1) Upper East Village: The flood of chain sandwich shops to the UpEVill has ended in disaster, with two apparent closings hitting the nabe's banana pepper loyalists hard. The newish Blimpie/hamburger spot on First Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets has rolled its metal shutter down for good, and the equally newish spic-and-span Quiznos on 14th Street between Second and Third Avenues also appears to be a goner. Somehow, two local Subway shops remain unscathed. Nobody fucks with Subway, that's clear, but why?
2) Lower East Side: Further contributing to the conspiracy theory that it's all one big joke, Ludlow Fitness is still not open. And trouble is afoot. A tipster tells Gawker: "they still haven't opened as of today, missed their scheduled october opening date by over a month now...and keep pushing back their opening date. their website actually shows TWO DIFFERENT opening dates right now!!! plus, their entire front entrance is still fully covered with plywood." When oh when will we get to witness hipsters pumping iron? [Gawker]
3) Manhattan Valley: Is knitting the new cupcake? The Real Estate reports on the opening of Yarntopia up on 108th Street and Amsterdam, occupying the former Botanica La Luz & Gift Shop site. Knitting classes will be starting up soon, because according to the shop owner: "There's no real creative outlets up here." Meow. [The Real Estate]
4) East Village: Blog Hard, Cutting delves into the coffee shop war brewing on 9th Street and Second Avenue, with Max Brenner joining the crowded ranks of Mudspot, Starbucks, and a Veselka coffee outpost opening directly opposite Mudspot. While Max Brenner and Starbucks are certainly doin' their own thang, it might get ugly between Mud and Veselka. Barista boxing night, anyone? [Hard, Cutting]
5) Central Village: In what will prove to be the greatest Curbed giveaway of all time when we look back on all this in 3006, the owner of WagWear writes: "I was perusing through Curbed today and I noticed an old posting about my store from Nov. 17th. As the owner of wagwear I figured I'd supply a photo. While we're not above scooping ourselves, someone beat us to it.... thanks guys!!!10% off to Curbed readers." You're welcome. [Storefronting inbox]
Coming soon, Storefronting: Non-Manhattan Edition...