Village Cigars from “Just My Luck”

When planning a trip, my M.O. is to pore over as many area travel guides as possible and highlight spots I think the Grim Cheaper and I might be interested in seeing.  I then pass the books along to him and he reads through all the passages I have marked, giving them a yay or a nay.  One place that really piqued both our interests prior to our April 2016 NYC vacay was Village Cigars, which we learned about via The Best Things to Do in New York.  Though the smoke shop is an institution in and of itself, the GC and I were most interested in stalking it because of a small triangular plaque located on the sidewalk out front.

Originally established in the early 1900s, Village Cigars moved to its current home – a tiny triangular-shaped space situated at the intersection of 7th Avenue South, Christopher Street, West 4th Street and Grove Street in the heart of Greenwich Village – in 1922.  Prior to that, a five-story apartment building known as the Voorhis stood at that site.  Owned by Philadelphia-based landlord David Hess and his family, the property was acquired by the city via eminent domain in 1910 in preparation for a large subway expansion project that ultimately destroyed pretty much everything in its path – all in the name of saving a few bucks.  In order to avoid the expensive process of deep bore tunneling, which would have preserved the buildings situated above, the government instead chose to use a ‘cut and cover’ procedure, i.e. removing streets to allow for subterranean digging and then replacing them upon project completion.  As such, an entire stretch of about 300 city buildings, including the Voorhis, were razed and Seventh Avenue South was extended about a mile.  A commenter named Tim on the Scouting New York website explains it best, saying, “Seventh Ave. used to end at Greenwich Ave.  The cut to Varick St. was made in 1913 so the subway company didn’t have to spend big on expensive drilling, instead they convinced the City to demolish 9 city blocks worth of buildings – churches, businesses and apartments – anything in the path of the new Seventh Ave. South so they could use the cheaper ‘cut and cover’ method.”

You can read a great write-up on the massive undertaking on the Gothamist website here.  Included in the article are the 1897 and 1916 maps pictured below (garnered from The New York Public Library Digital Collections) which provide a better visual of how the Seventh Avenue extension changed the landscape of the area.  In 1897, the Voorhis (spelled incorrectly as “Vorhes” on the map) occupied lot #55, situated just southwest of Christopher Park (the green triangle denoted “park”).  As you can see, the extension not only cut through that lot, but the ones numbered 51 through 54, as well.

Years after the Seventh Avenue expansion was complete, Hess’ heirs discovered that during the imminent domain process the government had somehow failed to secure ownership of a miniscule triangular portion of their former land.  So they quickly claimed the rights to it.  In an incredibly nervy move, the city then asked the Hess estate to donate the 500-square-inch section of sidewalk to New York.  I’ve doctored the 1897 map below with an overlay showing the current position of Seventh Avenue and an arrow denoting the location of the land in dispute.

Not surprisingly, the Hess family refused to donate the plot and instead adorned it with a tile plaque reading “PROPERTY OF THE HESS ESTATE WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN DEDICATED FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES.”  The black-and-white mosaic was installed on July 26th, 1922.  To further drive their point home, the family even erected a fence around the signage at one point.

In 1938, the Hess heirs sold the land, one of the smallest plots still in private ownership in New York, for $1,000 to the proprietors of Village Cigars, who chose to leave the 25.5-inch by 27.5-inch by 27.5-inch plaque intact.  Today, the tiny patch is known as “Hess Triangle.”  You can read a fabulous accounting of the history of the triangle on the Chris Whong website here and here.

Though the plaque has never appeared in a movie or television show (at least that I know of – if I’m wrong please fill me in!), Village Cigars is a frequent screen star.

The store is visible twice in fave movie Just My Luck.  It first pops up toward the beginning of the 2006 film in the scene in which Dana (Bree Turner) and Maggie (Samaire Armstrong) decide to test out Ashley Albright'”‘”‘s (Lindsay Lohan) good fortune by purchasing a lottery ticket for her at a magazine stand located across the street from Village Cigars to see if she wins.  Spoiler alert – she does.

Later in the movie, after her luck has run out, Ashley heads to Christopher Park, across the street from Village Cigars, with Jake Hardin (Chris Pine) and accidentally sits on a park bench that has just been painted.

Larry Lapinsky (Lenny Baker) passes by Village Cigars numerous times in the 1976 drama Next Stop, Greenwich Village.

At the beginning of the 1980 comedy Hero at Large, Steve Nichols (John Ritter) is dropped off in front of Village Cigars after a Captain Avenger media promotion.

Alice Detroit (Dyan Cannon) asks Ivan Travalian (Al Pacino) to meet up with her outside of Village Cigars in 1982’s Author! Author!

In the Season 2 episode of NYPD Blue titled “The Final Adjustment,” which aired in 1994, Detective James Martinez (Nicholas Turturro) and Leticia Beltran (Marta Martin) walk through Christopher Park with Village Cigars visible in the background.

Sonny Koufax (Adam Sandler) grabs a hot dog and “a lot of ketchup” with Julian ‘Frankenstein’ McGrath (Cole and Dylan Sprouse) across the street from Village Cigar in the 1999 comedy Big Daddy.

Village Cigars can also be seen in the background of the 2013 drama Inside Llewyn Davis in the scene in which Llewyn (Oscar Isaac) exits a Greenwich Village subway station with his friend’s cat.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Village Cigars, from Just My Luck, is located at 110 7th Avenue South in New York’s West Village.  Hess Triangle can be found in the sidewalk just outside the shop’s front doors.

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