A NEW YORK TREASURE

I was walking down 9th Avenue and 39th Street in Manhattan when a sweet smell caught my attention. I couldn't place it, it wasn't the aroma I'd expect from a restaurant or a pastry shop, it intrigued me so I followed it, which led me to... a carved wooden Indian, the symbol of a tobacco shop. It was the sweet sweet smell of cigars the had caught my attention. I discretely peaked into the shop that seemed off limits to me, a non-smoker. A row of men and one woman, sitting comfortably, lined one of the walls, 

their faces still visible behind a thin cloud of smoke, their mouths filled with stogies. It's probably the one place in New York where you can smoke indoors, other than in your home. On the other side of the shop was a glass case overflowing with... the treasure, hand made cigars. You could tell it was the neighborhood hang out, above the case of cigars, was a box of Entenmann's coffee cake, a coffee maker and a half filled pot of steaming coffee, and plastic containers filled to the brim with snacks. On the opposite wall was a television set and tonight was "the fight." These guys looked ready, and really happy, happy to have a home away from home to hang loose and commune. If there were an empty chair, I just might have joined them!

NYC Fine Cigars
506 9th Avenue

Manhattan

(permanently closed)