Douma Pizza and International Playground Vacate Belleagured Stanton Street Block
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Making ends meet near the junction of Stanton and the Bowery is pretty difficult. We’ve reported on this trend in the past. Now, within the last month, two of the block’s commercial anchors have vanished. And neighbors, at that. International Playground and Douma Pizza.
International Playground shuttered at the end of February, and consolidated with its “flagship” location in SoHo. Its sole outpost in the city. To that end, the fashion brand recently pasted a plethora of bills to plywood around the neighborhood to announce the merge.
The boutique humbly began life on Orchard Street as a pop-up shop in the winter of 2009. It eventually outgrew its digs and moved to 13 Stanton Street a year later.
As for Douma Pizza, the premises was emptied of its contents last Sunday. Appliances removed via pickup truck. Times were tough for this pizzeria of late, having notched a top spot on deathwatch. It had closed at odd hours in the past and even tried to get into the breakfast game to garner greater business.
11 Stanton Street was previously home to Pizza Junkie, which held down the block for a few years – through a management change – before going bust in 2013. Douma was the replacement.
Except for a bodega and mom-and-pop dry cleaner, business on the block is dominated by nightlife. Rochelle’s, Bonnie Vee, Kitty’s Canteen, and Cafe Cata all hold court.
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