So Long, W. 45th Street

A month ago Lost City remarked that the strip of former restaurants along W. 45th Street between Broadway and Eighth looked ripe for the wrecking ball. Sure enough, a month later half of the buildings are gone, reduced to a pile a rubble. Vanished are the addresses that once housed Puleo's and Puleo's II. Still standing are the one-time homes of Barrymore's and Sam's. Also left is the jigsaw pattern on the side of the former Sam's, an interesting arrangement of wall and brick which looks to me a bit like something Robert Rauschenberg might have come up with.

The million-dollar question remains what's to become of the old steakhouse Frankie and Johnny's, which sits right next door and continues to act like nothing's going on. It's hard to see how a hotel will rise on this sight with F&J still there. Perhaps it will remain, a la Hurley's and Rockefeller Center.