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History of Tribeca Buildings
Duane Park Patisserie will close on June 14
This is truly the end of an era. Duane Park Patisserie, which has been *the* anchor on Duane Street for 35 years, supporting every effort that has made that block the nicest in the neighborhood — it’s as close as we get to a town square — will have its final day of retail sales on June 14.
Owner Madeline Lanciani had hoped to find a buyer for the business, but after years of struggling to make rent, she had to call it. She said, of course, that it is with a heavy heart that she made the decision. “The die has been cast,” she said. “I can’t afford to keep going.”
“Duane Park Patisserie was born from my love of cooking and baking, but also from a desire to give back to the neighborhood where I raised my children,” she said in a statement to customers about the closing. “My hope was to create more than a bakery — a welcoming ‘third space’ or community hub from which to serve smiles in the form of sweet treats.
“Over the years, I have watched neighbors stop in for their morning coffee, students spread out their books after school, young adults work their first jobs, and families celebrate birthdays, holidays, and milestones. I have had the privilege of watching children grow up, welcoming new faces, and getting to know generations of families who became much more than customers.
“Together, we built something special.”
Photo by Claudine Williams
Madeline said the closure was not by choice. She pays $23,000 a month — a massive sum by any estimation. Her current landlord bought the commercial condo three years ago — he paid $4 million for both 179 Duane (the bakery) and La Réserve Med Spa at 177 Duane. (Both are 3000 square feet.)
They have been in court since last November for many month’s back rent; in April the judge granted the landlord the termination of the lease and last week Madeline received an eviction notice. She has until June 30 to fully vacate. The landlord is also suing her personally in a civil suit — with luck, she said, her lawyer will get them to drop that since a successful case there would bankrupt her.
The landlord was hesitant to talk to me, but he also wanted people to understand his side. And I wanted to better understand the financial pressures of city storefronts — anyone who owns their apartment knows how expenses go both ways. He couldn’t afford to have a tenant who did not pay consistently.
“I get it. She’s been here a long time. Small businesses are what make this neighborhood special,” he said. “But we also need the income to cover expenses. Not every landlord is a Vornado. We are a mom-and-pop operation. We need this money.”
He offered her another spot on Chambers, but it was not built out. Permitting for that sort of build not only takes money, but it takes time — about a year, was Madeline’s estimate. The Duane Street space will be listed soon for a much higher rent.
“Unfortunately the city of New York is not a cheap place — for either of us,” her landlord said. “My daughter met me here in the neighborhood and she ordered a $9 cappuccino — I almost fell over. I live outside of Manhattan. I can’t afford this neighborhood. But I’ve been doing this for 40-plus years and there’s nothing like Tribeca. It’s absolutely the cream of the crop.”
This is not the first time Madeline has had to close as rents became untenable.
Photo by Claudine Williams
She moved to New York from Southern Ohio to sing and perform and would bake at night and sell her goods to stores in the Village to pay the bills. (It is totally worth reading her Spotlight feature here to hear the whole story.) She apprenticed herself for free at the Plaza Hotel — the industry did not hire women — until she wore the managers down and got hired. By then she was hooked on what she called “the entire theater of food prep and food service.”
After two years at The Plaza — “99 men and me — and I wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms. There were no bathroom facilities; I had to go four flights up to where the housekeepers were” — she had earned their respect and also married the pastry chef — Joe Lanciani.
The couple opened their first bakery in 1977 on West 4th Street (“We were the Dominique Ansel of our day! People stood in line to buy a croissant. Back then, if you wanted a croissant, you had to go to Paris.”) and another location across from Raoul’s on Prince Street in 1985. Along the way, they got divorced, but stayed business partners. In 1988, after they had each remarried, Madeline kept Prince Street and Joe kept West 4th. She closed it in 1991 when the rent became untenable and operated out of Raoul’s basement.
She found her spot on Duane Park in 1992. Tribeca of course has changed since then but in some ways has stayed the same.
“I’ve always loved the small-town, Mayberry feel of this neighborhood,” she said in her spotlight feature. “You walk down the street, and you say hello to people you see. It’s still that way.”
Photo by Claudine Williams
The business limped through the pandemic with a drastic reduction and a boost from shipping Ring Dings around the country — but it took its toll. Madeline recently renovated and launched an night-time dessert program, getting a liquor license and extending hours. But the commercial catering business has changed since covid and she lost a couple big clients that she had had for two decades.
These next weeks will be spent trying to figure out if she should sell the equipment and just fold, or keep looking for another space. The Ring Ding Bar takes separate orders and she will likely find a ghost kitchen to keep that part of the business going. She’s still taking orders at Duane Park Patisserie, and she is going to see a space in Washington Heights this week just for kicks. You never know. “I’m not closing the door entirely, just closing the door here,” she said as of today. “And you know what? You move on.”
“I am incredibly proud of what we created, and I am deeply grateful for the support, loyalty, and friendship you have shown me over the past three and a half decades,” Madeline wrote to her customers. “It has been an honor to be part of your daily routines, celebrations, and lives.”
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Madeline will be missed. Not just in the neighborhood, she also, for many years, made the birthday cake for the Marine Corps Ball held in the Intrepid. Many a Marine has enjoyed her baking. Semper Fidelis
my dad was Air Force, but i have been honored to honor the Marines
There is a book on the green stove where you can write a thank you note to her. Please let her know how much you love her and how much this street is going to miss this wonderful person!!!!!!
29 years ago, Madeline baked our wedding cake. Since then there have been magic cupcakes, annual birthday cakes for our boys, endless Sunday morning pastries and, last but not least, Ring Dings. A Tribeca institution, both the patisserie and Madeline. We will all miss you.
one of the things i will miss most- the old-fashioned continuity of begin a neighborhood shop
A disaster for our neighborhood.
So sad to hear this – it’s such a cornerstone of my life in Tribeca. I used to go there for cookies after school and had my engagement party cake made here, too. Another huge loss for Tribeca!
I also snort heartily at the nonsense spouted by the landlord: “We are a mom-and-pop operation. We need this money.”
They voluntarily bought it 3 years ago for $4mm – it’s not like they inherited it, or had it for decades and costs have outpaced their resources. They made a choice to be a landlord and a choice to further degrade the commercial landscape of a neighborhood that has so few affordable community-centered businesses left.
oh madeline!!! we will miss you!! you made everything from our wedding cake to every birthday cake for my boys! you gave jackson his first job. you donated to every local charitable event. you always made halloween SO SO SPECIAL !! you are the heart of tribeca and will be missed tremendously. best of luck!!!
i will miss you and your lovely family as well
This is a real heartbreak for all of us. The block will never be the same. We wish you luck, Madeline – any neighborhood would be so fortunate to have you. Some things cannot be measured in dollars.
I’m so sad to see this. I really enjoyed having this bakery near my office, what a true neighborhood feeling!
I have a small pediatrician office in the neighborhood and love seeing other small businesses thrive and make Tribeca a true neighborhood.
This truly breaks my heart.
I wish you luck Madeline!
Madeline’s cakes and cookies were the best! The bakery will be greatly missed! So sorry—
Madeline is not only a Tribeca institution; she is a friend and fellow Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses graduate. We graduated together in February 2020 and then spent the next months encouraging each other to reopen, “pivot”, and keep going through COVID.
Seeing Duane Park Patisserie lose its home after 35 years is heartbreaking. Through the Tribeca Alliance Merchants Association — TAMA — I also know of two other women-owned Tribeca businesses that have recently lost their leases and are now trying to figure out what comes next.
There is a larger story here about what it takes for legacy small businesses to survive in New York City. Madeline gave this neighborhood beauty, generosity, jobs, cakes, memories, and a true community hub. We owe her our gratitude, and we owe small businesses a stronger path forward.
— Patrick Hall
A sad day. For thirty years her lemon tarte was the best desert I could have. Nothing at the best restaurants compared.
This makes me sad. Could we do a go fund me to help her with back rents?
There is a
Go Fund me that was set up on FaceBook. Here is the link:
https://gofund.me/e60d8dbcb
Madeline, we will miss you. Not only for your wonderful cakes, cookies etc. but for your support of our community and your generosity.
In the 1970’s we would drive from Park Slope Brooklyn to Lanciani’s in the West Village for something called a cappuccino , a croissant and a SacherTorte.
How lucky is Tribeca to have Maddie in the neighborhood all these years.Yes an “Icon”
She has the best scones in the city.
Yes she is a Tribeca “Icon”.
She will be soooo missed.
So heartbreaking to heart that she is moving out – probably has to do less with the landlords, and more about the fact that her business has dwindled. I’ve been there a handful of times. The coffee shop right across the street is always packed, and hers is empty. Maybe Tribeca residents should have supported her more. However, it’s easy to just place blame on NYC landlords.
Crushing news. Madeline not only gave us all the most delicious, handmade baked goods, but in such a beautiful, charming space, where we would always run into our neighbors and linger over coffee. She invited our schoolkids into her kitchen when it was hard to do – year after year, and showed them what community looked like. Countless birthday cakes from her every year. Gave her precious boxes of cookies as housewarming gifts, after-school treats, and picnics. We can attach so many important moments of our kids’ childhoods and our lives here in Tribeca to the Patisserie. It’s frustrating to realize that running a business like hers has become this challenging here, when they are the very ones that have shaped our community. I so hope she finds her special place again. Wherever that is, the surrounding community will be very lucky indeed. Sending so many best wishes and many thanks to you Madeline!!
Thank you to each and everyone for for your support all these years. please come by in the next week to say goodbye in person and hare a story.
PS: Bring tissue!
She wasn’t paying her rent, and the landlords the bad guy?
Love Madeline spilling the tea!!
Will carry forward fond memories of stopping in most saturdays for my daughter to make the agonizing decision of which sweet treat to enjoy after ballet at DDF.
Tribeca is no longer a neighborhood; it’s an investment—not in art, or creative living, but for simple profit.
Those of us who came 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago seeking cheap rents and open spaces now struggle daily to avoid becoming part of someone’s financial portfolio.
Thank you Patrick for mentioning TAMA, the Tribeca Alliance Merchants Association. This is a group totally local, totally small business focused and totally eager to help and promote Tribeca neighborhood shops and services. While I’d love to have ELAN back on it’s gem of a spot on Duane St I love your beautiful new store a few blocks away! Best floral arrangements ever!