Papaya Dog Down

Reader Richard writes in to let us know "the Papaya Dog on the corner of 42nd and 9th Ave shut down overnight. I spoke to some of the doormen at a nearby building and they said the employees were ripping the place up overnight."


today

This Papaya Dog was one of four in the city (I visited all the hot dog and papaya joints last year).

It was located in the Elk Hotel, a former flop, nearly a century old. The Elk was sold in 2012 and emptied of tenants. (I took a tour of the place with one tenant back then--seriously don't miss that one.)

We heard awhile back that, along with most of the low-rise block, the hotel was sold again and all the businesses on the block would soon be kicked out. Is that why Papaya Dog closed?

Or maybe it was doomed by the luxury hotel rising across the avenue--the one that pushed out Big Apple Meat Market and Stile's Market and 99-cent Fresh Pizza.

Then again, maybe it was just that magically powerful tyranny of nostalgia that did it.


2015