It's almost here. God help us.
The Arby's franchise that is taking over the space long occupied by the classic restaurant Gage & Tollner—one of only two interior restaurant landmarks in the City—will open in a few weeks.
Construction was underway today, with lots of activity inside. An Arby's sign has gone up where the vertical Gage & Tollner sign once hung. There is no big hat logo, just two little hats. (Tasteful!) I took a peek inside. I must say, the famous interior, gas lights and all, looked in fine shape.
If you wish to participate in this besmearing of an icon, there are job opportunities. I'm almost tempted to apply; the experience would be so surreal.
And, as usual, the Devil is in the details:
Too bad it is not Roll 'n Roaster
ReplyDeleteAdd another one to the trophy case. They replaced Niederstein's in Middle Village.
ReplyDeletewww.forgotten-ny.com
yes, indeed, Kevin. That was back in 2005, wasn't it? A year before I started Lost City.
ReplyDeleteWhat gets me is the number of complaints about what the speace was versus what the space will now be utilized for:
ReplyDeleteIf so many people are upset that Gage and Tollners is no longer in business at that location, maybe the same people should have patronized the place so they could have stayed in business.
Seems to me that ANY business going into that space and is honoring the history and the heritage of the locale should be given an even shake and a fair chance.
Well, I went to G&T once. Might have gone back if (a) I had tons of $ and (b) I wanted seafood in cream sauce. Problem was that the hood had changed so much that an old Southern-style place simply could not hold out on the Fulton Street Mall.
ReplyDeleteWhat should have happened was one of those Manhattan celebrity food types should have gotten their passport in order and actually gone to Brooklyn; they might have kept it.
Yuck.