Stores Die, Websites Live On

Many a landmark New York shop, restaurant, bar or business has succumbed since I began this blog three-and-a-half years ago. Some pass away without a trace, paved over by Gotham's ceaseless, heartless march of progress. Some leave slight architectural hints of their existence. Others live on in the spectral twilight of the Internet.

Most shops that meet their final end quickly bring the curtain down on their website. Take, for instance, the site of Arnold Hatters, which shuttered a month ago. No sooner had it ceased operation than the owners took down all Internet info except for a succinct letter of farewell.

Other stores, however, aren't so thorough in cleaning up their cybershop. Joseph Patelson Music Shop closed its doors a couple weeks ago, but on its website, there's still a sale going on. Manny's Music ended its 83-year-long run on May 31, but www.mannysmusic.com is still open for business and ready to answer your e-mails.

OK, OK, those places only closes a little while ago. So we should give them time, right? Well, what about the Upper West Side's Cafe Mozart, which still a picture gallery, menus, applications for gift certificates and reservation page? It closed in summer 2008. And the vastly missed Vesuvio Bakery's site still boasts a menu from its final incarnation as a cafe. Maybe the owners are just too heartbroken to attend to details such as these. So they stay there, to break our hearts.

Another website floating out there without any material foothold on Earth is the one for Florent, the legendary Meatpacking diner that closed in 2008. But, then, there are rumors Morellet is reopening in a different location. So maybe he has his reasons for keeping the site up.

Or, Here's an Idea: Let Florent Come Back!

For months we have watched a pre-drawn conclusion play itself out as the landlord who kicked Meatpacking District legend Florent out tried to find success with her own sad replica of the diner, R&L Restaurant—and failed and failed and failed. As we all knew she would. Idiot. A thousand times over, idiot. (R&L was, of course, the name of the original diner that was there, but it's second incarnation was a hollow effort.)

The landlord eventually gave up, and R&L/Florent has been closed for a while. Now there's news from Grub Street of a new tenant:

When a reputable downtown restaurateur put in a competitive bid on the space a few weeks back, his offer wasn't even entertained. He was told the space had been leased; Grub Street has confirmed that a signed lease is now in place with another player, according to a source very close to Joanne Lucas, who owns the property. As for who this new tenant is, the facts are less clear.

We asked one nightlife expert about the space and he said, "At the numbers she was asking, I'm hard pressed to believe that anyone with any market knowledge would have signed. She was asking $30k/month, so assume it's $20k. The taxes are very high there and you'd be required to basically rebuild the space. It's in very poor condition and hasn't been touched in twenty years." Nevertheless, two more sources named David Graziano and David Cabo, of the Pink Elephant and Bagatelle cabal, as the new lease holders.

OK, so Lucas' restaurant failed. Why seek out new tenants, who would destroy the interior and, with it, what's left of the Florent legacy inside? Why not do the obvious thing and invite Florent to move back in and start up the old business like nothing had happened? I'm certain his patrons would return. What do you say Joanne? Can you admit you were wrong and make amends? Prove that what we naturally assume about landlords is wrong.

Matchbooks of the Lost City: The Recently Deceased

Marion's, died on the Bowery this year.


A Florent matchbook from way back when. I mean the late '80s.


The Old Minetta Tavern. Not the one McNally is going to reopen soon.

Joanne Lucas: A Landlord's Landlord

Tonight, the iconic Meatpacking District diner Florent will close its doors for good. But on Tuesday, when it reopens at the R & L Restaurant, it will have the same decor, mostly the same menu and all the same staff members. Everything except beloved owner Florent Morellet.

This was the big news at Eater.com and the other food blogs last week. Back in January, inviting months and months of drama, landlord Joanne Lucas made the unconscienceable decision to kick Florent out of his Gansevoort Street space after 23 neighborhood-transforming years, just so she might get pour some more jack in her pocketbook and help ruin the neighborhood in the process. Then, when no retail chains turned up with the dough she was looking for, Lucas turned around and decided to take the place away from Florent anyway and turn it back into the R & L Restaurant—the diner run by her father at that address, before Morellet arrived.

Everyone was generally stunned by this turn of events. Some called Lucas the canniest landlord ever. Others looked on the bright side, noting that Florent would not completely vanish from the face of New York, since R & L would look and eat much the same as its predecessor.

Me? If I could cast Lucas howling into the flames of Hades, I would.

That landlords are perfidious beings, I know. That they best embody man's inherent inhumanity to man, I well believe. But I have encountered few examples of the profession's grasping, greedy, duplicitous, conniving, feral, amoral, atavistic, pre-ethical, cynical, underhanded tendencies as the heinous double-dealing—at the expense of Mr. Morellet's livelihood, the happiness of thousands of patrons, and the general cultural health of the City—of Ms. Joanne Lucas (may her name ever live in infamy). She rolled the dice for the hell of it, and Mr. Morellet lost his mission in life. Blood colder than hers no snake ever had.

When asked by Eater why Florent isn't involved in the new restaurant, Lucas responded, "Florent from what I understand is moving on to a new chapter in his life." Yes, Bitch: Because you forced that chapter on his ass by kicking him to the curb!

Florent himself struck a more generous note: "I'm not totally surprised. There's something very special about this neighborhood in the Meatpacking District...the property has been in the family with Joanne for three generations and they have an emotional relationship with the building. I was curious to see what would happen when push came to shove with Joanne when the big bucks came to the door. It would have meant tearing down the inside...This was not a decision based on capitalism."

I am not as forgiving as Mr. Morellet. I wish Lucas nothing good. I love the space, I love its history, but may she never have a day of luck with it. May the pipes burst every winter and the air-conditioning break every summer. May the DOH shut R & L down every month. May Florent's customer base abandon her. May her home in the City be infested by bedbugs and her summer house be swallowed by the ocean. And may the New York Times, New York magazine and Gourmet—having been suckered into granted Florent's lengthy tributes based on its fading into the sunset—never bestow upon R & L a drop of ink.

Some Stuff That's Interesting

Can it be possible? Some anonymous rich guy stepped up with $20 mil and saved St. Brigid's. Hey rich guy! Call me! I know some other places worth saving.

Behold the Toyota Children’s Learning Garden of the East Village. The name says it all.

Macy's wants to rename 34th Street between Sixth and Broadway R.H. Macy Way, after founder Rowland Hussey Macy. What about Isador and Nathan Strauss, who were partners with Macy from 1888 and who bought Macy's from R.H. in 1896, and actually moved it to 34th Street?

Frank Bruni writes lots and lots about Florent.

Landmarks Commission nixes awful garage plan for Brooklyn Heights Riverside Apartments.

Some Stuff That's Interesting, and One to Make Your Blood Boil

Florent will not go into that goodnight quietly, but in singularly quirky fashion.

Soil is coming to the High Line.

Harlem City Council Member Inez Dickens is my new hero. Anyone who pisses off Bloomberg rates in my book.

Read this article in the Village Voice and then tell me Bloomberg, Doctoroff and Lancaster aren't enemies of the people.

Three Classic Eateries in the News

Two cherished old Manhattan restaurants and one cherished Brooklyn eatery made news today—bad for two, and potentially good for the other.

Florent, the cherished Meatpacking District late-night haunt that has a scummy, greedy landlord ("Me want 50 grand a month or I murderize you"), has named June 29 as its last day on Earth. I talked to my lawyer and [the restaurant] will stay open for two or three months. I'd like to end on a high note and I think Gay Pride Day would be perfect," Florent Morellet told the New York Post.

The restaurant that will supplant Brooklyn Heights mainstay Armando's has been revealed to be, uh, Spicy Pickle. This is apparently the unfortunate name of a Denver-based sandwich chain with franchises in 14 states. It's website says it's a leader in the "fast-casual" concept of dining, which is sort of like saying one's leader in the "good-bad" food movement.

Meanwhile, restauranteur Keith McNally's purchase of the immortal Minetta Tavern in Greenwich Village has been confirmed. He appeared before Community Board 2 to outline his plans (that's him above), according to Eater:

The menu will be French, (shocker), but the interior will remain unchanged.
2) The plan is to have 83 seats, with a capacity of 95, but due to a technicality, only a 75 person capacity was approved as of last night.

There was some minor opposition from neighbors concerned about noise and the possibility of "idling limos," but in the end, the motion passed unanimously, and the license is off to the SLA.

Since he's respecting the interior of the place, I'm fairly content. The food could use a kick in the pants, so let him at it. And there's nothing wrong with drawing a new, fresh crowd to a great, historic address.

Did I Say $6,000? I Meant $43,000!

Wondering how little the landlord who owns Florent's building deserved a present from Santa? This little: He wants $43,000 a month in rent. That's up from, um, $6,018. This is why I've always put landlords at the bottom of the occupational food chain; they cavalierly and greedily fuck around with basic human rights: shelter and livelihood.

Owner Florent Morellet, suing the landlord, but what honestly can he do but forestall the inevitable? According to the Observer acticle, "He doesn’t fault the landlord for trying to cash in. `Until we, as New Yorkers, decide to pass laws to have rent control commercially, landlords should be able to charge what they want,' he said." Or, here's another take on the situation that doesn't give scumlords a pass on ethics: Until we, as New Yorkers, decide to pass laws to have rent control commercially, landlords should make a concerted effort regulate their own business principles according a shared societal creed of fairness.

Some Stuff That's Interesting

Still no action at would-be Court Street Trader Joe's. (And can they please fix the clock?)

Somebody tore down the 114-year-old Church of the Master (cool name) because, you know, they just had to.

The bad news about Meatpacking landmark diner Florent maybe closing appears to be true. The Observer says the restaurant's lease is up March 31 and the owner may not renew. If you have $70,000 (a month) the space can be yours.

A cool film of Blackwell's Island circa 1903 made by Thomas Edison.

Some good citizens (and one City Councilman) participated in a rally at Borough Hall in support of the drive to downzone Carroll Gardens.

And, off-island: I like pizza places that call themselves "Apizza." New Haven rocks!

Trouble on Gansevoort Street?

If you've been wondering what else can be done to strip the Meatpacking Distict of all its character, try this on: Florent's days may be numbered.

Eater reported that the venerable hipster diner, which was open 24 hours a day when Gansavoort Street was still scary and dangerous and odiferous, may be up for sale. According to their information, the restaurant's landlord is shopping around the space. Eater admits that's its sources aren't 100%, but, just to make sure, they phoned Florent owner Florent Morellet. And it's the way Morellet replies that makes one worry:

"I can't tell you [when we'll close]. Nobody will know until the fat lady sings, as we say. I'll fight with the last bone in my body... The rents are high in the neighborhood. Like I've said to a lot of people, I'm optimistic because I believe the world economy will collapse and so might the real estate prices in the neighborhood. Maybe people will get down to reality and realize that the sky's not the limit. We don't know. We'll know down the road. It's not closing yet. Not at all."

Dose ain't da woids of a confident man.

If Florent does go, I'm ready to stick a fork in the Meatpacking District for good. The diner is a wonderful slice of New Yorkiana, with an understated, 1950s, Film Noir vibe. Florent opened in 1985. The old R & L Restaurant sign, denoting the space's previous tenant, still sit above the awning. Coming up it and its lovely pink neon sign at 3 AM and seeing the inside abuzz with hungry young scenesters is enough to warm the cockles of any urbania aficianado's heart. (I still recall my first nighttime glimpse of it as a magical moment, like spying a mirage in a cobblestone desert.)