Report: Fontana's packing it in on the LES

The owners of Fontana's will be closing their bar and performance venue at 105 Eldridge St. this spring, The Lo-Down reports today.

Proprietors Holly Ferrari, Mary Finn and Deannie Wheeler told The Lo-Down that "it has become increasingly hard to be an independent business in New York city without compromising your vision." With a new lease, their monthly rent in the space between Broome and Grand would have exceeded $30,000.

They haven't set a closing date just yet.

[Updated] An in-progess look at East Village bars (and a few other places) open tonight

[Randomly, earlier]

Well, someone asked us on Twitter.

Please add to the (not exhaustive) list in the comments... and we'll update, unless we go out. Confirmed so far:

Avenue A:
Common Ground
HiFi
Niagara
Flinder's Lane
Boulton & Watt
The Library

Avenue B:
7B/Vazac's
Manitoba's
The Roost
Dream Baby
Fonda
Mona's
Boxcar Lounge
Gruppo until 8 p.m.

Avenue C:
The Wayland
ABC Beer Co.
Edi & the Wolf
Summit Bar

First Avenue:
The International
Coal Yard
Three of Cups
Hearth (as long as the subways remain up and running)
d.b.a.
Tile Bar
Spiegel (at East Second Street)
Lunasa

Second Avenue:
Professor Thom's
Lit Lounge
Veselka

Others:
• William Barnacle Tavern between First Avenue and Second Avenue (live Irish music)
• Blue & Gold East Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue
• St. Mark's Ale House on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue
• The Grassroots on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue
• East Village Social on St. Mark's Place between Avenue A and First Avenue
• Lavagna on East Fifth Street near Avenue B
• Sophie's on East Fifth Street near Avenue A
• Josie's on East Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B
• The Immigrant on East Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue
• Big Bar (until Dax needs to leave) East Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue
• La Palapa on St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue
• Jimmy's No. 43 on East Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square
• In Vino on East Fourth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B
• Double Down on East 12th Street near Avenue A
• Solas on East Ninth Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue
• Cake Shop on Ludlow Street
• Fourth Street Food Co-Op (until 9:30)
• Von, 3 Bleecker St. near the Bowery
• Parkside East Houston and Attorney
• Fontana's, 105 Eldridge
• Jeromes at Rivington F+B, 155 Rivington
• Pete's Tavern (a little outside the neighborhood... open until 11:30)

And remember — the Mayor says there won't be any food deliveries made after 11 p.m.!

Activity at the former site of A. Fontana Shoe Repair

What's going on at the former location of the A. Fontana Shoe Repair on 10th Street past Second Avenue? The shop, there for 45 years, closed in late February. I didn't spot any workers or construction permits when I walked by...And there will be no sarcastic asides about bank branches, yogurt shops or Duane Reades. Anything is possible.
If you're new to this...Jeremiah has provided thoughtful coverage of Fontana's this past year.

RIP Patrick Salt Ryan

[Photo via Facebook]

We were very sorry to hear that East Village resident Patrick Salt Ryan died suddenly on April 22. He was 45.

Ryan, a singer-songwriter, also tended bar at Fontana's down on Eldridge Street. He and his wife, Jessica Perez-Ryan, lived on Avenue A and East Ninth Street.

In September 2013, word circulated in Tompkins Square Park that someone had apparently stolen Giuseppi Logan's saxophone. Upon hearing this, Ryan gave Giuseppi a tenor sax that someone had left behind at the bar several years earlier.

There's a Patrick Salt Ryan Memorial Show next Friday at Hank's Saloon in Brooklyn… all proceeds at the door will go to help out Jessica.

Week in Grieview

[Zoltar's fortunes; and the Bruins lost to the Flyers this night. Photo by Derek Berg]

Stories posted on EVG this past week included...

So long to the Sock Man on St. Mark's Place (Friday)

20 St. Mark's Place, home of the Grassroots Tavern, has been sold (Thursday)

Empire Biscuit reduces business hours for the month of January (Thursday)

Out and About with Spike Polite (Wednesday)

Guayoyo has been closed now for one year on First Avenue (Wednesday)

The former New York Macaroni Co. space is for rent on St. Mark's Place (Monday)

Fontana's closing this spring on Eldridge Street (Thursday)

More about the Mamoun's Falafel move on St. Mark's Place (Monday)

Ruffian is now open on East Seventh Street (Tuesday)

This block of Avenue A is awfully quiet, and why is Lucy's closed? (Tuesday)

Rite Aid relocates ahead of new development on Avenue D (Monday) ... and the demo permits are now on file (Thursday)

The L train was fun while it lasted (Thursday)

Empellón al Pastor divides the bar and tacos on Avenue A (Tuesday)

Boutique office building on East Houston and Lafayette at BP site a go (Monday)

The Sweet Generation storefront turns 1 (Monday)

At the opening-night celebration for Punk Magazine (Friday)

Former Gothic Cabinet Craft space for rent (Wednesday)

Would you be surprised to learn that the East Houston Reconstruction Project is further delayed? (Friday)

Rainbows! DOUBLE rainbows! (Sunday)

... and RIP David Bowie (Monday)


[Mural in First Park by @hektad._official & @pictoform]


[Mural outside the 2nd Avenue F by @hektad._official]

27 years, 1 dumpster

Jeremiah had the awful news about Fontana's shoes being gutted on Friday. Walked by myself and saw the aftermath.



He had been at this location for 27 years; been in business in the neighborhood since 1962. Jeremiah has more photos here. And there's this feature from The Villager. Meanwhile, I can't help but wonder what Angelo is doing now. He's 75, and doesn't want to stop working.

“I would like to stay another 10 years, well maybe five years,” he told The Villager. “I’m used to working all my life. I don’t want to stop now. I don’t know what I’ll do. I’m not the kind of person who sits and watches TV all day. I like to be active.”

Why was this man's life destroyed? So the landlord could try to make an extra $1,500 a month in rent from Angelo, who was already paying $4,000 a month.

This whole thing bothers me on so many levels...the greed...the heartless removal of a neighborhood institution...the fact that this kind of thing is happening too often today...

There was also something comforting about the shop. For several years my walk home from work took me by his shop...no matter how shitty things seemed to be, you could always count on seeing Angelo working away in his rather ramshackle store ... the TV with the rabbit ears that was always on but no one ever seemed to watch...

My walk home included passing by the Bendiner and Schlesinger medical buildings on the northeast corner of 10th Street and Third Avenue. The buildings weren't much to look at, though there was a plaque on the 10th Street side commemorating Peter Stuyvesant, whose family once owned the buildings. Oddly enough, I found comfort in this place too. At night, I'd look up to a paneled office in the lab. I could see enough to tell that it looked as it the place was frozen in time circa, say, 1974. It reminded me of an office my father had.

Of course, though, these historic buildings were demolished in 2005 to make way for more soulless apartments and a Commerce Bank. You can read more about it here.