Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Food

After 75 Years, Stage Deli Serves Its Final Sandwich

“The loss is unfathomable,” said “Save The Deli” author David Sax. He was despairing over the closure of New York’s famed Stage Deli, which happened last night at midnight.

The 75-year-old Midtown landmark located just a couple of blocks from Carnegie Hall (and from its rival, the Carnegie Deli) still has its website — with tantalizing photos of overstuffed pastrami sandwiches, crunchy pickles, tangy coleslaw, and creamy cheesecakes — up, but now the food is only for looking at, not tasting. Gone are the sandwiches that gustatorily honored celebrity customers like Mel Brooks, Larry David, Katie Couric, Howie Mandel, Al Rocker, Cindy Adams and Dolly Parton.

The deli which was on seventh Avenue near 54th Street, was founded in 1937 by Russian immigrant Max Asnas, who eventually sold it to Jimmy Richter. It changed hands for the final time in 1978 when Steve Auerbach and Paul Zolenge bought the business.

Zolenge and Auerbach cited a confluence of economic woes as the cause of their famous deli’s closure. “We’ve been struggling to make it through these hard times,” Zolenge told the New York Times. Scaffolding that had been up in front of the building for a year caused business to decline, and the partners decided that they could no longer afford the rent, which was set to increase in a few months from now. “We just couldn’t afford to keep it going any more,” the co-owner explained.

Unfortunately, the Jewish deli business isn’t what it once was. But to lose a legend like The Stage Deli is an especially hard blow. “The Stage Deli was an absolute giant of Jewish deli lore, a buzzing center of history and energy and schmaltz, towering between two slices of thin rye. It nourished the city, built legends, and inspired deli men far and wide,” Sax said. “ I simply can’t imagine New York’s delicatessen world without it.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.