Neighboring Pub St. Dymphna's Looks to Take Over the Space Where Yaffa Cafe Lived for So Long

The space that was home to the dearly-departed East Village mainstay Yaffa Cafe for the last 32 years has a new suitor. EV Grieve reports that the owners of St. Dymphna's, an Irish pub just down the block on St Marks Place, are currently applying for a liquor license for the space. Plans submitted to Community Board 3 ahead of the January SLA committee meeting don't give much of an idea of what sort of place this will be. It doesn't have a name yet, and there's no indication of what kind of food will be served. But it looks like it will be a bar/restaurant, with 16 tables and a tiny sidewalk cafe.

The backyard garden, which contributed to Yaffa Cafe's tragic downfall when the Department of Buildings decided it was only zoned for residential use and issued a partial vacate order, is not in the plans for the new St. Dymphna's project.