When we visited Gem Spa back in 2015, longtime owner (since the mid-80s) Ray Patel declared, "Gem Spa is not closing!" Which, when it comes to nearly 80-year-old iconic New York City spots, is a great thing to say if you want to tempt fate. And here we are, not five years later, and things have changed.
Gem Spa is no longer a spot where you can pick up both a pack of smokes and a fedora—after one employee got caught selling underage smokers cigarettes earlier this year, they lost their license to sell tobacco products and lottery tickets. More recently, and more noticeable to passerby, they removed some items from their sidewalk, including Zoltar, and what remained was positioned alongside an "everything must go" sign, which EV Grieve spotted. Most notably, they are no longer a 24/7 operation—the new hours are 8 a.m. to midnight, and their regular overnight guy has moved out of NYC, we were told when we swung by on Tuesday night.
Ray Patel's daughter, Parul, has been keeping up shop at Gem (she told Gothamist she is helping her parents and does not take a paycheck). In May, writer Jesse Jarnow reported on some changes at the storefront for Gothamist, and Parul Patel spoke of some new measures to bring in business, including a newly launched Instagram account (which hasn't been updated since May), and more Instagrammable egg cream flavors.
"This is a legendary place," she told Gothamist. “It’s iconic. It’s actually protected as a landmark, the building is." But the building is owned by someone else, the Patels lease out their storefront, and if business isn't booming, it threatens closure. As locals have noticed the rolled down gate during now-closed hours this week, rumors suggested things were over. But as of now, Gem Spa is still open. According to Vanishing NY, however, they are struggling.
Recently, the rent went up. Then Gem lost their license to sell cigarettes and lottery tickets due to a former employee's negligence. As Patel explained, those sales are critical. People who come to buy those items also buy newspapers and magazines, which are expensive for the shop to carry.
At the same time, the landlord told Gem to clean up the historically and happily jumbled front exterior of the store—so away went the newspaper racks and Zoltar the fortune teller. Gone, too, are the magazines, at least for now. Once Gem gets their cigarette and lottery license back, the papers and magazines may return. But that is another four months away.
Patel asks that locals buy their coffee, their Juuls, their candy and sodas and snacks and egg creams and, yes, fedoras, at Gem Spa. And not one of the generic nearby chains, unless you want Gem Spa to be replaced by one.
