BY TEQUILA MINSKY | At the northwest corner of Second Ave. and E. Seventh St. rubble removal has been going on steadily for the past two weeks. Just down the block from there, a handful of businesses are open — but most people wouldn’t know it. The stores are largely hidden from view behind tall plywood barriers.
The gas explosion that has left a hole in the heart of the East Village has also heavily impacted the businesses on this block.
To let people know that these places are “open for business,” the online campaign #SaveNYC organized a “Small Biz Crawl” for the Second Ave. explosion business mom-and-pop store survivors.
Beginning at noon on Saturday, those who arrived promptly received #SaveNYC placards to carry. Fliers listed four stores on the avenue’s west side — Gem Spa, Paul’s Da Burger Joint, B&H Dairy and Himilayan Visions — that have been particularly impacted, as well as other nearby restaurants.
Hungry patrons stopped at B&H Dairy restaurant but were disappointed to find it gated. The restaurant was still shut last Saturday.
Andy Reynolds wore a T-shirt with “Challah! por favor” in green lettering.
“It’s the same font as the awning,” he said. And he should know. A graphic artist, he designed the shirt for free — B&H info is on its back — so that the shop could make some money selling the T-shirts.
“They’re supposed to open next week when they turn the gas on,” he said. “I normally eat here five days a week.”
B&H Dairy has been in the E. Village since 1938, and is known for its challah.
E. Seventh St. resident Jaime Vasquez, who was also milling around, said he eats there at least three times a week. He came out to see how things were going, stopping at Gem Spa for a chocolate egg cream.
Many of those on the crawl were locals who live just blocks away. Kimberly Schwab of St. Mark’s Place and her boyfriend planned on stopping at most of the places on the list.
Supporters came from other boroughs and neighborhoods, as well, to spend their money and show solidarity with the small shops. Carrying a placard, actress Pamela Dayton, who traveled from W. 181st St., stopped to refuel at Paul’s Da Burger Joint where Reynolds had just eaten.
Business for this funky East Village staple, featuring 21 specialty burgers and seven specialty fries, has been really slow since the March 26 catastrophe. The attention and buzz created by the crawl was a big help for them on Saturday. Cook Diego Rivera was working nonstop assembling burger creations.
#SaveNYC’s flier included a brief history of the East Village, mentioning it as an incubator of the ’60s counterculture and a home to bohemians, artists, hippies and students, all attracted by the once-cheap rent, and the punk and Nuyorican movements.
“In recent years,” the flier read, “there has been a cultural decline due in large part by gentrification, overdevelopment and rising rent.”
