Ode to a Fallen Deli

Woke up and it was already dark. Too late for brunch. Damnit.

Walking down Bleecker Street moments ago I noticed something very sad: the end of an era, the close of Bleecker Deli. I couldn't believe my eyes. If anything captures the essence of my first ten months in New York it's this place. Sounds entirely stupid, I know, but it's true.

I live further away now and I have a new deli. But ol' Bleecker still holds the memories. Drunken grocery shopping at 5 a.m. The best dirty deli sandwiches anywhere in Manhattan. Fresh Ben & Jerry's 24 hours a day. Coffee and a newspaper on the way to school and cigarettes on the way home from work. So many nights, so many mornings, so much of my life mapped through that cramped, smelly place. I'll miss it.