Los Papi’s, a Spanish-American eatery that’s been dishing out rice and beans for nearly a quarter-century, will close to make way for a seven-story residential tower.
Building owner Moshe Gold confirmed that rumors of Los Papi’s demise were “correct” — though the restaurant’s owner, Juan Perez, seems to be the last to know.
“No one has sent me a letter saying this is the time when you [have to leave],” Perez told The Brooklyn Paper.
Perez has occupied the ground-floor level of the two-story building on Bridge Street, between Front and York streets, since 1985, when the now-hip neighborhood was crime-ridden and the notion of million-dollar condos was laughable.
“Someone shot at me [and missed] here in 1985,” said Perez. “Back then, you could buy a property for $10,000.”
Now Perez’s restaurant, which has a flourishing lunchtime business, sits next to the offices of The Developers Group, a hip firm that is marketing the conversion of an old Jehovah’s Witnesses building into the swank “One Brooklyn Bridge Park.”
A block away at 99 Gold St., luxury lofts are renting for nearly $3,000 a month.
News that Gold had submitted plans for a seven-story, Karl Fisher-designed building was first reported by DUMBONYC.com, a neighborhood blog.
Since then, locals have been lamenting the imminent loss of one of the few DUMBO eateries where lunch costs less than $4.
“There are no places to eat around here,” said Rodney Gaines, who was lunching at Los Papi’s on a recent afternoon.
