Gem Spa
131 2nd Avenue | also 36 St Marks Place | East Village | built 1900
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1898
Louis F. Heinecke designs a six-story tenement with stores for Augustus Ruff
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The corner building at 131 Second Avenue, also numbered 36 St. Marks Place, was put up in 1898-1900 for Augustus Ruff to plans by Louis F. Heinecke. Four lots on the block were built under a single 1898 permit, each with stores and apartments, and Nos. 127 through 131 read as one continuous structure. The six-story building is faced in orange iron-spot brick with brownstone window surrounds.
- 1920
The corner store sells Jewish and foreign-language papers and is credited with the egg cream
Since at least the 1920s the corner store here has housed a newsstand and candy store. Its early customers bought mostly Jewish and foreign-language newspapers. Many credit the shop with inventing the egg cream, the classic New York drink.
- 1957
Ruby Silverstein and Harold Shepard take over the store and name it Gem's Spa after their wives
From 1957 the store belonged to Ruby Silverstein and Harold Shepard, who kept it open around the clock with a staff of 11. Silverstein figured someone walked in every 30 seconds. They named it Gem's Spa for Gladys, Etta and Miriam, the wives of the two partners and Shepard's ex-wife.
“From 1957 until at least 1969 the store was owned by Ruby Silverstein and Harold Shepard ... the name came from Gladys, Etta, and Miriam…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1966
The Village Voice calls Gem Spa the East Village's official oasis as underground papers fill its racks
Around 1963 the clientele began to shift from Jewish and foreign-language newspapers toward the Village Voice and underground magazines. By 1966 the Village Voice itself was calling Gem Spa the official oasis of the East Village, and the corner was known as a hippie hangout. In the late 1960s the store lay midway between two other landmarks of the scene, the Fillmore East and the Electric Circus.
“In 1966, The Village Voice called it the "official oasis of the East Village"; it was known as a "hippie hangout".”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1967
Robert Mapplethorpe buys Patti Smith an egg cream shortly after she arrives in New York
Shortly after Patti Smith moved to New York in 1967, her friend Robert Mapplethorpe bought her an egg cream at Gem Spa. Allen Ginsberg, for his part, called the store a nerve center of the city.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1967
Abbie Hoffman gathers people at Gem Spa for his Stock Exchange protest
In 1967 the activist Abbie Hoffman used Gem Spa as the place where he gathered people for his protest at the New York Stock Exchange. The Art Workers' Coalition, an artists' activist group, also kept its offices above the store.
“Abbie Hoffman gathered people for his 1967 protest at the New York Stock Exchange at Gem Spa…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1969
New York Magazine puts Gem Spa at the hub of the East Village, and Ginsberg ends a poem with it
A 1969 New York Magazine article called the store perfectly situated in the middle of the East Village's busiest stretch. By then Gem Spa, in the corner space since about 1957, was known as an avant-garde newsstand and a center of counterculture, selling the Village Voice and many underground magazines. Allen Ginsberg, the Beat poet, closed at least one of his poems with a nod to the shop.
“A 1969 New York Magazine article about the store notes it as "perfectly situated, right at the hub of the busiest part of the East Village.”
- 1972
Gem Spa closes for a time in 1972 as the counterculture that supported it fades
Business had already suffered in 1971, when the Village Voice noted that a standing group of junkies had made the doorways and benches outside their base. Irving Stein owned the store that year. Gem Spa closed in February 1972 after money troubles as the counterculture that supported it collapsed. The storefront caught fire that May, and the store reopened in June under new management.
“…closed for a time from February 1972 when it ran into financial trouble ... The storefront caught fire that May, but it reopened that June with new management.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1982
Jean-Michel Basquiat paints a major work titled Gem Spa
In 1982 the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat painted one of his main works under the title Gem Spa, sharing its name with the St. Marks Place newsstand. The poets Allen Ginsberg and Ted Berrigan each referred to the stand in their writing.
“Gem Spa is the name of one of the main works painted by Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1982.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1986
Ray Patel buys Gem Spa and replaces a brick wall with glass
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Ray Patel, born in Gujarat, India, bought the store in 1986 and swapped one brick wall for glass. He and his wife ran it without advertising, relying on word of mouth. His egg cream recipe came from the Italian owner before him, who had it from a Jewish predecessor.
“…bought the store in 1986, when he replaced one brick wall with glass ... learned making egg creams from the previous Italian owner…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2020
Gem Spa announces it will not reopen after the pandemic and rent increases
On May 7, 2020, Parul Patel, who had taken over from her father Ray in 2018, announced that the shop itself would stay closed. She cited the pandemic and rent increases, despite a community and social media campaign to keep it open. The shop had drawn fresh attention in 2019 when its T-shirt became a streetwear hit, and it kept an online store after closing.
“On May 7, 2020, owner Parul Patel announced that the physical store would not re-open due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and rent increases…”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- 36 St. Mark’s Place; 131 Second AvenueVillage Preservation: East Village Building Blocks
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