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Carnegie Deli Reopens After 10-Month Closure

By Maya Rajamani | February 9, 2016 12:06pm
 The deli was shut down at the end of April after Con Ed discovered a diverted gas line in the basement.
Carnegie Deli Reopens
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MIDTOWN — The Carnegie Deli reopened on Tuesday, nearly 10 months after issues with a gas line forced the famous eatery to close.

“We’re over the moon. We’re thrilled, we’re excited, we couldn’t be happier,” said Sarri Harper, 34, whose grandfather Milton Parker bought the deli with his business partners in 1976.

“We’re serving all of our Carnegie Deli favorites… everything that our customers have been waiting for for months,” she added.

At the end of April last year, the deli at 854 Seventh Ave. shuttered after a Con Ed investigation discovered a diverted gas line in its basement that appeared to be an illegal gas hookup.

Over the past months, the deli carried out repairs and “necessary upgrades” following the gas line issues, Parker said.

While the deli was closed, tenants living above the restaurant were left without heat and hot water for months as the repairs were made and fines were paid related to the line.

But on Tuesday morning, the deli was back to serving its signature corned beef and pastrami with pickles and coleslaw.

Longtime Carnegie Deli patrons Kurt Benjamin, 53, and his friend Larry Marion, 58, were two of the first customers to sit down for a meal at what Benjamin called the “Nobu of delis” on Tuesday morning.

“This is New York. Spectacular, nostalgic, the way delis are supposed to be," Benjamin said.

“It’s history,” Marion added.

The deli will hold its official grand reopening on Feb. 17 at a yet-to-be-determined time, Harper said.

At the front of the deli Tuesday morning, owner Marian Harper posed for a photo with her daughter Sarri and one of the deli’s famous sandwiches.

“I’m very excited to be open today — so excited,” Marian Harper said.

“I know [my grandfather would] be so proud of us today,” Sarri Harper added.