Turns Out East Village Kosher Icon Moishe’s Is Not Permanently Closed

A bright spot this week, despite Mercury going into retrograde, is that kosher East Village bakery Moishe’s Bake Shop is not closed permanently after all. Despite recent reports that the 40-year-old institution had shuttered, it turns out the clearing out of the space is merely for renovations.

Though owner Moishe Perl reportedly told storefront photographers James and Karla Murray that it closed due to a building sale, a sign in the window now says it’s closed for renovations and a manager has confirmed this to Eater. The bakery at 115 Second Ave., near East Seventh St., should reopen in six to eight weeks.

The now-fake closure of the business triggered elegies on social media, made especially believable by the building’s sale in December. The temporary closure comes as a relief, as Moishe’s has become an institution of the East Village, one of the last remaining vestiges of kosher food in the historically Jewish neighborhood. The bakery is especially known for its hamantashen and other Jewish cookies and baked goods at low prices, also available at a Grand Street location.