now Stuyvesant Grocery Deli. I better move out soon, before the whole neighborhood closes down and goes up in flames.