Marshal Seizes Year-Old ‘Bricia Cafe’ on Clinton Street

August 2018

In news that shouldn’t quite surprise, Bricia Cafe, situated at the southwest corner of Clinton and Rivington Streets is kaput. It lasted one year.

Like many new establishments in the neighborhood, Bricia spent more time behind the boards than in business. Its branded canopy teased an opening that didn’t arrive until a year after installation – last August.

Now, it’s out of commission. The City Marshal seized the premises on behalf of the landlord.

As one neighbor points out…

The signs of demise were there for a while. Very rarely busy, they had been advertising a 10% cash discount for a while – never a positive sign of health of the business. They were also responsible for the worst lasagna I have ever had the misfortune to order in my life.

Before Bricia, Marm Cafe previously held court at 79 Clinton for three years until its demise in August 2017. That business was named for Fredericka “Marm” Mandelbaum, “Queen of Thieves,” who owned a haberdashery on this spot starting in 1865. The crook is often considered the most successful fence in New York City history. From Sarah Breger’s Queen of Thieves: “a huge woman weighing more than two hundred and fifty pounds with ‘extraordinarily fat cheeks,’ Mandelbaum was the head of one of the first organized crime rings and a driving force behind New York City’s underworld for more than twenty-five years.” Mandelbaum handled nearly $10 million in stolen property antebellum through the 1890s using her needles, ribbons, buttons, and the aforementioned thread store as a front. Her apartment above was reportedly furnished completely with stolen goods for uptown mansions.