Gem Spa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gem Spa was a newspaper stand and candy store located on the corner of St. Mark's Place and Second Avenue in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.[2][3] It opened under another name in the 1920s, and was renamed in 1957.[4] It was open 24 hours a day, and was known for being commonly considered to be the birthplace of the authentic New York City-style egg cream, which its awning described as "New York's Best."[5][6][7][8]
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Genre | Newsstand Candy store |
Predecessor | none |
Founded | 1921 |
Founder | Goldfeder family |
Defunct | 2020 |
Fate | bankruptcy |
Successor | Poetica Coffee[1] |
Headquarters | 131 Second Ave. at St. Mark's Place Manhattan, New York City |
Area served | East Village |
Products | Egg cream, Newspapers, Magazines |
Services | newspapers, magazine, food and mini mart services |
Owner | Goldfeder family (1920s-1957) Ruby Silverstein and Harold Shepard (1957-~1969) Irving Stein (1971) Ray Patel (1986-2020) |
Often referred to as a bodega,[9][10] in the 1950s, Gem Spa was a gathering place for beats, and in the 1960s it was a hippie hangout,[11] known for selling a wide selection of underground newspapers.[12][13] New York Magazine named it the best newsstand in the East Village in 2001.[14]
On May 7, 2020, owner Parul Patel announced that the physical store would not re-open due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and rent increases, despite community efforts and a social media campaign to keep it open.[15][16][17]
The building in which Gem Spa was located, 131 Second Avenue, or 36 St. Marks Place, was built in 1898-1900 and was designed by Louis F. Heinecke in the Renaissance Revival style. It is located within the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District, which was created in October 2012.[6]