What’s going to happen to all those vacant storefronts on Seventh Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets?

Second Street Cafe, and the two spaces that housed used bookstores are still empty. A beloved and sometimes not so beloved local cafe/restaurant, and two used bookstores are gone, just like that, in a matter of months.

So much for Seventh Avenue becoming a new used books mecca like Fourth Avenue in Manhattan used to be.

But Barrio, the new high end Mexican restaurant, is hopping and that should be grabbing the attentions of realtors all over town. Hey, hey, hey! Hot new restaurant on the corner of Third Street and Seventh Avenue!!!

I’ve noticed that Mark Ravitz, the artist who owns the building where Park Slope Books was located, has been showing the space this week.

For most of March and April he was using it as a gallery space for his sculpture and his large cyclops-octopus. He also changed the drips on his building to little cyclop octopus suns. For a few days he had these nice collage-y constructions, dedicated to his wife, with hearts and things.

I loved seeing the burst of creativity in that window for the last few months. So when I saw the place cleared out I knew he was getting down to the business of being a landlord again.

Off with the artist hat. On with his landlord hat. Ya gotta pay the bills.