‘Fancy Pharmacy’ is Moving from Essex Street After Decades on the Block
A Lower East Side retail anchor is unmoored from its longtime location at the northwest corner of Essex and Rivington Streets.
Fancy Pharmacy (and its unique store signage) is not long for this spot. A sandwich board outside the store indicates that the drugstore is relocating, though not too far away. Its new location is a couple blocks away at 132 Allen Street, the previous home of 10Below ice cream.
Thus caps some thirty-five years here.
Word on the street is that the building – 131 Essex Street – is about to be sold. As of today, however, public records show no sign of a transaction. (The property has been owned by Frank Arnold since 1986.)
Date of the move is not mentioned.
In the 1960s, Photo: Economy Candy
This corner spot was most famously the first location of Economy Candy starting in 1937. Its original function was a discount shoe shop, yet the candy stand was the biggest draw. Fashion purchases weren’t number one for those hit hardest by the economic downturn. So, founder Morris “Moishe” Cohen, who passed away five years ago at age 92, pivoted the business into a sweets shop. The shop eventually moved to its current location at 108 Rivington in 1985 after Saperstein’s appetizing closed.
The pharmacy followed.
Recent Stories
Adam Schlesinger, Fountains of Wayne Cofounder, Dies of Coronavirus Complications
Adam Schlesinger – whose infectious melodies with Fountains of Wayne, as well as That Thing You Do! endeared himself to a generation – died yesterday morning from complications due to coronavirus. The Emmy Award-winning songwriter was 52. His condition the day before yesterday was reported by his attorney of 25 years as “very sick and heavily […]
Daily Clap: Cheering for COVID-19 First Responders
Since last week, city dwellers confined at home have been applauding first responders in the fight against COVID-19. Each evening at 7:00pm, a citywide round of applause commences. Windows open, balconies fill, and hands emerge. Clapping – or banging pots and pans – for the tireless, selfless work of first responders on the front lines […]
Cuomo Shutters All NYC Playgrounds as COVID-19 Threat Intensifies
It’s finally happened, and this is why we can’t have nice things. All New York City playgrounds are closed to the public to promote “social distancing” during the COVID-19 shutdown. The order comes from Governor Andrew Cuomo, who circumvented Mayor de Blasio on the decision. Hizzoner had not yet ordered closed the playgrounds, but did […]
New 12-Story Development to Rise Across from Essex Crossing on Ludlow Street
Nevermind the pandemic at the doorstep, more development must happen on the Lower East Side. New construction permits were filed this week for a twelve-story mid-block development directly across from the International School of Photography. The property in question is 89-91 Ludlow Street, two parcels which last year changed hands for $12.3 million. The filing […]
Emergency Rehab of Burned-out 70 Mulberry Street Resumes
Chinatown, and the city at large, is increasingly becoming a ghost town, devoid of pedestrians and traffic. Yet, despite the COVID-19 shutdown, work continues at the former PS23, where a devastating five-alarm fire gutted its top floors in January. The project site is apparently considered an emergency, and granted an exception to Governor Cuomo’s executive […]
