The Blissville Deli

Push open the door to the Blissville Deli.

You'll find more a community center than a deli.

Because there's not much on its shelves.

Just the basics for little emergencies, whether living or working in Blissville.

Go in after dark, and you'll still find it open for business -- even after the factories around it have closed,

and the sandwich man has gone home.

These are the hours of its real business.

When loyal clients stream in.

Some live in the neighborhood, others just delay going home.

When these pictures were taken, back in October, 2005, Derek owned the deli. He'd owned it for two or three years. Before that he was a mover and a loyal patron of the Blissville Deli, coming in every morning with his fellow movers for a bacon and egg sandwich. His dream back then was to have his own business. He grew friendly with its owner who was looking to sell.
So he bought the deli, for $20,000.

But earning money from a deli in a marginal neighborhood was more difficult than he expected.

So he turned it into a bar of sorts.

He packed the old refrigerator with all kinds of beer.

He kept his prices low. For a Bud, one dollar. For a Heineken, seventy five cents more. It was still a lot less than at the bar up the street.

He made the deli into an after-work destination. If the deli was full, he stayed open until eleven at night, only to return the next day before the sun rose.

Even on a rainy Friday night in October, he had his regulars.

Like Richie and Pete and some of the others.

For them, and perhaps for himself, he installed a television.

He splurged for cable so he could show all the games, just like in the bar at the corner.

People now came in not just for beer, but the game.

Loyalties are fickle. Blissville is in Queens, and so it should be Mets territory. But here everyone's Yankees all the way.

But on this night, only a few dropped in to catch the game.

The other regulars had commitments.

Maybe to their wives.

Maybe to someone else.

Or maybe they were just too tired after a full week of work.

With so few customers, Derek decided he'd close early this night and go home to his own family. He was working so hard at the deli, he wasn't able to see them as much as he would have liked.

Now his customers would need to find another place to watch the game, but anywhere else would be more expensive.

They tried to convince Derek to stay open for them.

Derek was tired.

They told him they wouldn't come back.

But Derek recognized it for what it was.

An empty threat.

And so they left. But where they went next, who knows?