If you asked me six months ago, I would have said "Never gonna happen." But it seems to be true: the Second Avenue Deli, onetime East Village institution felled by rising rents, will rise again on 33rd Street near Third Avenue.
The exact address is 162 E. 33rd Street, a few feet west of Third, the former location of a rather tacky-looking tapas joint. It's a charmingly ramshackle little block, a collection of aging and falling-down buildings. There are construction notices all over the windows of the restaurant and a lot of work going on inside. A workman confirmed that this was the future location of the famous deli.
It's a narrow space, a fraction of the size of the former Second Avenue address. It seems they've trying their best to recreate the old place's ambiance. They've put up a long counter on the right size. There's an ornate pressed-tin ceiling, painted silver. Tile has been laid on the floor and on the walls in back, where the seating will be. It looks cozy, if cramped.
Jack Lebewohl, whose family owned the Second Avenue Deli for decades, and who's son Jeremy will now run the deli, has said it will reopen "sometime in the fall." It looks like they will
There is now a reason to go to that neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is that at one time 33rd and Third was an area known for its Landsmanshaftn, Jewish Fraternal organizations, made up of immigrants from the same villages that emigrated here. There's an old Three Stooges movie where a character speaking to Curly states he is from 33rd and 3rd to which Curly replies "A landsman huh". My point being that the deli relocating to this deli is not so far out of historical context.
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