The Lower East Side is losing another mainstay of its Jewish heritage.
“The people, they don’t come down here anymore,” Heidi Yousef says emphatically when asked why Israel Wholesale & Retail Judaica plans to close in the next few weeks. “We don’t have that many stores here; it’s not that interesting.”
The blocks of Essex just south of Grand Street used to be lined with judaica stores and other Jewish-owned businesses, but the passage of time and the changing of the Lower East Side’s population have steadily eroded their number. Zelig Blumenthal , another historic judaica store just down the block at 13 Essex, closed last summer, and this spring, has been converted into a bakery and coffee shop , Cafe Grumpy.
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