The New York Times has the details on copper thieves who are systematically stripping the facade of the old Zen Palate on Union Sq. West, which has been vacant for over a year. Is this the beginning of the end?
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Shanghai Square on 13th St. is now open for breakfast, serving traditional Chinese fare such as dim sum, Shanghai soup dumplings, and scallion pancakes. Is this innovative marketing or desperation? Is this bagel-and-croissant neighborhood ready for something so exotic at 8 in the morning?
Why is 4th Ave,. so short? Why is the Strand on 12th St.? When was the Post Office built. To take a great visual tour of the history of 4th Avenue, click here.
UPDATE: JAN 14: Trader John’s has covered up their sign. Apparently the idea didn’t fly past the lawyers.
Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) — Trader Joe’s Co., the operator of specialty grocery stores, sued Gristede’s Foods Inc., alleging the supermarket chain committed trademark infringement by opening a food market in New York called Trader John’s.
Gristede’s is opening the Trader John’s “knock-off food market” three blocks from a Trader Joe’s store in Manhattan, according to a complaint filed Jan. 8 in federal court in New York. The Trader John’s name misleads consumers and diminishes the Trader Joe’s brand, according to the complaint.
“We take seriously any attempt to infringe on our trademark and we are taking the necessary action to stop this particular attempt,” Trader Joe’s spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki said in an e-mailed message.
The lawsuit has no merit, said John Catsimatidis, Gristede’s chief executive officer.
“My name is John and I am a trader so I don’t know what their problem is,” he said in a telephone interview. Gristede’s lawyers haven’t seen the complaint yet, Catsimatidis said. “We’ll see what happens.”
The Trader John’s store at 5 West 14th St. in Manhattan will open Jan. 15, Catsimatidis said.
The Trader Joe’s store is three blocks away at 142 East 14th St. The company has 300 locations in 25 states and Washington. Gristede’s has about 35 shops in the New York area, Catsimatidis said.
Trader Joe’s sent a “cease and desist” letter Jan. 6 to Gristede’s, asking it to “immediately change the name and decor of the infringing store,” according to the company’s complaint.
Read this excellent post at Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York to learn the complete history of the doomed building at 61Fifth Ave. on the corner of 13th.
Curbed reports: The curvy low-rise building at 61 Fifth Avenue, devastated by fire in 2006, has been marked for death ever since the structure—a former Scrafft’s luncheonette (see photo at top left circa 1940)—was sold to a developer in early 2008. An architect was quickly enlisted to draw up plans for a 10-story building with apartments and ground-floor retail, and it was made clear that the current 61 Fifth Avenue was too far gone to be preserved in any manner. Has the economy put a pause on those plans? Perhaps, but broker-blogger Andrew Fine reports that demolition permit was issued for the property in December, so the wrecking ball could come calling any day now.
First Au Bon Pain kicks the bucket, and now Tisserie at corner of Union Sq. West and 17th is gone as well.
Our building (c. 1940)
