Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Out and About in the East Village


By James Maher
Name: Nick Sitnycky
Occupation: Owner, John’s of 12th Street
Location: 12th Street between 1st and 2nd Ave
Time: 1 pm on Monday, Dec. 16

I was born in Brooklyn, in Williamsburg when no one wanted to be in Williamsburg. When I was 9 years old, my parents moved over to Avenue B between 5th and 6th. That was 1958. We moved in 1968 to 145 Second Avenue.

I go back to 1958. Everyone tries to be cool and tells me, ‘Oh I remember the Fillmore East.’ I say, ‘The Fillmore East was a latecomer. It was the Loew’s Commodore.’ When we were kids we’d hang around Avenue B and C. There were little candy stores all over and they’d sell 1-cent chocolates, along with 5-cent sodas. There was Gem Spa, there were used comic book stores on Avenue C. You’d go in and you could buy a used comic book for a penny or two pennies. You’d walk in and it would look like a warehouse.

All us kids would be standing around on corners. And you’d actually be doo-wopping on the street, doo-wop music, you’d harmonize. We were wearing our leather jackets with the stars on it, that was cool. You’d have your groups and then you’d go walk down certain blocks you couldn’t walk down, just because. You’d run away and they’d chase you. It was like cowboys and Indians.

It was almost ethnic by block. You’d have an Italian block, an Irish block, a Puerto Rican block, a Ukrainian block, a Polish block. First Avenue was all Italian stores — it was Italian or it was Kosher. There would be Kosher stores that only sold butter and eggs. There would be Italian butchers and Italian produce stores, fish stores, little butchers on the side streets, Kosher butchers and Italian butchers. There were all these movie houses. All of us kids would be playing basketball and football in Tompkins Square Park. We’d roller-skate around the circle. If you wanted to play baseball you’d go over the bridge on the FDR drive and play in the park along the river.

There weren’t many restaurants around then. It was either the Chinese restaurant or John’s. There was Sonny’s pizzeria around the corner where the kids would go, where Cacio e Pepe is now. Sonny was married to John’s daughter. So when I finished grammar school, my family came to John’s for dinner. In 1962, I had my graduation party from high school at John’s. Then I went to St. John’s and graduated with an economics degree in 1966, and where did I have my graduation dinner, in John’s restaurant. I got my masters at Adelphi in ’68 and we had our dinner at John’s.

John’s is an institution. John Pucciatti came from the province of Umbria, from the little medieval village of Bevagna, between Spoleto and Assisi. My wife and I actually went there. He opened this restaurant 105 years ago, in 1908. The restaurant was just the front room and he was the chef and his wife, known as ‘Momma John,’ helped him.

When prohibition came 10 years later, this became a speakeasy. The whole second floor of the building was the speakeasy. People would sit and eat and then the people who knew would ask for ‘dessert upstairs.’ They’d go through from the restaurant. You can see the outline of a door that they sealed. Our back room was the backyard and Momma John was the brewmaster. She actually made her own hooch. There was a little shack and in there was a still and in the basement she made her wine. Then she had a pulley system to get the liquor up to the second floor because they never wanted a drop of liquor in the restaurant, so whenever they got raided there was never a violation.

Remember, this was the time of "Boardwalk Empire." Joe the Boss Masseria was a real guy and a real friend of John’s. And Lucky Luciano was down here also in the neighborhood, so they would always be around here. And then there was the other side. I’d guess you’d call John a progressive because he was a very, very socialist-minded individual. There were a lot of meetings here. There were guys like Carlo Tresca, who was a real firebrand. And one day they gunned him down [on 13th Street and 5th Avenue]. So you had two sides, the anarchists and the Mafia, that hated each other. But they were all here in John’s.


Part 2 tomorrow: Big Nick and Mike buy John's in 1972.

Previously on EV Grieve:
About the new ownership for 105-year-old East Village institution John's of 12th Street


A little while ago I said...

Wow! This guy is the best, a real treasure trove of info. Can't wait to hear more from him.

Anonymous said...

I think I saw this guy on "Diners, Driveins and Dives". Yeah I watch that show, so what. It calms me before bedtime.

Anyways, what a cool interview with a sharp dude and a real lifer. A lot of people have been around, but this guy seems to have real historical perspective. Appreciate it.

Anonymous said...

And this is how you establish yourself in the community -- honesty, hard work, sincerity, integrity, and respect to the community, unlike that new owner of an unmentionable and disdainful bistro.

marjorie said...

swoon. what a great interview.

Ken from Ken's Kitchen said...

That was a great read.

DrBOP said...

I was lucky enough to catch the (now looking back) tail-end of this New York city. It wasn't unusual to be spouting off about how radical we were, to run into some "old-timer" who would would argue us into the ground.

And NYC wasn't, and isn't, alone in the kinds of neighborhoods and the changes that he describes. ALL big cities in North America were set up this way. MANY shared experiences.
We only discovered at a family reunion about 10 years ago that our great-grandfather was a major supplier of bootleg wine and Italian liqueurs in Toronto......and that there was a 12' by 12' by 80' long prep room underneath his driveway dug out by my grand father and his 8 brothers after school.
And that's skipping the part about mu uncles who were devotees of Antonio Gramsci.
Different world.

moe said...

Wow I am hypnotized. Can't wait for part 2.
And I thought I was old-skool!

Anonymous said...


Today threes would be known as hipster, foodie, carpetbaggers.
Thank god for Hormel, Cargill, and pink slime.

Marty Wombacher said...

All of these have been great, but this is one of the best, can't wait for part II!

Anonymous said...

Have stayed in Bevagna, Umbria several times. A beautiful place. Must visit John's next time I'm over in NYC from London.

Anonymous said...

THIS was when New York was at its best, no matter what our shit mayor might think.

Anonymous said...

Are there any pictures out there of what Gem Spa looked like inside during the era that Nick is referencing here.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic. I wasn't there for all this, but I miss it. I miss it. We've lost something really important in the recent so-called "clean up" of this great old neighborhood---threw the NYC baby out with the NYC bath water.

Cynthia & Peter Chaffee said...

I am stunned and my heart is broken hearing that John's is being sold. What a gem in this city. Nick and his lovely wife Valentina and Mike were such an important part of why John's was so gracious and wonderful. John's is untouched by time with the original ice box and air conditioner. The murals, the wonderful marble walls and floors, I hope it will be maintained. You will never find a better Carbonara anywhere and Nick used to make us a special Spedini with anchovy and butter. Their grilled portabella mushrooms, incredible Tiramisu. In fact if there was something we wanted and it wasn't on the menu, we could order it and they made it special. We love John's so much that we had our wedding reception there and Nick was so gracious and generous and made everything perfect. What a loss, how we will miss you Nick & Valentina, John's will never be the same without you.

Anonymous said...

In 1922, Morello family trigger man Umberto Rocco Valenti was killed three days after botching a hit on Genovese boss Guiseppe Masseria. Valenti was callled to a " peace meeting " at John's, but when he arrived at the restraunt, "He was greeted by half a dozen gunmen" (NYP)

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