Alleva Dairy, established in 1892 and located on Grand Street, in the

Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, was at the time of its closure on March 1, 2023 the oldest cheese shop in the United States. The business was founded by Pino Alleva from

Benevento, Italy Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the S ...

. In 2014 the business was bought by the actor and onetime boxing manager John Ciarcia (aka Cha Cha and dubbed the unofficial mayor of Little Italy), a cousin of the Alleva family, and his wife Karen King. At one point

Tony Danza Tony Danza (born Anthony Salvatore Iadanza; April 21, 1951) is an American actor. He is known for co-starring in the television series ''Taxi'' (1978–1983) and '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984–1992), for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award a ...

, the actor, entertainer, and former boxer whom Cha Cha had once managed as a pugilist, was a partner in the shop. In April 2022, it was reported that the store and its owner Karen King was more than $500,000 behind in rent because of the effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, leading to widespread coverage of the financial dilemma of the business and possible forthcoming closure. On February 8, 2023, it was announced that the business would close the following month because of a disagreement with its landlord regarding unpaid rent. In September 2022, the store had applied for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

, and its lease ended in October. The landlord agreed to forego the overdue rent if the store paid a one-time sum of $31,000 and cleared out of the property by March 5, 2023. This brought to an end an occupancy that lasted for more than 130 years. At the time of the closure of its original Manhattan space, owner Karen King announced that Alleva Dairy will open at a new location on Polito Avenue in

Lyndhurst, New Jersey Lyndhurst is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 20,554, reflecting an increase of 1,171 (+6.0%) from the 19,383 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in tur ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alleva Dairy Cheesemakers Companies based in Manhattan 1892 in New York City Dairy products Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2022