Photo by Kathryn Mendoza on Central Park West.
February 8, 2016 Weather: Snow expected, with a high of 38 degrees. NYC emergency management says: “Be prepared for limited visibility and dangerously slick road conditions, as below freezing temperatures can create black ice.”
Notices:
Central Park’s free Ice Festival and dozens of other local events on our calendar.
The mayor announced that Broadway will start getting regular power-washings as part of a cleanup effort by the city in heavily trafficked areas.
Hostelling International at 891 Amsterdam Avenue is offering an Explore the World Scholarship and encouraging local young people (18-30) to apply.
The HOPE homeless count is tonight. How to get involved.
News:
David Wichs, who died after being hit by a crane downtown on Friday was an Upper West Sider. “In a series of eulogies, Mr. Wichs was recalled as selfless and sunny, happiest when building a sukkah for the Jewish holiday Sukkot at his Upper West Side home, or spending time with his wife of three years, Rebecca Guttman…Mr. Wichs immigrated from Czechoslovakia as a teenager, attended Yeshiva of Flatbush and graduated with a degree in mathematics from Harvard University.” The mayor has announced a crane safety plan.
The financial situation at Fairway isn’t looking very bright. “The quintessential New York grocery chain said Friday it needs to raise more capital by April to meet its debt obligations with its 15 stores in the metro area experiencing ‘significant losses.’ The company — whose stock is also in danger of being delisted from the Nasdaq — lost $35.7 million in the quarter ended Dec. 27 after losing more than $300 million over the past five years. ”
Luxury-apartment-flippers aren’t making the gains they were at the height of the boom. “In 2015, the best apartment flippers saw seven-figure gains within 18 months of buying their units, according to data compiled by listings website CityRealty…But the most lucrative flips of 2015 may be some of the last. Manhattan sales data show that quick resales are becoming less profitable. Returns fell by half in the past year, to an average of 15%. And real estate experts believe that as more luxury condos in new towers come onto the market, supply will far outstrip demand.”
The hardest dinner reservation to get these days isn’t at some hot restaurant in the Village. It’s at the kitchen table for a Columbia student. “About 900 people are on the waiting list for his modern-American cooking, Mr. Reider said…Would-be Pith diners have left messages on his website begging to cut the line and land one of the $15 meals.”
A nonprofit executive with UWS contracts is facing fraud charges. “United Block is a nonprofit which provides meals for the elderly, and has secured several contracts with New York City to operate in four senior centers on the Upper West Side.”
Wait, so you mean the law of supply and demand does, in fact, work in Manhattan? Shocking. Supply is still being built, and demand from foreigners is weakening with the strong dollar and tighter Chinese capital controls.
Soon we’re going to have to put the new luxury apartments under rent control in order to sell them.
Those new buildings are horribly gauche and built terribly. What developers pass off as luxury is abhorrent and the fact that people pay insane prices for them shows how gullible the market demographic can really be. At least if you’re going to supply the apartments, make sure they’re something worth demanding in the first place. Granite countertops and stainless steel appliances? Give me a break already. Do people even have windows in their bathrooms anymore?
Fairway (74th Street) where I have shopped for over 40 years, has been in an accelerating downward death spiral ever since going public. Prices have gone up. Quality and supply have gone down. Customer Service is surly to non-existent. Whatever their business model is, it ain’t working, so no big surprise that, “Their financial situation isn’t looking bright.”
You could ask Bernie Sanders why. Fairway was bought by the Wall Street Squids, who took out huge loans, paid themselves back with unconscionable dividends, expanded beyond reason, and now look sadly at the demise of a neighborhood good. It has happened many times in the retail grocery business. Remember those 1% vampires don’t buy their own groceries. (Let’s just hope they bought a Trump condo.)
I disagree. Fairway is still better than the competition.
I don’t think quality has gone down. Their produce is still better and more varied than any other supermarket except for Whole Foods (which I detest). Their meat is better than anyone without resorting to a boutique butcher. Their fish is fine. Deli is unchanged. I don’t get their pre-made foods but they seem fine too. ALL of the above is miles ahead of Whole Foods.
They stopped carrying some esoteric things because the supplier could not supply the volume they now need for 15 stores. Which is a shame. But not a reason to boycott.
Their prices have gone up, but so has my rent. I’m noticing restaurant menu prices creep up too. Unfortunately there is inflation in one-percenter land. Which is what the UWS is, despite the vocal minority (including myself) who have been here a long time and have grandfathered real estate, whether it’s rent control, or a mortgage, possibly paid off, on a ridiculously low valuation from 30 years ago.
And Fairway 74th is just as crowded as it’s always been (including the walker brigade). Hopefully if they go bankrupt they will shrink back to just their profitable stores.
And BTW, if you haven’t been back in awhile, they’re constantly tinkering with the layout to provide wider aisles and more cart space. And they added a second elevator
I shop at Fairway too but it’s flat out absurd to say their fish & meat are miles ahead of Whole Foods.
Fairway’s meat counter is much better. While WF focuses on advertising their sourcing and purity, Fairway’s stuff just tastes better.
I’ve only sampled salmon from WF, and think that Fairway’s “midrange” salmon is much better. Having said that, Citarella’s fish counter trumps them both.
Citarella just next door to Fairway is also a much better option.
I avoid that store when at all possible. Occasionally if I wander by around 10pm I’ll stop by and perhaps buy a sale item but then the rudeness of the staff and griminess of the store itself remind me why I’ve mostly stopped shopping there.
actually, my friends and I were just talking how Fairway prices have been going down lately and they have sales and promotions more often. Whole Foods is ridiculous still. I think the problem is that they went public and then had to expand too much and too quickly.
Take it from a former Californian….All “Supermarkets” in NYC are seriously lacking. It’s very frustrating for a guy who is used to superb; clean well stocked markets and friendly service..
Fairway is toast. I went into the 125th St store on Sunday with a looooong shopping list. There were no carts at the entrance and all I could find was a small basket. I mentioned this to the manager and assistant manager who were near the fruit and they complained about my complaint. If the middle management is giving up, I suspect that the customers will do the same soon.
I guess their next gig will be a Food Emporium or Radio Shack.
Too bad about Fairway. My guess is they’ll need to close a couple stores and reorganize their finances. I just hope the one on 74th isn’t one of them.
“It’s like no other market.” That’s the truth!
Trader Joes is like no other market!
Fairway was purchased around 2007 by a private equity firm, then went public. Problems include the following: purchasing high; large debt; overly ambitious expansion; corporate leadership not as knowledgeable as needed; and Whole Foods and/or TJ expansion in proximity.
UWS residents would be in trouble if Fairway closed – and no similar replacement. Particularly given loss of Food Emporium as alternate.
First, huge problem for people who shop there now.
Second, likely that TJ and Whole Foods would be even more crowded as they would absorb some Fairway shoppers.
Third, there would be more vehicle traffic as some would switch to Fresh Direct etc.
And regarding food ecommerce/delivery in general, IMO incredibly sad that in the most walkable city in the US, in a neighborhood where most people still live near a market, that folks who live here and are not disabled, are utilizing ecommerce food delivery in a big way.
Completely changes the urban paradigm to have food delivered to you by truck, instead of walking a few blocks to purchase your food. Folks might have well just stayed in the suburbs…?
The traditional retail model is dead.
fairway….this is what happens when fund managers buy going businesses and load them up with debt to make them selves million, tens of millions in profit. And another service for humans in the neighborhood is destroyed by greed! These are mayor’s real constituents.
If you live north of Lincoln Center thru the mid 70s there is no decent one-stop alternative to Fairway for plain old groceries such as milk, bread, toilet paper, soda, other dairy products that isn’t way over-priced. I hope a white knight who wants to keep the NY stores alive comes in and buys the company for a song.
BTW Dean & DeLuca was sold to a foreign company with no experience in the food business. It has been making changes at its flagship SoHo store that proves that the new owner is clueless.
It’s sadly over for Fairway.They took out the kitchen,changed the recipes (why does the food look gray?) And fired so many cashiers even if the store is empty there’s a ridiculous long line to pay. They went public and greed took over.Its always chaotic and annoying. We need a real super market on the uws. It’s a shame…it really was a great place to shop a few years ago. Now the food tastes bad, the prices are high, the help is always rude (Edward), and it’s just the worst way to end a day. Going in there always puts you in a BAD mood.
I can’t imagine that the 74th st store loses money. If they go bankrupt, they will reorganize, and probably only keep the profitable stores. Maybe even get bought out by the original owners, that’s not uncommon. From what I hear, UES and Long Island are amongst them. I drive past the one in harlem a lot and the parking lot doesn’t seem to be very full.
I have been saying for the past 18 months that the real estate market bubble was about to bust. First came the ultra-high-end markets, then the mid-level-high and it will go further down the line. With the massive amount of housing being developed in Long Island City the supply will get even greater.
What is particularly alarming is that a lot of the “luxury” end housing have sub-par construction because developers wanted to these condos out more quickly. Hopefully there won’t be anyone hurt from these bad construction practices.
Fairway expanded much too quickly in different areas that already had a lot of competition. They should have just focused on the markets they had already and re-branded themselves.
No one has commented on the death of David Wichs.
What a sad death. He sounded like a pretty terrific guy.
As we say on Wall St watching a stock in a death spiral – “it’s going to zero”. Stick a fork in Fairway. The few times I’ve been forced to shop there (on Sundays) I’ve noticed 2 things: the produce is no better than Pioneer. The meat section is no better than Pioneer. However, both the produce and meat are more expensive than Pioneer. And it’s failing? Shocking! Suckers.
Manhattan could use a huge, clean, well stocked Publix supermarket. It’s the best thing about Florida and would be a great success here where there is nothing like it.
I can appreciate your point in general, but ecommerce food delivery isn’t changing the urban paradigm, the never-ending squeeze on discretionary time by corporate American is… if I leave for work at 630 AM and get home at 7:30 PM, and then am expected to do some work before I return to the office tomorrow, I’m going to use what little “free” time I have to be with my family, not walk 6 blocks over to Fairway so I can wait in a huge line then schlep my groceries back home again. When I pay Fresh Direct to bring me my groceries, what I’m really buying is time – and without that time, I might go all week without being able to do more than kiss my kids goodnight after they’re already in bed.
And of course, I need to work like that to barely afford to live in this incredibly expensive city where the cost of living marches ahead unabated. Yes, I could work at a less demanding job, but then I couldn’t afford to live in the most walkable city in the U.S. See the rub?
The boom of the service economy is happening in part because of this post-shift urban paradigm, and it’s not going anywhere even though I’m sure we all agree it would be great to go back to a more leisurely pace. Until that happens (never), we all better learn to love the Amazon prime logo because it, not the lovely city blocks we might otherwise traverse during our trips to the local market, will be the primary visual of our landscape going forward. Bleak.
Whoops… that was meant in reply to #8 poster LS up there.