The frustrating thing about writing a piece like this is how quickly things change. During the research process, two places had to be cut from this article, not because they weren't worthy, but because they'd closed already. We're sorry, Shannon Pot and Crazy Legs Roller Disco. We were too late to help you.
Some of these places are in trouble, some are not, but this is New York City-- things change here in a minute, right? Who knows when leases are suddenly going to skyrocket, and shutter your favorite neighborhood place for good.
Here are 14 places New Yorkers will miss like hell... once they're gone.
1. Union Square Cafe (21 East 16th Street)
The venerable eatery has thrown in the towel on the rising costs of its location on 16th Street. It will forfeit its lease at the end of 2015, but will reportedly reopen elsewhere. Cheers to another 30 years, Mr. Meyer!
[anad]
2. BUZZ-A-RAMA (69 Church Avenue - Brooklyn)
What’s not to love about a place with slot car racing? Nowhere else in New York offers anything like BUZZ-A-RAMA. It’s available to book for parties, if you want something unique for your kids. Or adult friends.
3. Gray’s Papaya (72nd Street)
It’s hard to believe there’s only one location left. Oh sure, there’s similar places, like Papaya King, but Gray’s led the way. The closing of the shop on 8th Street and 6th Avenue was a shock to New York’s system. You can now only get their famous specials on 72nd street.
4. La Dinastia (145 West 72nd Street)
It looks like a Chinese food takeout place, but La Dinastia is the last of a dying breed; Chino-Cuban restaurants. Where there used to be eateries all over The Big Apple, now there are only two left.
5. La Caridad 78 (2199 Broadway)
The other remaining, and better known, Chino-Cuban restaurant. This was one of the first places this writer dined in upon my early-90s arrival in NYC. There was a lineup to get in, and it was the first time I experienced sharing a table with a stranger, seating was so in demand. The food is still just as amazing as it ever was, but the crowds are a lot thinner.
6. Roy Rogers (401 7th Avenue)
While not a personal choice of this writer, the fast food franchise once had well over 600 locations in the New York area. Now there’s one left in Penn Station.
7. We Deliver Videos (1672 1st Avenue)
If you live on the Upper East Side and you are sick to death of Netflix and streaming movies on your laptop, you already know this business. If you don't check them out. If you've only got a vague idea of what you're in the mood to watch, give them an outline, and they'll nail it.
They'll deliver the movie to you (natch) and they'll pick it up too. What's not to like? Keep them around.
,8. Rudy’s Music (169 West 48th Street)
Music Row, just on the Northeast corner of Times Square, has shrunk considerably from what it used to be. Rudy's Music is still hanging on. It's a store that practically every famous musician has shopped in, so it's definitely good enough for you.
[anad]
9. The Heidelberg Restaurant (1648 2nd Avenue)
Some days need something different, something new, and something old school all at the same time. You want to be hip and you want to be connected to culture. Also you're hungry, want beer, and could do with some more lederhosen in your life. This is a day for the Heidelberg Restaurant. Beer Hall. Whatever.
German food doesn't mess around. It is ribs, sausages, marinated herring, spinach strudel and Hungarian Beef motherlovin' Goulash, yo! You will wash it down with a boot of beer and be sprechen sie freakin' Deutsch for a week.
10. Manitoba’s (99 Avenue B)
The legendary Lower East Side rock music dive bar is likely on its last legs. Owner Dick Manitoba has been involved in a lengthy legal battle with a neighbor suing over noise complaints. It’s broken the place financially. Go to Manitoba’s. Now. Tonight. It might not be there tomorrow.
11. Keen's Steakhouse (72 West 36th Street)
The venerable eatery has been around since 1885. First conceived as Keen's Chophouse, it made it's bones (no pun intended) with mutton. Times change, as do appetites, and although lamb is still on the menu, beefsteak is the main fare now.
Throughout its storied history, Keen's has come close to the brink of elimination a few times, and has been saved by last minute benefactors.
Seemingly doing well at the moment, Keen's could still be threatened at any moment.
12. Veselka (144 2nd Avenue)
The East Village Ukrainian eatery has been home base for New York's artists and anarchists for a generation. It was one of the first businesses in New York to carry The Village Voice.
But it's rich history and hearty menu won't save it if and when the rents hike up, as they did for The Yaffa Cafe and countless other East Village icons before it.
13. Di Fara Pizza (1424 Avenue J - Brooklyn)
There was an enormous warning shot fired about Di Fara when it raised the price of a slice to $5.00 in 2009. Rising costs, not limited to taxes, forced the legendary pie-maker to increase its prices. It's always been an indicator of how the city's economy is doing, the price of a slice. And once those prices go up, they don't come back down.
Yet Di Fara is worth it. The little pizzeria still makes some of the best pies in the Big Apple. But they are also a reminder of how fragile some of our namesake businesses are. If we neglect them, they could vanish for good.
14. Mitchell's Soul Food (617 Vanderbilt Avenue - Brooklyn)
It's a tiny place, all of ten tables, but Mitchell's Soul Food in Prospect Heights serves up some incredible meals. Portions are ridiculously huge and prices are ridiculously small. You won't leave hungry with short ribs, corn bread, and the best fried chicken on the planet. Then there's dessert.
But again, Mitchell's is tiny, and easy to miss, although impossible to forget. One simple re-zoning, yet another rent hike, and it's gone for good. Brooklyn gets more expensive every day, so this threat is very real.
Look, this is New York City. That's the way things can be here. Hustle and bustle, baby, lead, follow, or get out the way. It's not what you've done, but what you've done lately. Many businesses struggle to keep up. Sometimes, whether it's due to re-zoning or heavily increased rent, they close down.
But that doesn't mean we have to let our home-grown businesses fall to the wayside. Especially if it's not their fault. New York is fast-moving, but that doesn't mean it has no heart. New Yorkers are easily capable of raising our own back up. We've done it repeatedly in the past.
Let's do it some more.
If you enjoyed this article, check out 19 Places New Yorkers Miss Like Crazy Now That They’re Gone!