Oh man, it seems the 2nd Avenue Deli in New York City has closed. Lame! That place was a Lower East Side landmark, a classic NY deli if there ever was one. There are some sad pictures of the signage being taken down here:
http://eater.curbed.com/archives/2006/01/second_avenue_k_1.php
I guess I should be happy that I ate there on my last visit to the city, even if the trip itself was a debacle. Those of you who have read my Realms of Sorcery designer notes may recall how ill I got on that trip. Well, when I could finally even consider eating again, it was the 2nd Avenue Deli I walked to for some matzoh ball soup to comfort me.
I’ll grant you this isn’t the end of the world. Katz’s is still there on Houston St. and they always had better pastrami anyway, but this is another piece of old New York gone, no doubt to be replaced by a boutique or a corporate chain restaurant. Every time I go to NYC now more and more of the city I knew is gone. At least CBGB is still hanging on. Yeah, it’s a dive and always has been but it is the literal birthplace of punk rock and I can’t count the number of great shows I saw there, from Government Issue and Scream to Ed Gein’s Car and the Radicts to Alloy and the Ex.
So goodbye to the 2nd Avenue Deli and good luck to CBGB.