Hamburgled: Not even McDonald’s can make it down here anymore. The franchise at 27 Third Ave. between St. Mark’s Place and Stuyvesant St. closed last week. A well-placed East Village source — a merchant who spoke on condition of anonymity — gave us the scoop. “I told you recently that the McDonald’s was struggling at these inflated rents,” he said. “Well, they closed two days ago and would rather continue paying rent till their lease ends and not default than stay open! Their lease ends this Dec. 31. It’s too early to say, but McDonald’s never defaults or violates a lease — stops paying rent before the lease expires without the landlord’s written consent. So, it appears that they will pay rent till the end of the year rather than keep losing money at that location. The owner’s name is Jim Lewis,” our source continued dishing. “He owns multiple McDonald’s, including the one at First Ave. and Sixth St., Broadway near Astor Place and the busiest McDonald’s in the country — 42nd St. in Times Square. He can afford it and surely will write it off. My understanding is that he owns a dozen more McDonald’s and other fast-food places.” Reflecting on all the empty storefronts dotting the neighborhood, the merchant said, “The high rents, Amazon and other Internet commerce and the fact that big-time landlords would rather use an empty store as a tax write-off unless they get a monster rent are all contributing reasons why the commercial rent bubble will hopefully burst soon.”
Art outrage: Artists and their supporters are upset, to put it mildly, that the Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibition abruptly got bumped by a generic street fair on Sat., June 3. Villager reader George Jochnowitz told us the scene was, well, messier than a Jackson Pollock painting. “I ran into an exhibitor earlier today, and he was horrified that he was informed at the last minute not to show up,” he told us. “I have loved the art exhibit ever since I moved to the neighborhood in 1951. How can it be that there is no coordination between street fair organizers and art exhibit organizers?” Basically, the exhibition’s first three-day weekend, which included Memorial Day that Monday, happened. But the Saturday of the second weekend got scrapped like a ruined canvas. In short, Jochnowitz said, “They stole one of the five days.” Plus, the second Sunday was kind of rainy. Another reader, Charlene Lichtenstein, wrote us, “Can you please advise me as to who to contact regarding the cancellation of the Washington Square art show today for a sausage-and-tube-sock street fair? My friend who has exhibited every year since the 1960s received a call last night telling him that the show was canceled today because the city double-booked. Wouldn’t the art show have priority since this date has been on the schedule for decades? Very sad about this and want to register a complaint.” Well, try the city’s Street Activity Permit Office; they oversee street fairs. Lichtenstein noted that artists who exhibited at the show had paid for their spaces for June 3. “They lost not only their money they paid but the opportunity to show their work today,” she said. “They reserved the space first and have been holding their show on this particular weekend for decades. How did this happen?”
Last Mass: The final Mass at St. Veronica’s Church, on Christopher St., between Greenwich and Washington Sts., has been pushed back to Sun., July 23, at noon. An earlier June date was scratched because it was the same day as the Pride March. According to an invite circulating, present and former parishioners, longtime and new local residents — basically, everyone — is welcome to attend the last Mass at this historic Catholic church, which first opened its doors in 1886. We asked Joseph Zwilling, the New York Archdiocese spokesperson, what’s in store for the building. “St. Veronica’s parish merged with Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard parish about 10 years ago,” he said, referring, of course, to the church at 328 W. 14th St., near “Meatpacking.” “The parish kept both sites open for Masses and sacraments. The pastor of the parish, Father Rubio, has determined that St. Veronica’s Church was no longer needed for Masses and sacraments on a regular basis. There are no plans at this time for the building. It remains the property of the parish, which will have to come to some determination about its future.”
Astor news: Since readers keep asking, here’s another update on Jerry Delakas, the beloved Astor Place news vendor. We went by Delakas’s newsstand the other day and we found him inside with the kiosk’s door open but the front gate down. He said, yes, he had taken a break, a much-needed recharge, but is now building his strength back up and hopes to have the place running full bore again soon. No doubt, years of fighting the city to keep the kiosk open took a toll.
