Closings

Beloved Village Diner, Joe Jr., May Close on Sunday

Photo: Shanna Ravindra

First Jefferson Market, and now this. David Camp has sent our camp an e-mail informing us that the end is near for Joe Jr., a greasy spoon in the Village favored by the likes of David Byrne, John Waters, and our own Adam Platt. (If we’re not mistaken, we once spied New York editor-in-chief Adam Moss holding court there, too.) Per Camp’s e-mail: “They have big handwritten signs in the window saying they’ve lost their lease after [4]5 yrs, are closing this Sunday. They are asking people to sign a petition to save Joe Jrs and to ‘spread the word,’ I guess in hopes of pressuring the landlord not to cut them loose.” It’ll be sad if those prime people-watching windows are papered over, but there may yet be hope. Joe Jr. went through a closing scare back in 1994; the Times then quoted designer and loyal patron Isaac Mizrahi: “It’s like everybody’s dream diner, the perfect New York diner. Sort of tatty around the edges, very tatty around the edges. Excellent tuna-fish sandwiches on rye toast. Excellent scrambled eggs. Amazing immediate delivery. And it’s such a fixture in the neighborhood.” Of course, the Sunday closing date sounds pretty definite, but here’s hoping against hope they dodge the bullet again.

Beloved Village Diner, Joe Jr., May Close on Sunday