Monday, December 19, 2005

The End of an Era

It may seem silly, but I'm really sad to see yet another one of my local stores fall by the wayside. This time it's my Korean deli, Pine Tree Market. For nearly eight years I have been in there nearly once a day, buying my milk, coffee, cat food and litter, as well as the occasional Hostess cupcake or Dinty Moore beef stew in a drunken stupor. (I can also remember I bought a turkey sandwich there on 9/11 and watched the procession of people walking north up 8th Avenue covered in debris escaping from the destruction.)

The Pine Tree joins a long list of departed neighborhood businesses, like my Laundromat, my hardware store, my favorite Cuban-Chinese joint, as well as the famed eatery 18th and 8th (and this is just my corner; the entire avenue has been ruined up and down).

More and more it seems that unless you're a nail salon, Manhattan real estate prices have made it virtually impossible for any type of business to survive, let alone flourish. This is a sad thing, indeed.

2 comments:

  1. What? Where is Pine Tree Market going? What is replacing it?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous8:22 PM

    I was there when you bought that sandwich ...Lar

    ReplyDelete