July 7, 2008
We Are All Wine Bars Now: Pizzanini on St. Mark's
The rabble-rousers protesting against the proliferation of "yuppie wine bars" in the East Village may now need to expand their opposition to include crappy pizza wine bars. A lone worker inside the St. Mark's Place Pizzanini on Saturday said the joint's "Wine Bar" awning has been up for a couple weeks. But when we requested a couple glasses of Montepulciano to wash down our lasagna slices, he informed us that there was no wine. Or beer. An outrage! Yet, as the above photo indicates, their target market is already totally flocking to the place in anticipation.
But is the awning really two weeks old? According to the minutes from a past Community Board 3 meeting, Pizzanini was approved for a license to sell wine in 2006. Follow-up calls have elicited sullen responses ranging from “No wine, no beer” to “Why do you want to know?” At this point, the only thing we’re sure of is that we’ve spent way too much time trying to get to the bottom of this and could really use a drink.
UPDATE: Curbed and Vanishing New York both look at the new condo opening above the Pizzanini, and Gothamist commenter Zoofroy believes the awning to be a relic of Saint Marx, a wine bar that had a brief run upstairs in 2006. Developing...
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That girl in the green shirt looks pissed. I wonder if JDS looked really creepy when he took the picture.
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Hurting for stories this morning I see!
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that's one giant security camera.
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I thought that was entrance to the Saint Marx Cafe, which was an ill-fated wine bar above the pizzeria that opened and closed in like six months back in like 2006.
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Thats cool there is pizza for a dollar on the same block and they dont sell beer or wine. You do have to watch out for the unwashed but for plain slice its worth it
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Yunnie-ni!
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Love the Drudge-style "Developing..."
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What do pizza, wine, and the month of July have in common?
That's right. Nothing.
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In the space above during the time that Pizza Palace was the take out place on the ground floor there used to be a "Wine Bar"
its been gone for awhile
I dont remember that sign ever coming down
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#1 probably not; it's just the self-important attitude of all too many of this city's recent under-30-something inhabitants.
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Oddly, I noticed this weekend that Pizza 33 on 33rd and 3rd has a "wine bar" awning as well. I have no idea how long it has been up. Maybe another mystery for JDS...
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I was in the upstairs part in a previous incarnation (back in the 90's), but the stairs to get up there weren't right there at the corner -- they were on the St. Mark's side past where that air conditioner is in the above photo. I don't really see how a staircase leading upstairs could've subsequently been added, although I suppose anything's possible.
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Maybe it was supposed to be "whine bar" ?
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#10, thanks. That is all too true. Humility is something more people should be beaten about the head and neck with.