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Papaya Dog and Porn Shop on Sixth Ave. to Be Replaced by Trendy Retail

By Andrea Swalec | April 22, 2013 7:15am

GREENWICH VILLAGE — Get your papaya drink and corn dog while you still can.

The Sixth Avenue and West Fourth Street location of the classic Manhattan fast-food spot Papaya Dog is set to close to make way for new retail.

The 333 Sixth Ave. space that houses the hot dog shop — along with the recently shuttered porn shop Fantasy Party and the neighboring tattoo parlor Crazy Fantasy Tattoo — was sold to the Midtown-based company the Jackson Group earlier this month for $16.5 million, The Real Deal reported.

Jackson Group executive Ike Chehebar, who did not immediately respond to an inquiry, told the real estate paper he wants to draw local and national chains like Victoria's Secret and Dylan's Candy Bar to the heavily trafficked corner near the IFC Center. 

Community Board 2 chair David Gruber welcomed the departure of the porn shop, which he said had been "the bane of that area for some time."

"Finally it's been sold," he said Thursday. "It's time to clean up that part of the Village."

The executive director of local business improvement district the Village Alliance also welcomed the change, griping that the adult shop "lent an unsavory air" to Sixth Avenue near the West 4th Street subway stop.

"The closure of this adult shop will go a long way toward improving this section of the Village, and we are delighted that the Jackson Group has decided to invest here," William Kelley said Friday.

The strip of Sixth Avenue between West Fourth Street and Carmine Street, best known as a destination for rolling papers, tattoos and sex toys, gained two higher-end neighbors last year, with the wine shop La Vid and the Chinese sweets shop Fay Da Bakery joining the block.

Papaya Dog's management was not immediately available Friday to comment on when the hot dog shop will close. The competitor to Papaya King, Gray's Papaya and Frank's Papaya opened its Village location in 2004, The Villager reported.

Another Village adult shop is also on its way out. City records show Jackson Group bought the 192 Seventh Ave. South building that houses Fantasy World for $4.1 million in February. Chehebar told The Real Deal his company wants a new tenant there.

"Something along the lines of Nespresso," he told the paper.

Crazy Fantasy Tattoo made headlines in February when 6th Precinct police caught a worker agreeing to buy a cellphone an undercover officer said had been stolen.