‘De Maria’ is Done After 2 Years on Kenmare Street [Updated]
Photo: Google Maps
De Maria is dead. The chic Kenmare Street cafe closed down last week after little more than two years in business.
Word on the street is that staff was allegedly informed that August 12 would be the last day for both De Maria and its basement “events space,” The Lo. An insider also alleges that sales had been stale ever since founding chef Camille Becerra left last January and Chopped champ Adriana Urbina stepped in. The latter chef wrote on Instagram, “Due to lack of transparency and professionalism from the owners at De Maria, I’m sad to announce that [August 10] was the last service.”
This enormous ground-level space at 19 Kenmare can’t seem to hold down a solid commercial tenant. It’s morphed into several different nightclubs over the years, including Travertine, Ken & Cook, and Lil Charlie’s. (The Lo never materialized thanks to neighbor outcry over the latter.) Maybe it’s also the rent.
UPDATE: Eater notes that Steph Bragg and Sowrabh “Sab” Sharma were the lease-holders on the space for the last ten years. Sharma plead guilty in February to visa fraud and tax crimes.
Before this last decade of nightlife, the space at 19 Kenmare housed Little Charlie’s Clam House.
Recent Stories
Late Photographer Corky Lee Gets Mural Treatment on Doyers Street
There is a new tribute mural in Chinatown that honors the memory of beloved photographer Corky Lee. The nascent Chinatown Mural Project is behind the new artwork, which stretches along a 35-foot wall on Doyers Street, the nerve center of Chinatown. The mural is two-toned – blue and off-white – and meant to resemble “Ming” […]
One Year Later, ‘Fiore Escape’ COVID Sessions Still Captivate
One year after first captivating passersby at Essex and Grand Streets, the free fire escape concert series is back for another. Indeed, musician Jill Fiore will perform anew from the second floor of her Essex Street tenement (above Delancey Car Service). The next so-called “Fiore Escape” show is slated for October 15, as announced on […]
Parks Department Installs Fence at Allen Mall Bathhouse in Response to Nadja Rose Madder
The Parks Department is upping the ante on deterring a homeless artist from painting and gathering at the Allen Street Bathhouse. Earlier this week, the city began assembling an eight-foot chain-link enclosure to (partially) fence in the sidewalk plaza. It is on this spot that transgender artist Nadja Rose Madder has been transforming the brickwork […]
Extell Residents in Cherry Street Tower Bark Foul Over Abundance of Dogs Despite No Pet Policy
Residents of Extell’s “affordable tower” at 227 Cherry Street are barking foul over the proliferation of pitbulls, despite the no-pet policy. We are told by current tenants that leases contain a strict stipulation prohibiting pets in apartments, and that management (Wavecrest) seems deaf and/or slow to act about the apparent violations. By some estimates, there […]
Aggro Panhandler Hurls Brick at Pickle Guys Worker in Brutal Attack
An aggro panhandler outside Pickle Guys on Grand Street attacked an employee after he was asked to move away from the store entrance, cops said. The suspect had been aggressively begging at around 8:20am last Wednesday when the 63-year-old worker told him to disperse. That didn’t sit well; the pugilist picked up a nearby chair […]
