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2nd Avenue Deli's Move to the Upper East Side Delayed

By Amy Zimmer | July 8, 2011 5:52pm | Updated on July 8, 2011 11:46pm

MANHATTAN — The 2nd Avenue Deli's move to First Avenue on the Upper East Side has been delayed, but the iconic eatery expects to open and serve up its pickles and pastrami this summer, the owner said.

"We have no firm date," said Josh Lebewohl, who runs the restaurant with his brother. "It will be this summer. Unfortunately, we'd like to open earlier. Things don't always run according to schedule."

He did not elaborate on the reasons for the hold-up.

The deli, which made its name on Second Avenue and East 10th Street, in the East Village, bought 1442 First Ave., at 75th Street, in 2009.

Residents have been anticipating the kosher restaurant's arrival since the building's previous tenant, the Wicked Wolf Restaurant, closed in August 2009. Most recently, the deli had anticipated a spring opening.

Just as immigrants on the Lower East Side moved out of the neighborhood, the 2nd Avenue Deli has followed its customers northward.

After it shuttered its original Second Avenue location in 2006 over a rent dispute, the deli reopened on Third Avenue and 33rd Street the following year.