HG’s e-mail pal, Charles Curran, the Florida gourmand, informed HG this morning that the Carnegie Delicatessen will close at the end of 2016. Not a victim of The Real Estate Monster. The Carnegie owns the building in which it is located. The closing doesn’t sadden HG. For some decades the Carnegie has catered to tourists. Prices have been high and the sandwiches have been unappetizingly huge. The Carnegie opened its doors in 1937 and immediately attracted a crowd of show biz types: press agents, song pluggers, comedians, bookies and other raffish denizens of the Broadway/Seventh Avenue/Carnegie Hall neighborhood. HG dined there frequently from 1951 to 1983 (the downhill slide began in the 80’s). HG also frequented the Stage Delicatessen (when Max Asnas was in charge) and the incomparable Lindy’s. Those were glory days for Jewish delicatessens with Reuben’s in the East 50’s, Gitlitz in the West 70’s, Katz’s on Houston Street and 2nd Avenue Deli on Second Avenue. And, of course, there were scores of good delis in the boroughs (with the exception of Staten Island). HG’s all time favorite was Reuben’s. Its Reuben sandwich and chicken in the pot were incomparable. Woody Allen’s “Broadway Danny Rose” is framed around a group of comedians, seated at a Carnegie Delicatessen table, chatting about a Broadway character. The film captures the ethos of the Carnegie in bygone days. And, the film is a nice bittersweet homage to low level show biz.
(Photo by James and Karla Murray)
Hi Hungry Gerald,
Just wanted you to know that we enjoy your feed and the photo you used for your piece on Carnegie Deli closing is our photo which appears as the cover and on page 155 of our book “New York Nights” (Gingko Press 2012). We would appreciate you crediting the photo to us: James & Karla Murray (www.jamesandkarlamurray.com) If you are not familiar with our books we are sure you would love them as we document many independently-owned small businesses , many of them are food-related. Our other books include: “Store Front:The Disappearing Face of New York” and “Store Front II- A History Preserved”.
Sorry. James and Karla, I will give you the credit. Pardon the omission.