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Food

New York City Hat Shop Haunted by the Odor of Rotting Cheese

"The smell of cheese is seeping into my hat shop," says Julia Knox, owner of East Village Hats.
Photo via Twitter user jeremyblock

Pour one out for East Village Cheese, the seemingly shuttered cheese shop in the armpit of—you guessed it—Manhattan’s East Village.

The storefront on East 7th St. between 1st and 2nd Avenues has been dormant for the better part of two weeks. Its telephone is disconnected. The place is locked up, though there are still signs of aging bread and decaying cheese if you peer through the window. Nobody seems to know why any of this is happening, as EV Grieve, who’s been on this beat tirelessly for weeks, reported on Thursday.

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But the smell of the store's cheese still lingers. It’s so potent, in fact, that it’s starting to infiltrate nearby businesses.

READ MORE: This Is What 340-Year-Old Shipwrecked Cheese Smells Like

Take the neighboring East Village Hats. Poor Julia Knox, owner of the store that sells top hats and turbans, complains that her business is now tinctured with the perfume of cheese. She's quite troubled by the stench of the fromagerie that was once next door.

"The smell of cheese is seeping into my hat shop, and I am looking for ideas for how to get the place emptied before it rots,” Knox told EV Grieve on Thursday. "My biggest concern is that the smell is going to be unbearable pretty soon, and a potential rat problem.”

Knox did not respond to immediate request for comment from MUNCHIES on Thursday regarding what, exactly, the smell is like and whether she anticipates that the odor will have any long-term effect on her business. We're guessing rotting cheese isn't exactly potpourri.