Whether it’s sauce or a giant sandwich with fresh mozzarella, Alleva Dairy in Little Italy has been known for its Italian staples for 130 years.

Karen King bought the shop with her late husband, actor John “Cha Cha” Ciarcia, in 2014. They were former customers turned owners now selling the goods they loved.

“I’m half Italian. I’m from Queens but my husband was born on Mulberry Street in Little Italy. We had a cafe two blocks up more towards Canal St,” King said. “Our food we served we bought from the Alleva Family. That’s why our food was so good because the ricotta and mozzarella were made here.”


What You Need To Know

  • Karen King bought Alleva Dairy with her late husband, actor John “Cha Cha” Ciarcia, in 2014.

  • King was served with eviction papers in April 2022 after not paying her rent since August 2020

  • King says the lack of business made it extremely difficult to operate the past two years

  • She offered to pay $250,000 to the landlord, work on back rent, and begin paying current rent again

Now, the store is in danger of closing. King was served eviction papers at the beginning of April. The last time she paid her rent was in August 2020. The lack of tourists and closed restaurants crushed her business. At the height of the pandemic she gave away a lot of food and sold staples to the community.

“Even if we sold a loaf of bread or some eggs a day, that was something. But there wasn’t any money here,” King said. “We were not able to pay the rent nobody could in the whole city.”

The monthly rent is close to $24,000. King owes a little more than $500,000 in pandemic related rent arrears.

“We made an offer to her a quarter of a million dollars and paying the rent starting now was not enough and to pay the back rent, but give us time to pay it,” King said.

King applied for a federal loan that she got this February for $105,000, but she did not get additional money from another fund set aside for restaurants.

“I’m not refusing to pay the rent. I want to pay the rent,” King said.

Despite everything King is going through to keep the store open, she said she still makes time to give back to her community.

King organized a recent fundraiser where food from local restaurants was sold and all the money went toward helping Ukrainians impacted by the war.

King just wants to stay open to fulfill her promise to her late husband.

“He said don’t ever let Alleva go,” King said. “Let’s face it, Little Italy is getting small, but we are the heart of Little Italy and if we go part of Little Italy dies.”

King’s landlord did not respond to a request for comment.