Elaine's to Close in May

This one doesn't hurt me as much as yesterday's news that Joe's Superette has closing. I was never a regular at Elaine's, and probably wouldn't have been accepted if I had tried to be. Also, no one much expected it to last long after Elaine died last year. But it was a landmark, and the kind of place that could only crop up in New York. Too bad its famous clientele wasn't as faithful to Elaine's memory as they had been to her.

Six months after the death of its legendary proprietor, Elaine’s restaurant will close its doors next week.

On Tuesday, Elaine’s longtime manager, who inherited the restaurant from Elaine Kaufman, said that the business was no longer viable. She said that Elaine’s last night would be May 26. The last last call will come around 4 the following morning.

“The truth is, there is no Elaine’s without Elaine,” the manager, Diane Becker, said. She added, “The business is just not there without Elaine.”

A spokeswoman for Ms. Becker said she would put the two buildings on Second Avenue that house the restaurant on the market.

“I’m enormously proud of the waiters, the bartenders and the entire staff who have worked so hard with me to keep the place open and going since Elaine’s passing in December,” she said, “but it’s simply not a viable situation.”

It was an announcement that anxious regulars had dreaded as Ms. Kaufman’s on-and-off health problems had become more of a preoccupation around Elaine’s checkered-tablecloth tables.

Ms. Kaufman, who was 81 when she died on Dec. 3 of complications from emphysema, left the restaurant and most of her estate to Ms. Becker. That included two adjoining five-story buildings on Second Avenue — the restaurant has occupied the ground floor of the two buildings for more than 40 years — and Ms. Kaufman’s co-op apartment a few blocks away.

Ms. Kaufman’s will directed Ms. Becker to sell the apartment and to spend the money on estate taxes and four bequests totaling $230,000. But the apartment remains on the market. The original asking price of $2.95 million has been reduced to $2.75 million.

Ms. Becker had worked for Ms. Kaufman since the mid-1980s and had said repeatedly that the restaurant would keep going. “The only missing link is Elaine,” she said in January.

But Elaine’s had become an anomaly, a single-owner restaurant in an age of deep-pocketed investors and celebrity chefs like Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Daniel Boulud.

In recent months, the restaurant appeared only empty, even on prime weekend dining nights.

The Saddest News in Forever

Joe's Superette, a historic pillar of the Carroll Gardens Italian-American culinary history, is closing. Unbelievable and unbelievably heartbreaking.

Here's the whole, horrible story from Pardon Me for Asking:

The old fashioned deli at 349 Smith Street between Carroll and 2nd Street is closing its doors after more than 50 years. The original owner, Joe, for whom the deli was named, ran the place with his wife and daughter for decades. They did all the cooking out of the relatively small kitchen in the back. When Joe was ready to retire, he sold the business to one of his employees, Leo Coladonato. Leo knew the store and its customers well. One could say that he had grown up there. He had started working for Joe when he was just a kid, delivering orders. As he became older, he made his way behind the counter, slicing cold-cuts and making sandwiches.

When he took over the business in 1985, Leo kept the name and the old "Joe's Superette" sign, so everyone continued calling it Joe's. All through the 1980's and 90's, there were long lines in front of Joe's at lunchtime. Though customers loved the overstuffed sandwiches, they really came for those famous prosciutto balls that Leo made in the small kitchen in the back of the store. Deep-fried to golden perfection, the gooey, cheesy bites of breaded ricotta, mozzarella and ham were there reason why people came to this place from all over Brooklyn. They were simply heavenly. Sadly, Leo has had health issues in reason months. Louie, who has worked for Leo for a few years, has kept things going in the store. However, the decision has been made to close Joe's Superette. The store is being emptied right now.

I have eaten those prosciutto balls a hundred times. Every time, they have been phenomenal. There's just nothing like them. They're Italy-good. Not just Italian-American good. They're that fantastic. I loved them so much, when I did my walking tours, I bought a couple dozen and fed them to my fellow walkers. I doubt anyone in New York can replicate them.

I will write a longer, more detailed tribute later. Too sad right now. Couldn't they have given us a week's warning, so we could have had just one more bite?

Lester's. Lester's. Lester's.

Look at this Midwood department store. Would you believe this no-frills, local department store was part of a thriving New York chain that has outlets in Manhattan, Long Island and Westchester?

It is. Lester's was founded in 1948 and I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this store, which owns the corner of Avenue U and Coney Island Blvd., was the first. The signs are just too damn old. The look is so mid-20th-century-non-chain-local-department-store. (Which is a thing, believe me. I can recognize it a mile away.) Lester and Lillian Kronfeld were the founders and the chain is still family owned.

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A Final Visit to Savoy

My wife is an art critic. So, when we first started dating in the early '90s, we spent a lot of time in SoHo, which was then the heart of the New York art world. A lot of the galleries and bars and restaurants we frequented back then are long gone. But Savoy was there then, and it's there now. But it's days are numbered. Savoy will close for good June 18. Chef Peter Hoffman, who founded it as one of the first farm-to-table restaurants in the city, has decided to renovate and reopen as a more casual eatery.

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158-Year-Old Bell Finds Its Resting Place at Strong Place

I've posted in the past about the wonderful old bell that was fetched out of the steeple of the Strong Place Church, as the Cobble Hill landmark has been converted into ritzy apartments, and wondered what would become of it.

The bell, which was forged at the once-world-famous bellmaker Meneely's in West Troy, New York, has been resting on the lawn for months. Well, yesterday, some feverish work and seriously heavy-lifting got underway, and the huge thing found its final resting place.

They've put it right at the corner of Degraw and Strong Place, behind the cast-iron fence. It's a lovely setting, easily viewable to anyone who passes by. And they've placed the inscription to the front, so that everyone can read it. They seem to have given it a little polish, too. It's cleaner than it was. Nice work.

A Strip of Old Broadway

Is this patch of ugly old buildings, on W. 46th Street east of Broadway, the last ungentrified section of squeaky clean Times Square? It's certainly one of the last. And its surrounding by shiny new towers on either side.

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A Good Sign: Harold's for Prescriptions

I don't think I've ever encountered a drug store with a name as unusual as Harold's for Prescriptions, in Gravesend, Brooklyn. What did Harold think he was trading in? Perfume? Ladies' hats?

It's a wonderful name, whatever the reason for the curious syntax. There's a nice corner entrance, but you're not supposed to use it. Lovely awnings on either side of the entrance you can use.

Riedel in Winn-derland

Either Cobble Hill's cut-rate palace Winn Discount—ahem, Winn Home & Beauty—is coming up in the world or Riedel glassware is coming down.

I saw this sign in the window of Winn and did a double take. The king of crystal wine stemware in my neighborhood discount housewares joint?

I went inside. Sure enough. They have tons of Riedel! Including the glasses I use at home. Right next to the Libby glasses. I'd say the coup is Winn's, not the Austrian glassmaker's.

The marriage still shows signs of growing pains however. For instance, Winn spelled Riedel wrong in the sign. Twice.

A New York Block

This is in Astoria. Now that, to me, is how an outer borough block should look (aside from the Sprint awfulness). A variety of heights, a plethora of indy businesses, lots of visual variety, plenty of frontage quirks, splashes of stylish neon and groovy font, and all of it low slung. Tasty. Homey. Authentic. Right.

No Restrictions on Entertainment or Dancing

This building, obviously a once-dignified edifice, stands on its own at 29-13 Queens Plaza East, otherwise know as Northern Boulevard, in Long Island City. There's nothing to the left, nothing to the right. And a million highway overpasses overhead. It's hard to imagine this was once a desirable business thoroughfare.

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