Hopefully I'm just jumping the gun here, but I can't help noticing that my local newsstand on University Place between 8th and 9th Streets has been rather ominously closed for the last several days. As a bit of backstory, the stand in question went through a bit of a welcome renaissance this past summer when it was taken over by the Shaikhs, a pair of brothers who'd formerly run the fabled newsstand on the corner of Thomspon and West Third. That much beloved stand was closed down by the city for an alleged license discrepancy. That decision ended up mobilizing the neighborhood in question to fight the ruling, however unsuccessfully.
When the Shaikh brothers took over the stand near me, there was a dramatic upturn in the quality of periodical and fare on offer. More importantly, though, the brothers themselves are a pair of kind, hard-working gents who swiftly became a very welcome addition to our little corner of New York City.
In very short order, my family befriended them, and I swiftly got into the habit of stopping by and chatting with them. I regularly pop down to pick up the latest copies of my favorite British music mags, and they always ask about my kids (who they see a great deal of) and inquire as to the success of my job search. They're decent fellows who run an honest business and they're a complete bonus to our block.
I can only hope that they're on a much-needed, richly deserved vacation, but that seems somewhat unlikely. I know they were quite bummed out about having to leave their afore-mentioned former spot, as the foot-traffic and subsequent business was much heartier on that side of Washington Square Park. I'm very glad for them if they'd indeed found a way to re-open that stand, but I'm mystified as to the eerie silence at our end. If they don't reappear soon, I'll be quite disappointed.
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