Coming Soon: Cynthia Vincent at 253 Elizabeth

Empty storefronts on Elizabeth Street in Nolita seemingly have but one replacement option.  It’s one high-end fashionista boutique after another, as the shelf life of such ventures appears to be a slim year or two.  Such is the case with the recently-vacated 253 Elizabeth, a small storefront last occupied by Brooklyn-based handbaggery Hayden-Harnett.

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And now it’s time for the like-minded successor.  Posters in the windows reveal that fashion designer Cynthia Vincent is planning an outpost here.  The retail build-out has been ongoing in recent weeks behind a uniform curtain of brown paper, and should be completed sometime in the “spring.”

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On a related note, Martin Scrosese once called 253 Elizabeth Street his home.  Indeed, back in the 1950s, the acclaimed director lived on the third floor apartment facing the street.  According to a New York Times article dated February 13, 1998, Scorsese moved to this building at age eight and resided here for fifteen years.  Note the location referenced in the story – Little Italy…

Little Italy has altered considerably since an afternoon in 1950 when a terrified 8-year-old boy reluctantly transplanted from Corona, Queens, sat on his grandmother’s fire escape and stared down for the first time at the urban cacophony of street kids, winos and wise guys. Many of the Italian-American families have moved out or died off; burgeoning Chinatown has pushed across Canal Street, and there is the usual gentrified ragout of boutiques and bistros amid the boarded-up storefronts.