Sad Day for the Lower East Side

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (mayor al)

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:45:38 GMT

If your luggage is hard-surface and you can bubble wrap the bottles then use baggies to (hopefully) contain any 'broken stuff' from ruining you clothing...we lost some stuff one time trying to ship a bottle of homemade Apricot Preserves in our checked luggage some years back. One of the reasons we tend to drive rather than fly, is that we collect stuff like pickles and sauces as we go!

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (The Travelin Man)

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:21:46 GMT

I suspect that your biggest issue will be that the pickles (or tomatoes, or peppers, etc.) are usually picked with some of the liquid. The pickles are fine...the liquid is a no-no for carry-on luggage. Theoretically, you could check your pickles, but you would REALLY need to make sure that they were securely packed or you will end up with a mess.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (Born in OKC)

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:21:26 GMT

The thread mentions pickles made from tomato and peppers and cukes. Are all of these intended for refrigerated storage until use? Wouls anyone comment on the luck I might have trying to take some home on the plane with me, provided always that the TSA will let me take jars of pickles on the plane. I figure an hour to the airport, an hour to board, a three hour flight and probably two hours to reach my home at the other end.

Will I have anything worth eating after seven hours?

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (Lexi)

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:35:19 GMT

Here is another article that ran this weekend about Guss':

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/nyregion/01bigcity.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=susan%20dominus%20pickels&st=cse

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (billyboy)

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:44:40 GMT

bartl

sbpressman
When referring to NYC in general, most will say "the City" (which always strikes me as somewhat pompous - there ARE other cities out there).

Not to a New Yorker.

How true, how true!!

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (bartl)

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:37:26 GMT

sbpressman
When referring to NYC in general, most will say "the City" (which always strikes me as somewhat pompous - there ARE other cities out there).

Not to a New Yorker.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (Tony Bad)

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:41:18 GMT

David_NYC

The Pickle Guys now have two locations; the one at 49 Essex Street is still there:
http://www.nycpickleguys.com/

Not a lot to the Essex street shop...other than good pickled products...and entertaining employees!

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (sbpressman)

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:22:48 GMT

Tony Bad

sbpressman

When referring to NYC in general, most will say "the City" (which always strikes me as somewhat pompous - there ARE other cities out there).

When you are just outside ANY city it is pretty common for people to say the same thing. I was in the Bangor, Maine area last week and someone from the area said they were heading into the city for something.

If I hear someone referring to NY as "The City" when in Dubuque, I'd agree it is pompous, but if they are in Huntington it is no big deal.

I agree -- but way back in the stone ages when I was in college (in Baltimore), the New Yorkers would all still refer to NYC as "the City".

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (Sneetch)

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:38:31 GMT

how sad...i lived down the street from Guss' for many years, and made many happy trips to them for their delicious products. at least they aren't closing, just moving...

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (David_NYC)

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:43:28 GMT

Born in OKC

Is Guss' now gone from the LES? If I ever have time to visit Guss' Pickles in Brooklyn, is there a train I can take from Times Sqaure? And is the Pickle Guys operation mentioned in one reply still in business? Where are thery?

Guss' is still there. They will be moving shortly. It looks like they will only be a short walk from the F train in Brooklyn. Once they post a street address, you can get detailed route info at
http://tripplanner.mta.info/

The Pickle Guys now have two locations; the one at 49 Essex Street is still there:
http://www.nycpickleguys.com/

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (Born in OKC)

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:28:06 GMT

Look, I don't get to the City very often and know next to nothing about Jewish culture and food except what I see at the delis around Times Square and the restaurant at the Edison Hotel. Did eat at Sammy's Roumanian once. This thread is the first I ever heard about Guss' Pickles. The half dours and tomatos and peppers sound great.

Is Guss' now gone from the LES? If I ever have time to visit Guss' Pickles in Brooklyn, is there a train I can take from Times Sqaure? And is the Pickle Guys operation mentioned in one reply still in business? Where are thery?

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (billyboy)

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:23:21 GMT

Like it or not, New york City is generally considered to be the center of the universe to many who live there. I've had countless discussions with my NYC born and bred friends who cannot at all conceive what life is like out of the city or how people live without all of the options (culture, sports, subways, restaurants). I've had people ask me if we had paved roads where I grew up (tongue somewhat in cheek) and what people did to occupy their time. Maybe it was part pompousness, but I think a big part of it was that they didn't know anything else but the city.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (Tony Bad)

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:06:10 GMT

sbpressman

When referring to NYC in general, most will say "the City" (which always strikes me as somewhat pompous - there ARE other cities out there).

When you are just outside ANY city it is pretty common for people to say the same thing. I was in the Bangor, Maine area last week and someone from the area said they were heading into the city for something.

If I hear someone referring to NY as "The City" when in Dubuque, I'd agree it is pompous, but if they are in Huntington it is no big deal.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (acer2x)

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:29:29 GMT

Those barrels are not all pickles. First of all, there are half sour and full sour pickles. Then there are sour tomatoes, sweet pickled and hot peppers,mushrooms,olives and kraut.

I always make it a point when visiting to stock up on full sours and sweet pickled peppers.

http://www.gusspickle.com/products.htm

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (Foodosaurus)

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:19:07 GMT

sbpressman

When referring to NYC in general, most will say "the City" (which always strikes me as somewhat pompous - there ARE other cities out there).

None that matter....

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (sbpressman)

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 10:12:41 GMT

Inthewater

So, this pickle place, I read the article and they mention that a muni meter ( I think) out front killed business? How can a parking meter do that, or is there more to the story?

In NYC, if your car is parked by an expired meter (or, in this case, without a muni-meter ticket) for even a minute, there's a good chance you'll get a ticket -- and EXPENSIVE ticket. Seems like there's an officer on every corner whose only job is to ticket parked cars. So if you're lucky enough to even get a spot to park nearby, you can't just dash out of the car, buy some pickles, and go back. With a parking meter, you could plop a quarter into it. The muni-meter is just more of a process/hassle. I don't think you can chalk up the loss of business all to this, however.

Also, when people from NYC are referring to a location, they'll always identify the neighborhood: "it's in Tribeca, or Chinatown, or Lower East Side, etc..." When referring to NYC in general, most will say "the City" (which always strikes me as somewhat pompous - there ARE other cities out there).

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (David_NYC)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:02:17 GMT

Locally, when we talk about different areas of NYC we either refer to them by the borough, which correspond to New york State counties, and/or the neighborhood, which are sections of boroughs. And yes, we do have neighborhood rivalries.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (Inthewater)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:32:37 GMT

Cool, interesting info. Didn't have time to get to my deli for lunch.
:( Gonna have to make a run over there this weekend or something.

New York, such a big place. Soooo many people. i have never been, the biggest city I have been in is Chicago. That many people in that many square miles just freaks me out. :) I like my grass and my rolling hills too much. Just always interesting to see little pieces of a city so big.

Now, do most people just call it all New York city, or do they get all defensive about neighborhoods and such?

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (John A)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:09:01 GMT

Inthewater

Probably a stupid question, but what is in the big barrels? Pickles? I mean, they go through that many there? That's a lot of pickles, man.

The barrels are not filled with pickles. There is a divider at some point between the top and bottom.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (bartl)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:10:44 GMT

Inthewater
So, this pickle place, I read the article and they mention that a muni meter ( I think) out front killed business? How can a parking meter do that, or is there more to the story?

I was just on the phone with my mother, who lives in Brooklyn and is happy to see the store move easy driving distance from her (my daughter is walking distance, at least by New York standards, from the new location).

In any case, in New York, muni-meters are beginning to replace parking meters (which increases the number of spots, and reduces the lost revenue from broken meters. There is a large vending machine in the middle of the block, where you deposit your money, and get a receipt giving an end time which you put on your dashboard where the police officer can see it. According to my mother, the muni-meter is kind of big, and set into the sidewalk enough to block access.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (Twinwillow)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:40:21 GMT

Nothing ever really stay's the same forever.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (badbyron722)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:09:42 GMT

Cant stand pickles.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (David_NYC)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 13:04:36 GMT

There is a lot more to this story. It has more to do with changing neighborhoods in NYC than anything else. Many NYC-area food sites have picked up this story. One site quotes the son of the owner as saying business is down. When passing there in recent years, I got the impression tourists and visitors to the area (but not people living in the neighborhood) made up the bulk of the clientale. Rents in this part of town are now so high that a shop selling only line line of products cannot make a go of it.

The location they are moving to has a large number of Jewish residents and Jewish food stores in the immediate area. I predict their yearly profits will be higher at the new location.

This is not the first time businesses moved out of the Lower East Side. Farberware used to be made on the Lower East Side before the move to the Bronx and then to contract manufacturers overseas.

I'm not sure whatever came of the legal fight between the present owner of the Guss' pickle stand, competitors, and previous owners of the business. There is a little bit of 'hype' included with each container of their excellent pickles.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (Inthewater)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:19:09 GMT

Heh....sorry, back to the pickle talk!

So, this pickle place, I read the article and they mention that a muni meter ( I think) out front killed business? How can a parking meter do that, or is there more to the story?

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (The Travelin Man)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:09:40 GMT

Your Jewish deli looks like a fine way to wash down a nice pork tenderloin sandwich.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (Inthewater)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:02:47 GMT

http://maccabeeskosherdeli.com/Home_Page.html

Just in case you find yourself in Des Moines and need a deli sandwich anytime. I am told that this is about as close to "the real thing" as can be found around these parts. I have only had this version, so I have no idea. I do know that the Rabbi is a great dude, and his sammies rock my socks.

:)

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (The Travelin Man)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:45:38 GMT

Mmmm...."dead of winter" may not have been 100% accurate. I looked at the date stamp on the photo and it was 1/2/09.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (Inthewater)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:44:03 GMT

Really? The dead of winter around here means a foot of snow, below zero temps and - 20 and lower wind chills, and we are "warm" for the midwest. :)

Still, I do love pickles.

Gonna have to stop by our one Kosher Deli in town for a corned beef on rye, too bad it is so far away or I would go there for lunch more.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (The Travelin Man)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 11:15:23 GMT

This picture was taken in the dead of winter. I suspect that they go through even more of the pictured pickles in the height of season.

Re:Sad Day for the Lower East Side (Tony Bad)

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:53:16 GMT

Inthewater

Probably a stupid question, but what is in the big barrels? Pickles? I mean, they go through that many there? That's a lot of pickles, man.

Yup...thems pickles of some type...and yes, they do go through a lot!