Suzanne RozdebaHetal 111 First Convenience Store on First Avenue was being cleared out by workers today, and a new business is already planned in its place.
“I’m opening a convenience store at 111 First Avenue. That’s my lucky number,” laughed Zahid, the new owner, who declined to give The Local his last name. The number is also the address of the store.
Zahid owns another convenience store in a “quiet” area of Kew Gardens, Queens, but said he likes the vibrancy of the East Village. “There’s life over there. You can see that. I lived in Karachi in Pakistan, and back then, it was thickly populated. It was busy 24 hours. That’s in my system,” he said.
“My target is to open hopefully the first week of next month,” he said. He will sell items including magazines, newspapers, health and beauty aids, candy, beer, and soda. He plans on staying open from 6 a.m. until midnight, and later on weekends.
The store will be called 111 Convenience Store. Sometimes, at least, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Annie Fairman Plywood went up today on the corner of East 11th Street and Avenue A, where on Monday a construction worker told The Local that the former home of Bar On A would become a 7-Eleven. The owner of Tompkins Square Bagels isn’t taking the development lying down: commenting on Monday’s post, Christopher Pugliese (never shy about the corporate convenience store) said his bagel shop would deliver “a full-service smack-down” to its new neighbor across the street.
Don’t worry about Tompkins Square Bagels. We are going to pummel 7 Eleven. This isn’t Long Island or a truck stop off I-95; microwaved eggs and push button cappuccino out of a fountain isn’t going to cut it here. We look forward handing Joe DePinto and crew a full service smack down the likes of which will they have never experienced and will relish the embarrassment the failure of their Avenue A store will bring to the entire 7 Eleven corporation. It’s on boys and I’m going to win.
Mr. Pugliese’s comment came in response to this one, from reader MarcellaD. Read more…
Chelsia Rose MarciusOur recent posts on bodegas in the East Village that continue to sell caffeinated Four Loko struck a nerve. Many readers took time to write in and express their thoughts on our investigation, and Gothamist picked up the story and republished similar articles twice.
The action wasn’t limited to the blogosphere either: The Local’s Chelsia Rose Marcius revisited the subject after the commotion, reporting that the State Liquor Authority planned to investigate the bodegas in question.
A common label, used both in the comments section and the Gothamist posts, was “narcs” and “snitches.”
“tacony palmyra” started off the name calling:
“Well, thanks East Village Narc! I’m sure the SLA or whatever authority is going to make sure these bodegas you individually identified will be in trouble if they find any, and now we get no more old school Four Lokos. Do journalistic ethics require that you play fun police?”
Read more…
