I read about this place in a new book on the history of Italian American music and decided that I wanted to go and experience a piece of history while visiting NYC. The experience that my family and I had, especially my daughter and her fiance, was horrendous and dehumanizing. My wife, my daughter, her fiance and I entered the store on a Sunday evening. After reading about it I was very anxious to speak to the owner about its history. The person behind the counter, the proprietor, was busy with some customers so we began to wonder around the store. My daughter walked to the back of the store and saw a wide open door to a bathroom. There was no evidence that this was not a public bathroom--no "employees only sign" nothing. So she went in to use it while her fiance waited outside the door for her to come out. The person proprietor spotted him standing there and immediately started yelling to get away from there, that this part of the store was off limits. He went running back to my daughter's fiance and asked him what the F he was doing there. And then he asked him if someone was in the bathroom. He responded that there was. The owner started pounding on the bathroom door with his fist and my daughter said she'd be right out. This thug then turned to my future son-in-law and said that when the person in the bathroom comes out he's going to punch whoever it is in the F'n face, and then he walked back to the counter. When my daughter came out of the bathroom we all rushed out of the store. This is the kind of rudeness and out of control attitude that gives New Yorkers and, unfortunately, we Italians a bad name. All I can say is that if for some reason you must go into this hell hole stay away from the bathroom. But better yet, just don't patronizer this jerk.