Έχασε τη μάχη με τον κορωνοϊό ο 65χρονος εστιάτορας από την Αστόρια Πίτερ Παναγιώτου, που είναι και ο πρώτος Κύπριος της Αμερικής που πέθανε από την πανδημία. Ήταν αδερφός του Ευθύβουλου Παναγιώτου, που διατηρεί το Κινέζικο εστιατόριο Χλόη στην Πάφο.
Ο Πανίκος Παναγιώτου, γεννήθηκε στο χωριό Καλλέπεια της Πάφου το 1954 και πήγε στις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες για σπουδές. Ήταν απόφοιτος του Κολλεγίου Κουίνς και καταλείπει τη σύζυγό του Μπίμπι Γιασίν, τα πέντε τους παιδιά, τα δύο εγγόνια, μία αδελφή και τέσσερις αδελφούς στην Κύπρο.
Ο Πανίκος Παναγιώτου, γεννήθηκε στο χωριό Καλλέπεια της Πάφου το 1954 και πήγε στις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες για σπουδές. Ήταν απόφοιτος του Κολλεγίου Κουίνς και καταλείπει τη σύζυγό του Μπίμπι Γιασίν, τα πέντε τους παιδιά, τα δύο εγγόνια, μία αδελφή και τέσσερις αδελφούς στην Κύπρο.
Ο Πανίκος Παναγιώτου ήταν μέχρι το 2015 συνεταίρος με τον Κρητικό Ανδρέα Κουτσουδάκη, στο εστιατόριο Gee Whiz Diner στην Τραϊμπέκα του Νότιου Μανχάταν. Έχοντας αγοράσει άλλο εστιατόριο στην ίδια περιοχή, οι δύο συνεταίροι και φίλοι για πάνω από 30 χρόνια, χώρισαν. Όμως η μοίρα έπαιξε ένα παράξενο παιγνίδι, αφού έφυγαν από τη ζωή με διαφορά λίγων μόνο ημερών από τον κορωνοϊό.
Ο Ανδρέας Κουτσουδάκης έχασε τη μάχη με τον κορωνοϊό στις 27 Μαρτίου σε ηλικία 59 ετών. Τις τελευταίες μέρες ήταν διασωληνωμένος σε νοσοκομείο του Στάτεν Αϊλαντ. Ο φίλος και συνέταιρός του γνώριζε ότι νοσηλευόταν στην εντατική και ανησυχούσε. Δεν έμαθε όμως ποτέ για το θάνατο του Ανδρέα Κουτσουδάκη, καθώς στις 26 Μαρτίου εισήχθη και ο ίδιος στη μονάδα εντατικής θεραπείας και έφυγε τελικά από τη ζωή στις 5 Απριλίου από πνευμονία, σε ηλικία 65 ετών.
Ο Παναγιώτου ήταν πρώτος εξάδελφος της αείμνηστης Πόπης Μαυρογιάννη, συζύγου του μονίμου αντιπροσώπου της Κύπρου στον ΟΗΕ, Ανδρέα Μαυρογιάννη.
«Πάντα θα θυμόμαστε πόσο γλυκός και πόσο σπουδαίος άνθρωπος ήταν, η επιτομή της πραγματικής ευγένειας, του ανθρώπινου πλούτου και της αυθόρμητης και ανυπόκριτης αγάπης για τον συνάνθρωπο, των ανθρωπίνων αξιών, του σεβασμού. Η αγκαλιά του ήταν ανοιχτή για όλους, η ψυχή του ευαίσθητη, η γενναιοδωρία του απίστευτη, η συμπόνια που ένιωθε για τον άλλο απεριόριστη, η καρδιά του μεγάλη», δήλωσε ο πρέσβης Ανδρέας Μαυρογιάννης.
Επιθυμία της οικογένειας είναι οι όποιες δωρεές στη μνήμη του να ενισχύσουν την ερανική εκστρατεία που ξεκίνησαν τα παιδιά του Ανδρέα Κουτσουδάκη ή σε όποιον άλλο οργανισμό θα διαθέσει προστατευτικό εξοπλισμό στους γιατρούς και τις νοσοκόμες που βρίσκονται στην πρώτη γραμμή της μάχης με τον κορωνοϊό.
https://www.philenews.com/koinonia/eidiseis/article/916451/65chronos-stin-astoria-o-protos-kyprios-tis-amerikis-poy-echase-ti-machi-me-ton-koronoio?fbclid=IwAR1i5Vlg6EVCzW9qKLuh_OEsAafB9O8pnMdCOAzpCTGdvZjEcDrwKbWhS10
Ιδιαίτερη αναφορά στο θάνατο του Πίτερ Παναγιώτου έκαναν και το τοπικά ΜΜΕ.
Peter Panayiotou, co-founder and owner of the restaurant Gee Whiz, a Tribeca institution, died on April 5. The family gave the cause as complications of severe pneumonia, which led to heart and kidney failure.
Panayiotou’s death, at age 65 in Mt. Sinai Hospital in Queens, came just nine days after his long-time former Gee Whiz partner, Andy Koutsoudakis, succumbed to COVID-19. The two Greek natives opened Gee Whiz in 1989 and remained partners there until Koutsoudakis opened Tribeca’s Kitchen some 25 years later.
“It was shocking to us that both Andy and him passed away,” said John Scott, a longtime Tribeca resident and president of the Independence Plaza Senior Center. “It was unbelievable.”
Panayiotou’s daughter, Margaret Panayiotou, told the Trib that her father entered the hospital’s intensive care unit on March 26.
Panayiotou received a successful double lung transplant seven years ago, after contracting scleroderma, a disease his daughter said was attributed to 9/11 dust. Gee Whiz, at Warren and Greenwich Streets, is four blocks north of the World Trade Center.
“Gee Whiz and the Tribeca community was his second home,” Margaret said. “He was there more at Gee Whiz than he was at home, and he always just wanted to keep all the community members happy and to provide for them.”
Peter Panayiotou, center, with his Gee Whiz staff during Halloween season. Photo courtesy of the Panayiotou family
People in the community remember Panayiotou for his friendliness and generosity. “Peter spent a lot of time taking care of the customers. Greeting them and being a part of their lives,” recalled Elliot Fink, a Gee Whiz regular who had known Panayiotou and Koutsoudakis since their days as restaurant managers in Chelsea.
“Everybody was welcome,” he added. “Even if they didn’t buy anything.”
“Peter was special to the seniors. We would cater all our functions with Peter and he always gave us a discount,” said John Scott, who noted that Panayiotou also gave donations to the center. “He was a friendly person who greeted everybody. We’ve known him for 30 years. He was family to us.”
After the death of Koutsoudakis, Anna Switzer, former principal of P.S. 234, across the street from Gee Whiz, sent the Trib a remembrance that applies to Panayiotou as well. “In 1987 the brand new PS 234 school building opened, flooded with kids. The new staff had one universal complaint. There was no place to grab a lunch. No place to take a coffee break. Tribeca at that time was a place where you could park your car anywhere, but forget getting a simple meal. I don’t remember when it was, but suddenly, shortly, there it was—Gee Whiz, the answer to our prayers. A wonderful Greek diner.”
“Over the years,” she added, noting that Gee Whiz helped the school in numerous ways, “Andy and Pete were the best neighbors anyone could ask for.”
“If there’s one thing I would like everyone to know about my dad,” Margaret said, “is that he would give the shirt off his back to help someone in need without caring about himself.”
Panayiotou came to the U.S. from Cyprus at 18 “with nothing,” his daughter said, and graduated from Queens College. He met his future wife, Bibi Yasin, while working as a counterman at an Astoria eatery, and got acquainted with Koutsoudakis in the 1980s while the two worked at the now defunct Chelsea Gallery restaurant.
Margaret said that after her father entered the hospital “he was aware and worried about Andy, as he knew Andy was in the ER.” He was in intensive care when his former partner died on March 27, and was not given the news, she said.
Two of Panayiotou’s five children, Chris and Anthony, have been working at Gee Whiz and now all five, which also includes Christine Panayiotou and Kelly Panayiotou, will be involved, Margaret said. “Gee Whiz will be a family affair, and we’re going to make sure that my dad’s legacy, and what he worked so hard for, stays there.“
Along with his children and wife Bibi Yasin, Panayiotou is survived by two grandchildren, and a sister and four brothers in Cyprus.
The family asks that donations in his name be made to the fundraising campaign for hospital workers established by the family of Andy Koutsoudakis, or to any other charity that supplies personal protective equipment to nurses and doctors.
