BY TEQUILA MINSKY | A genuine man of the neighborhood, for years Lenny Cecere tended the mailboxes at Something Special on MacDougal St., just south of Houston St.
At the small shop, as a friend once remarked, “Everybody is a celebrity.” Cecere’s clients included Sarah Jessica Parker, Famke Janssen and Matthew Broderick, as well as at least one well-known rock star, who all picked up their mail there. Through his 80s, Cecere kept the shop running just because he enjoyed it.
He died this past February at age 91. After his passing, his family pledged to keep the shop open for a few more months, but finally closed it for good on June 30.
For almost 40 years, Cecere ran the place, which in addition to being an anonymous mail drop for stars, was a gift card and key-cutting shop. It also sold candies, jewelry and tchotchkes. Cecere was a notary public, as well. At Something Special, you felt that you were in a general store on some out-of-the way Main St. that time forgot. Cecere was also known for his sharp wit.
On the final day, knickknacks, including a Betty Boop doll, were still in the glass display cases that once held pastries from the bakery that preceded Cecere’s taking over the space and whose name he kept for the store.
From 1962, Cecere lived above the shop with his wife, Lucy. They raised their two children there. Lucy, a Village native, was an advocate for seniors and one of the founders of the Caring Community. She received many tributes in her day, including a Village Award from the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation in 2010. She died four years ago at age 87.
A for-sale sign now hangs on the landmarked building — part of the small Charlton-King-Vandam Historic District — which Cecere owned.
