Guss’ Pickles Leaving LES for Brooklyn

Well folks, it’s a sad day for pickle loving Manhattanites. Guss’ Pickles, the Lower East Side pickle shop where you can pluck the full sours right from the garlicky barrels on the sidewalk, is leaving the city for Brooklyn. Reports the blog Lo-Down:

We just received word from owner Patricia Fairhurst that she will be moving the famed Guss’ Pickles to Brooklyn. Guss’ is often included as a site of interest in tours of the Lower East Side and has been in the neighborhood since 1920. Patricia says she’s running out of room and can’t afford rent for a bigger space in the neighborhood since it’s changed so much. When the city put a Muni Meter directly in front of her pickle barrels, blocking customers’ access, it was the last straw. We will have more on this sad “sign of the times” shortly.

And Curbed reports they’ll move to 39th Street between 14th and 15th Avenues “in a few months.”

This is a shame. For the past few years, owner of Guss’ Patricia Fairhurst has been battling in court with New York kosher pickle giant United Pickle, who claims to own the name, and has openly attempted to drive Mrs. Fairhurst out of business. Read more details here. Those legal costs certainly played a role in Patricia’s move out of the city, though the case has yet to be settled between the two parties.

What’s most important here is that the Lower East Side has lost yet one more icon of Jewish food and culture. That’s a real shame.