Had to See for Myself

It's back. The Armado's neon lobster sign is really back! And it looks like it's been scrubbed down for the first time in a half century. Looks damned great.

Armando's to Reopen Sept. 28

Armando's Restaurant, the longtime staple of Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, will reopen on Sept. 28, the eatery said.

As readers may recall, the place closed in 2008 after more than 70 years in business. It was replaced by New York's first Spicy Pickle franchise, which flopped quickly. Then owner Peter Byros had a surprising change of heart and decided to bring Armando's back, with a sleek new look.

Above is the much-loved, sorely missed neon sign that used to hang above the joint. It will not, sadly, be part of Armando's second coming.

Armando's Looking Ready—But Where's the Lobster Sign?

Armando's, the Brooklyn Heights longtimer, which closed last year, then decided to reopen again, is looking almost ready to reopen.

New, cream-colored awning. Sleek outfittings inside, including a large white marble bar up near the front. A polished new image. But no sign of the lost neon lobster sign!! Did the Landmarks Commission kill it? Hey, I'm happy Armando's is coming back, but if there is no vestige of the place's long history, it seems like a hollow victory.

Armando's to Open in August; Sign's Fate Still in Limbo

The last report about Armando's—the "We're closing for good," but "We've had second thoughts, so we're reopening," landmark Brooklyn Heights eatery—was that it would be reopening in three months time. That was in the Daily News in March. So, it's three months. Where is it?

Not open. So I checked in. Activity is brisk on Montague Street. Construction is nascent, but very much going on. The owner, Peter Byros, was on premises, wearing a mouth mask. Armando's will reopen in early August, he told me. What about the iconic sign? Is it coming back, or is the Landmarks Commission continuing to give him unwarranted grief about hanging it back up. "We're working on it," is all he would say.

Landmarks Commision: Stupidity Incarnate

You knew it, but weren't quite 100% sure. But today, courtesy of the Brooklyn Paper, comes the final piece of evidence that the Landmarks Preservation Commission is run by dunderheaded idiots who wouldn't know a landmark if they lived on the top floor of the Tower of Pisa, and wouldn't know what's good for New York if they roomed with the spirit of Peter Stuyvesant.

You've heard about the imminent return of Armando's, the decades-old Brooklyn eatery that gave up its spice to something called Spicy Pickle last year, but, when the chain defaulted on its lease, decided to move on back into its Montague Street space? Hooray!—right?

Well, the Landmarks Commission is intent on spoiling that homecoming. When Armando's departed, it took its classic neon sign with it. (See above.) Now, the Commission isn't so sure the restaurant’s owner, Peter Byros, can rehang the sign, as he would like to. Wrote the Brooklyn Paper, "the city Landmark Preservation Commission must first rule if the sign is an appropriate addition — make that re-addition — to the streetscape of historic Montague Street."

The sign—with its wonderful neon lobster and colors of red, green and blue—was installed more than 70 years ago. When the area was given historic status in 1965, the neon sign was grandfathered in. By taking down the sign, Byros lost its protected status.

Byros is working with the city, but some Brooklynites are not working with him. "It may need to be smaller and it may need to be modernized," an ignoramus named Judy Stanton, who is somehow the executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association, but would be better off as the recording secretary of the Bloomington, Indiana, BID, told Brooklyn Paper. Ms. Stanton, as my mother used to say, has her sense of taste in her mouth.

Now, let's be brutally honest here. The best thing about Armando's was the neon sign. The food was OK. The decor had been modernized over the years and didn't have a lot of remaining character. Armando's had two big pluses going for it: the fact that it was 72 years old; and that wonderful old sign. Christopher Gray recently wrote in the Times that "Armando’s Restaurant, at 143 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, had a rare green-red-blue-yellow combination for its restaurant, with a lobster in yellow."

What does faceless old Montague Street have anymore that's worth looking at? Garden of Eden? Starbuck's? Banana Republic? It's anonymous and personality-free. Only a fool would pass up the chance to rehang the Armando's sign. But fools is who you've got sitting on the Landmarks Commission and on the Brooklyn Heights Association.

Byros: if you need someone to speak on behalf of your sign, and think I could do any little bit of good, contact me.

Amando's to Return to Brooklyn Heights

It's not often that we take a business off the Lost Landmarks column. But we may have to do it with Armando's, the Montague Street eatery that closed last year about 72 years in business.

The owner, Peter Byros, tells the Daily News that the fast food joint that took Armando's place, Spicy Pickle (above), defaulted on their lease. Byros owns the building and has decided to bring the restaurant back. Maria Byros, Peter's daughter, will manage the new Armando's.

"We're going to keep it in a similar style - Old New York - but freshened up," said the younger Byros, noting the menu will feature some yet-to-be-determined new items, along with some old favorites.

And, yes, Peter is trying to get the classic sign back.

This Was Armando's

Spicy Pickle? Spicy Pickle? For where the Dodgers use to eat? Where Monroe ate? Mailer?

Squint, and you can still recognize the old Armando's layout.

A Good Sign: Hallucinogenic Edition

A Flikr account called Jon & Karen's Photostream, which recently joined my Flikr group pool Lost New York City, has some nice hallucinogenic photos of Manhattan and Brooklyn neon signs I love or have loved, including Waverly Restaurant, Nathan's of Coney Island, the late Armando's of Brooklyn Heights, and, yes, our dear, departed McHale's.

Don't know how they achieved the photographic effect. Probably a simple trick that is nonetheless mystifying to me. Nice work, though. If they actually hang out at the places they photograph, I account Jon and Karen fine people indeed.

Some Stuff That's Disappearing

Revised "Amity Street Horror" gets conditional approval from CB6 and, hey, we don't like to kick a developer when he keeps trying.

Chumley's is disappearing before our eyes and I have no idea what it all means.

The late great Revere Sugar refinery is now IKEA's overflow parking lot.

More evidence nobody cares about landmarked buildings.

The Armando's sign in Brooklyn Heights has been taken down. I wonder who got it, if anybody.

Armando's 3/17/2008

Sad sight. The neon sign for Armando's of Brooklyn Heights was off for good on March 17. The seven-decade old Italian restaurant rolled up the floors on Sunday. Inside, staff were taking things apart and rounding up the many, many leftover bottles of liquor. Wonder where they're going. One less location fans can physically connect to the old Dodgers has disappeared.

A Reminder

Montague Street's oldest restaurant and only neon sign disappear on March 16. Go have a meal and a drink or say thanks. (Don't get the house red, though—trust me.) And tip your hat to the oil portrait of Marilyn Monroe. She ate there once.

A Good Sign: Armando's

If this isn't a good sign, I don't know what is. Love the little neon lobster. Armando's is on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights. Been there for some time.