I used to live just one block away from this bodega when I first landed in NYC.  My first real experience shopping outside of a grocery store for my everyday essentials.  But the guys that worked there were extremely friendly during a time when I felt completely lost and alone, which made it my go-to.  

So when I stumbled onto this article about my first bodega in the HuffPo and learned that tucked away, hidden upstairs was an abandoned Hollywood theatre my “awwww” turned into “ohhhs and ahhhs”.  

And just like that, my faith in magic was restored.