When we walked around the West Village before Christmas to get some last minute gifts, we were saddened to see that Nusraty Afghan Imports on Christopher Street had closed.

This lovely store which sold antiques and jewelry from over 28 different countries including Afghanistan, Ukbekistan, Tibet and India was in business for 41 years. The owner, Abdul Nusraty fled Kabul, Afghanistan in 1970 and opened his first shop on Bleecker Street at West 10th Street in 1979 and after 30 years at the location, the landlord increased the rent from $3,250 a month to $7,500 a month and then in 2008 to a ridiculous $45,000 a month! 

He was able to reopen and found a narrow but long #storefront on Christopher Street in 2012 but now that too is closed. We are not sure why Abdul closed his shop but we are sure the pandemic must have played a part in the decision as he definitely relied on a host of regular customers who lived in the neighborhood as well as tourists. We will miss chatting with Abdul and browsing his unique collection.