Cafe Edison closing

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billmccloskey
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Cafe Edison closing

Postby billmccloskey » December 9th, 2014, 9:34 am

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/1 ... iesfromnpr

The landmark, the Cafe Edison, is on the brink of closing after 35 years. I believe a regular group of magicians would meet there for lunch each week.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Cafe Edison closing

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 9th, 2014, 10:16 am

They used to meet every day. I never went there, but some of the guys I saw on Saturdays did.
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P.T.Widdle
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Re: Cafe Edison closing

Postby P.T.Widdle » December 9th, 2014, 12:30 pm

This was the petition to save it:

Dear Friends,

We are honored to feature the Magic Table at the Café Edison as November's Place of the Month. Please consider joining over 7,000 others in signing the Save the Café Edison petition to retain the café, where the Magic Table has convened since 1986. http://chn.ge/1qmUsjH

For the past 72 years, the Magic Table has served as a gathering place for coin snatchers, shadowgraphers, levitation aficionados, and generations of shell-game wizards. Located in the Hotel Edison's Café Edison, "it's a depot, a stopping-off point for magicians from all over the world," said longtime host of the Magic Table, the late Mike Bornstein, who was known on the vaudeville circuit as Kolma the Magical Mandarin. "We don't really have to be anywhere, so we come, we sit down, break bread with fellow magicians, discuss magic, talk about where you've come from or where you're going, and maybe see a new trick or two."

On a good afternoon, fifteen or more magicians might show up, filling two or three long tables in the back of the coffee shop. Those who come are an eclectic bunch. On the day we visited, a retired federal judge pulled an oversized deck of cards out of an invisible change purse; a porter, on his half-hour lunch break, responded by making a salt shaker disappear. A few minutes later, Bob Friedman, a world-traveling lawyer who commuted two hours that morning from the suburbs, showed the group how to cheat at poker. Afterward, Jerry Oppenheimer, a former court reporter, turned an ordinary deck of cards into a bouquet of wildflowers. The Café Edison, the hotel's former ballroom, is a magnet for show folks, too. Neil Simon wrote the Broadway play, Only 45 Seconds from Broadway, about the place.

As of November 2014, local magicians and their supporters are conjuring all of their powers to ensure that Café Edison, and the beloved Magic Table, are allowed to remain in the Hotel Edison. In early 2014, the café's current manager, Conrad Strohl, received notice that the café would not be given a new lease for 2015. Strohl has searched for nearby locations, but has not been able to find anything affordable. The café is scheduled to close on December 31st unless a groundswell of opinion is able to pull a rabbit from a hat - which shouldn't be a problem for the magicians at the Café Edison and believers everywhere.
Place Matters, a project of City Lore and the Municipal Art Society, seeks to promote and protect places that connect New Yorkers to the past, host ongoing cultural and community traditions, and keep our city distinctive.

Wishing you a magical November!
Molly Garfinkel, molly@citylore.org

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Doug Thornton
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Re: Cafe Edison closing

Postby Doug Thornton » December 9th, 2014, 5:18 pm

Tomorrow - Wednesday - on the Today Show (NBC):

Presently scheduled to run in the 8:30 a.m. E/P segment is a piece on the Society of American Magicians, recorded at the Edison Magic Table. George Schindler says the piece will include “interviews, magic, and nonsense.”
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Doug Thornton
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Re: Cafe Edison closing

Postby Doug Thornton » December 10th, 2014, 2:08 pm

Smiles all around
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I.M. Magician
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Re: Cafe Edison closing

Postby I.M. Magician » December 10th, 2014, 3:00 pm

Back in the early to mid seventies, I used to go to those New York City gatherings sometimes on Saturday.

I believe it was held at Rosoff's until some of the guys split and began meeting at a cafeteria.

You would see the likes of Henny Youngman, Ed Michell, and other notables at these gatherings. It was lots of fun! We would have lunch, yuck it up, and some would do a trick or two.

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Brad Jeffers
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Re: Cafe Edison closing

Postby Brad Jeffers » December 10th, 2014, 3:20 pm

I.M. Magician wrote:I believe it was held at Rosoff's until some of the guys split and began meeting at a cafeteria.


The daily meetings at Rosoff's were documented by Joe Berg in his column, "Around the New York Magic Table", in M.U.M. magazine.

Rosoff's closed in 1981

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Tom-Smith
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Re: Cafe Edison closing

Postby Tom-Smith » July 14th, 2015, 12:02 pm

Did the cafe close? I visited last year at this time and had a great time! If it did close, is there a new daily meeting spot? I'm on the train to NYC at this moment, and would like to gather with other magi. Unfortunately, I won't be able to meet Saturday with the group that used to meet on the street a block up from Tannen's.

I.M. Magician
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Re: Cafe Edison closing

Postby I.M. Magician » July 14th, 2015, 12:28 pm

I just searched the Internet and it says that they are closed. I am sure that they found a new place. If you go to Fantasma or Tannen's, ask them. Someone should know where they go but the gatherings may be limited to Saturdays. Good luck Tom!

Tom-Smith
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Re: Cafe Edison closing

Postby Tom-Smith » February 20th, 2016, 10:23 am

Where do magicians now meet on Saturday? Times? I am in NYC and would like to meet the group. Thanks!

Herb
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Re: Cafe Edison closing

Postby Herb » February 23rd, 2016, 10:57 pm

Magicians in New York meet on Saturdays at Cafe Rustico, 25 West 35th Street, from approximately noon to 5 p.m. The spot is one block away from Tannen's magic shop and a couple blocks from Fantasma, so you can make the magic rounds all in one afternoon.

The Magic Table, which had been meeting on Fridays for lunch at Cafe Edison, until that restaurant closed, now meets at the Times Square Diner and Grill, Fridays at about 1 p.m. The restaurant is located at: 807 8th Avenue (8th Avenue and 49 Street).

Both groups are very welcoming of anyone with a sincere interest in magic. Definitely stop by and say hello.


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