East Village landlord retakes 345 Cantina's space

A Civil Court marshal removed 345 Cantina from its storefront at 345 East Sixth Street on Oct. 13, acting on a warrant that let the building’s landlord retake the space after the Mexican restaurant’s four-year run near First Avenue in the East Village.

Why it matters

The marshal’s notice, posted on the restaurant’s door, states the landlord took legal possession under the warrant rather than waiting for a lease to run its course. For brokers and owners tracking East Village retail, that distinction matters: a court-ordered repossession can put a ground-floor space back on the market faster than a standard lease expiration, since the landlord already controls the unit and does not need to negotiate a surrender. The storefront, one address west of First Avenue, sits on a stretch of East Sixth Street that has cycled through several restaurant tenants over the past two decades.

The numbers

345 Cantina opened in September 2022 in a space previously occupied by Tableside and operated for about four years before the marshal’s warrant ended its lease. ACRIS property records tied to the address show 99 Realty Co. bought the parcel from 343 Rlty Co. in a 1988 deed, document FT_1810000242981, and has held title ever since, with no resale recorded on the lot in the 38 years since. That makes 99 Realty Co. the landlord of record carrying out the repossession, even though the restaurant’s own notices never named an owner.

What’s next

The restaurant’s operators have not said whether they plan to reopen. A handwritten sign in the window thanked customers and said the owners hoped to return, and an Instagram post on Oct. 16 struck the same note. Yelp currently lists the location as temporarily closed with a placeholder reopening date of March 2, 2027, which is not a confirmed timeline. For now, the storefront sits empty under 99 Realty Co.’s control, a space worth watching for East Village leasing activity in New York over the coming months.