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.”