There Goes The Neighborhood: Gem Spa Sign Comes Down As Iconic Shop Closes For Good

Holding down the corner of Second Avenue and St. Marks Place for decades (or a century, depending on when you start the clock), Gem Spa had become more than an East Village landmark. It was a sturdy totem to Old New York, a last remaining back-in-the-day stronghold as the area around it has steadily transformed into something else entirely, time and again. Gem Spa's unwillingness to change alongside its ability to simply remain had been a sign of hope that something could exist in the face of this relentless neighborhood rebranding; its egg creams and Zoltar machine a refreshing constant as the Gap, then Starbucks, then Chase banks and luxury condos moved in around it.

But then it all came crashing down, and even though we expected it, the sight of Gem Spa's iconic sign being removed this weekend felt like a form of abandonment. The anchor has been pulled up, our vessel to the past has sailed on.

A year ago, Gem Spa was struggling as the typical issues of owning a small business in New York City piled up. Rent became more difficult to pay. They lost their license to sell cigarettes and lottery tickets, a bulk of their business. And in the face of loss, passionate locals rallied to rescue it. By year's end it seemed the business would go on to see another day, another month, perhaps another year, maybe even 80. Hey, anything can happen... and then it did. The pandemic happened.

Parul Patel had been running the joint, a job she took over after her father, Ray (who bought the store in the mid-1980s) fell ill. Last week the family announced the shop would not reopen, it had sold its last egg cream. "Prior to the crisis, it had become increasingly apparent that the evolving character of the area was no longer able to sustain a corner creation like ours," they wrote. "Coronavirus concerns closed our city, cratered businesses, and ultimately sealed the fate of our 100-year-old shop." St. Marks is dead. Again.

“It really was an oasis in the middle of this drug-infested neighborhood” when their family took over, Parul told Gothamist last year. The store originally opened in the 1920s, but wasn't operating under the name GEM Spa until 1957 (and originally it was GEMS, but they later dropped the "S"). It has been a fixture in the neighborhood since, and its most recognizable feature was its sign. Even in recent years, with a little imagination, you could still see The New York Dolls, Madonna, Basquiat, Allen Ginsberg standing beneath it.

As for the sign's fate, Parul told Gothamist this morning, "It was moved to storage for now, but we will be auctioning it off shortly." Details on the auctioning platform will be confirmed this week, she said. In addition to the sign, she told us they will be "selling off the egg cream fountain pumps, the awning and the gates [painted] by Paul Kostabi."

The Gem Spa website will stay up for now, where Patel says they "will be selling the merch, as well as Gem Spa & East Village inspired art books and photos" (like the one above of Madonna).