Four windows at the bottom of a brick building in the East Village used to entice passers-by, with string lights and glowing chili peppers as far as the eye could see.

Competitive hosts would flank the entryways to three restaurants there, calling out to customers. It was part of the charm: Over decades the South Asian restaurants attracted locals, tourists, Instagram influencers and even celebrities.

Today, a red rolldown door covers the lower two windows of what was once the restaurant Royal Bangladesh. A curtain has been drawn across another, where Milon stood. On the second floor, to the right side, just one restaurant, Panna II, has kept its lights on.

The glowing storefronts were a sign of a once-vibrant South Asian community, centered around a block known as Little India or Curry Row where there were dozens of Desi restaurants. Starting out as cheap eats — where you could get a plate of chicken curry and a samosa for $5 during lunchtime — they became neighborhood standbys and even social media-famous hot spots with celebrity sightings. Now, decades after they opened, only one of the storefronts remains.

Boshir Khan, 49, the Bangladeshi-born owner of Panna II, which sits on First Avenue just around the corner from the old Curry Row, finds it bittersweet to be the last man standing at the vibrant entryway. He was still greeting visitors on a recent Friday in November, though with less urgency.