Papaya King reopens after iconic NYC building torn down for luxury high-rise: ‘I’m in tears’

The king is dead, long live the king.

Beloved NYC hot dog joint Papaya King is back open at a new location after the iconic building it used to call home was sold and torn down.

“Now I’m in tears seeing it’s back,” said 57-year-old neighbor Jamie Boone as she stopped by Papaya King’s new Upper East Side location Sunday.

“My sister couldn’t even walk past that place being torn down,” Jamie’s 68-year-old sister CJ added, explaining how they were “born and raised” visiting the shop with their parents.

Papaya King – once dubbed “the apex of the art of hotd og making” by Anthony Bourdain – opened its doors again Saturday, more that a year after its old fluorescently lit location closed down for good last spring to make way for a luxury high-rise.

The new location is just across the intersection of East 86th Street and Third Avenue – a huge relief for many who feared they’d never see it reopen in the neighborhood where it thrived for nearly 100 years.

“I am getting every day so many calls for the last one and half year. Some people tell me I’m gonna die for the Papaya King,” said manager Mohammad Alam.

“We don’t want to lose our customers, because we are the neighborhood. This is our company that’s here 92 years.”

A steady flow of customers came and went through the new location Sunday afternoon, loading up their snappy red hots with relish and onions and pairing them with Papaya King’s signature tropical drinks.

“My dad grew up nearby and he always liked it, so when we were visiting New York when I was a kid he always made us drop in at some point,” said New Yorker Bill A., adding that he’s thrilled to now carry on the tradition with his own kids again.

“It’s fantastic – my daughters are going to be thrilled. They’re 9 and 12 and they loved this place. They were very sad when it closed a few years ago. It will be the third generation of Papaya King visits.” 

Papaya King first opened at its old location in 1932, where it became a mainstay for generations of New Yorkers and visitors passing by.

But it was forced out of its longtime home after the building’s landlord sold it to developers in 2021 for $21 million.

Ownership vowed to reopen at a location just across the street, but negotiations with the new landlord fell through in early 2024 and left its future in limbo – especially after its original home was torn to the ground.

“This is a New York institution and the old location should have been landmarked,” said Jill Schlesinger, who grew up on the same block as Papaya King founder Constantine “Gus” Poulos. “I went to all the board meetings to try and save this place.”

Since the opening yesterday, Alam said the flow of customers hasn’t been as strong as it used to be, but that he expects that to change as word spreads that the shop is back open.

“I think it will take a little time maybe one or two weeks,” he said.

Until then, the new location has already bagged some first-time customers.

“We moved here about two years ago and we started looking into what’s the food we should try here and everyone said here so that’s why we’re here,” said Eric Wang as he chowed down on a dog with his wife Erin and their daughter.

Though they “were a little bit too late” to make it to the old spot, they said everything at the new Papaya King was “excellent.”

Additional reporting by David Propper.