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Shed An Authentic Cheesy Tear: The Giant Sbarro In Times Square Has Closed
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 21, 2019
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 21, 2019
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The Four Seasons closes and we sigh. Tracks disappears and we aren't really surprised. Dojo goes the way of the dodo and so it goes. But things have gone too far this time: the giant Sbarro in Times Square, the last such Sbarro in that area, has shut down after 23 years. Dear God, there are only 28 or 29 other pizza options within a 10-minute walk of Times Square now, what will people do when they come to the big city and want to get an authentic New Yawk pizza slice?!
The company announced in a press release last month that they would be closing the location at 1606 Broadway, on the corner of 49th Street and Broadway. They said that the closure was happening at the "historic store in Times Square" after failed efforts to negotiate an extension of the lease with their landlord after it expired in June.
"It’s very disappointing that we were unable to negotiate a long-term extension of our lease at our Times Square location," said David Karam, Sbarro CEO. "This store has been an important part of our heritage since Carmella and Genaro Sbarro opened it in 1996. New York remains an important part of our brand which is reflected in the 17 eateries that we currently operate in the state. These include two of our newest locations opened within the past thirty days at South Shore Mall in Long Island and Colony Center in Albany."
He added that Sbarro is opening over 50 new restaurants worldwide in 2019, and they are "actively searching" for a replacement site in the Times Square area. As of now, there are only three Sbarro locations left in all of Manhattan (the closest one is at 33rd Street and 7th Avenue), and only seven operating in all of NYC. By comparison, there are 12 Famiglia stores in the city.
So what are we losing exactly? According to one Australian reviewer on Trip Advisor, this Sbarro had "the most awesome and delicious food you could ever imagine," which is pretty high praise from the land that brought us Vegemite. Other reviewers were not so kind: "We had the breakfast buffet and it was worse than eating glue;" "Not only the worst food I ate in New York, but the worst I've ever eaten;" "I would rate this 0 but you don’t have a choice!!!"
The biggest loss may actually be the bathrooms. As several people on Reddit have noted, this was a favorite public toilet spot for people passing through the area. One person offered their recommendation for what to do in its stead: "This was my best kept secret but I don't work in Times Square anymore so I'll share - The Red Lobster on 41st and 7th ave bathroom is so clean and nice. Just walk in and go upstairs like you own the place. I used to get dressed for interviews there so no one at my current job would be suspicious as to why I was so dressed up for my 'doctors appointment'."
Until a new Sbarro opens up there, we'll always have these tweets:
And below, my all-time favorite Sbarro tweet, thank you MTV:
Tagged
Michael Scott
sbarro
closure
shuttered
Times Square
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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