Inside the current 2nd Avenue Deli (Tien Mao/Gothamist)

Back in February we were oh so very happy to report that a second 2nd Avenue Deli was to open on the Upper East Side as soon as Passover. But the celebration of the Jewish exodus from Egypt has come and gone and still no new 2nd Avenue Deli! So we called up the mothership on 33rd Street and asked what the story was. They aren't saying, was the gist of the reply from the nice woman on the other end of the line. “Forces beyond our control” have delayed the opening, she explained. But what are these forces they can't control?

How about the Department of Buildings? A little snooping on the DOB's website reveals that there is currently a partial stop work order on 1442 First Avenue, where the new Deli will one day be living. Back on April 5th, work was completely stopped when it became apparent that unregistered construction was being performed on the floor above the restaurant ("breaking ceiling,walls & floors") which was filling the building with dust and debris without thought to the health of the building's tenants. On April 19th work was partially resumed (but only partially) and as such we have a very strong suspicion that the DOB is why you can't currently buy an Instant Heart Attack on the Upper East Side. When we called the restaurant again to ask about the DOB we were told to call back later, but that the restaurant hoped to open uptown by July. [Via @thecuozz]