Little Italy’s Oldest Cheese Shop Moves From New York For A Sad Reason

the traditional neighborhood Little Italy, New York, emblematic of the history of Italian immigrants in the US, it is one of the favorite enclaves for tourists visiting the Big Apple. One of its greatest attractions is, both for visitors and for local residents, the gastronomy; its restaurants and typical food outlets, including the cheese shop Alleva Dairy. Now, for a sad reason, this New York treasure You will have to move to a new location, far from your classic surroundings.

This week, a message from the administrator of the historic cheese factory, who announced the closure, generated a wave of reactions among its customers, neighbors and the media, who rushed to make their last purchases at the traditional location. “I really hoped that this day would never come; it’s sad”, Karen King said in a statement. Finally, the curtains of the premises fell definitively on March 1st, when a Montreal family bought the last of the Sicilian cannolis, according to him New York Post.

Behind the closure of the New York location hides a complex judicial problem for a debt of more than half a million dollars for rent, accrued due to the crisis of the cerres by the Covid-19, during 2020.

Alleva Dairy managers they paid about US$23,756 a month for the premises, Located in the 188 Grand Street, and Manhattan. To try to get money and solve their late payments, they created a fundraising campaign through the platform GoFundMe, but they only raised just over $6,000, out of a goal of $35,000.

The owner of the place had filed a lawsuit in the Manhattan Supreme Court in April 2022 and requested an eviction. Negotiations to reach an agreement failed. In September, Alleva Dairy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. of the United States, according to a report by the channel NBC News. This allowed it to stay in business for a while. “His landlord agreed to waive the back rent if the business vacated the premises before March 5,” the newspaper recently reported. The New York Times.

The statement continued with good news: “Thanks to the vision, generosity and commitment of businessman and real estate developer Jack Morris, President and CEO of Edgewood Properties, Alleva Dairy to open 4,000 square foot location in Lyndhurst, NJKing explained in the statement. “One thing is for sure: Alleva Dairy will continue, and it will be bigger and better than before,” he said.

Work on the new premises has already begun.. The iconic green and red signs, as well as the counters and machinery, were “carefully loaded and taken to the warehouse,” according to a message from the company. If everything goes according to plan, they will receive clients again starting next August.

Karen King bought the Italian cheese factory in 2014, which until then had remained in the hands of actor Tony Danza, direct descendant of the family that founded the business in 1892.

THE NATION