All Gone, Folks!

Tuesday, I reported on the unceremonious dismantling of the old Kiev Restaurant sign on Second Avenue—the last architectural remnant of the great old diner of loving memory. Some new renters of the space were busy taking it down.

On Thursday it was completely gone. No trace the sign or restaurant ever existed. Shed a tear, friends. The new eatery is to be called "Song." It was serve "Asian cuisine." (Gee. Every kind? Mongolian?) I snapped a shot of the interior—none too inspiring. I guess they deserve a chance at success like anybody else. Sorry, but the lack of respect they showed the Kiev sign just hit me the wrong way.

The Last Remnant of Kiev Comes Down

Two gentleman were busy Tuesday dismantling and altering the facade of the restaurant space at the southwest corner of Second Avenue and E. 7th Street in the East Village. The good news is they took down the horrifically garish signage belonging to the American Grill, the lackluster eatery that took the place of the great, old-school Russian diner, Kiev. The bad news is they were also taking down the great Kiev sign, which the owners of American Grill, out of laziness, had left on the second-story corner of the building.


The industrious duo, seemingly connected with the new eating concern which will soon occupy the address, attacked the sign with screwdriver, hammer and other implements of destruction. They opened it and ripped out wiring that had once made possible its illumination. I peppered them with questions, but they either did not understand English or pretended not to. The American Grill sign parts were collected on the sidewalk.

I let them be and returned to check on their progress three hours later. I feared I might never see the Kiev sign—a classic—again. It was still there, but hollowed out; you could see right through it. My friends were now busy painting the facade a loverly shade of, um, black. They seem like a particularly unsentimental bunch, the new owners.

Not an Acceptable Replacement

I was on Second Avenue the other day and stopped to witness the horror of the American Grill facade at the southwest corner of E. 7th Street. With its intermingled red and blue neon signs, and the red and blue awnings, not to mention the mix of silver and gold metal walls, it could hardly be a more injurious assault to the eyes. A truly nauseating sight.

American Grill's look might not be so upsetting it weren't sitting on the corner that once belonged to the Kiev Restaurant, old-school Ukrainian eatery and avenue anchor. As if to rub salt in the woulds, the owners of American Grill have seen fit to leave the old Kiev sign intact on the second-floor level, as if to remind us of what's we've lost.