25 UPPER WEST SIDE OPENINGS & CLOSINGS: PREPPY CLOTHES, DOMINICAN FOOD, CHOCOLATE AND MORE
As we scan the Upper West Side for signs of life, it’s clear that the preppies are still alive and well, as J. Crew opened a new high-end men’s shop in the Time Warner Center and Brooks Brothers is getting ready to open a new store on 87th. For those of you non-preppies, there are also some exciting new stores and restaurants in the neighborhood, as well as a bunch of spots that have closed or are about to shutter (including a Gourmet Garage market). Read on, and connect the numbers on the map to the ones below.
1. Crumbs Bake Shop opened another location on Broadway between 108th and 109th Streets.
2. At Home, a discount home goods store at 106th and Broadway, has closed up shop.
3. La Toulousaine Cafe, a new pastry shop and eatery, is opening next year at 106th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
4. Rainbow Cleaners, a dry cleaner and tailor on 107th and Columbus, has closed.
5. Patagonia Tin Shed has opened on 100th Street and Broadway and should be open at least through late January. They’ll be showing movies on Mondays in January too.
6. Popular self-serve froyo emporium 16 Handles is expanding to Broadway between 98th and 99th Streets. Just please, don’t lick the froyo off the nozzles.
7. 97th Street Cleaners on 97th Street between West End Avenue and Broadway has closed. Thanks to tipster Anya. (this post initially said Amery Dry Cleaners on 97th Street had closed, which was incorrect)
8. Gourmet Garage on 96th Street and Broadway is closing after 15 years, just before a new West side Market is set to open one block north. As we reported earlier, it sounds like the lease renewal was just too expensive.
9. City MD is a new walk-in clinic at Broadway and 91st Street “offers immediate, professional, personal health care without the wait. Given the few choices, high fees, impersonal service, and long wait times for non-life threatening issues, CityMD is here to fill the void.” I’ve already heard from two people who like it. Thanks to David Thalberg for the tip.
10. NY Kids Club is expanding to 91st and Amsterdam in the old West Side Movers spot. Thanks to Daren for the tip.
11. Not to be outdone by the new J. Crew Men’s Store in the Time Warner Center (listed below), Brooks Brothers is opening a new spot for “men, women and children” on Broadway between 87th and 88th Streets.
12. Mamajuana Cafe, a Dominican restaurant that started in Washington Heights,will open on Friday at Amsterdam Avenue between 87th and 88th Street in the space that formerly housed Rancho. Here’s the Washington Heights menu.
13. A new 7-Eleven, the second in the neighborhood, is scheduled to open on 89th Street and Columbus Avenue in place of the former Kosher restaurant Darna.
14. The Gap on the corner of 86th Street and Broadway will close between now and February as the chain cuts back on locations.
15. Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, the Los-Angeles-based coffee chain, was supposed to open on 79th and Columbus, and even gave out free hot chocolate at that spot on thanksgiving, but an employee at the company’s midtown shop told me its Upper West Side location will be on 86th Street and Amsterdam and it opens on Tuesday (Update: it’s Tuesday and the space is still…under construction).
16. Global Table, a SoHo home accessories store, opened on Amsterdam between 82nd and 83rd.
17. Organic Avenue, which serves vegan delights, fresh juice and raw food, is opening a new location on 82nd Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The spot may have a soft launch this week, but is expected to open seven days a week in January. Gwyneth Paltrow uses the company’s juice fasts to get rid of her many impurities.
18. The massive Filene’s Basement and Syms on 79th Street and Broadway is closing as the chain liquidates all of its stores after going bankrupt.
19. Polarn O. Pyret, a Swedish kids’ clothing store that makes the adorable “grandad cardigan” above, just opened on Columbus between 80th and 81st Streets.
20. Pecan Cafe recently opened on Amsterdam Avenue between 78th and 79th Streets. It serves sandwiches, coffee and desserts.
21. Caffe ‘Storico, an Italian restaurant serving small dishes called cicchetti, opened on Saturday night inside the New York Historical Society on 77th Street and Central Park West. Eater has some pictures from just before the opening.
22. Chocobolo is a pleasant-looking little cafe famous for its chocolate cakes that just opened on Broadway between 70th and 71st Streets. The chain used to call itself “The Best Chocolate Cake in the World.”
23. Soup or Sandwich, a deli on Columbus between 72nd and 73rd, has closed. The mobile phone store that it shares a storefront with also closed, but that may have happened a few months ago.
24. Joanne Trattoria, a new restaurant run by Joe Germanotta, Lady Gaga’s father, is set to open just before Christmas on 68th Street just East of Columbus. The chef is expected to be Art Smith, a celebrity chef who has cooked for Oprah.
25. A new J. Crew Men’s Shop opened about a month ago on the second floor of the Time Warner Center. It is very manly, and pretty darn expensive.
For our previous map of 35 businesses that opened and closed in the neighborhood, click here. And if you see any new businesses or notice something has closed, please please please let us know.
We are so excited for all of these openings on the Upper West Side! Especially Brooks Brothers and Organic Avenue! But we are saddened to have to say goodbye to Soup or Sandwich and Filene’s Basement!
Regarding Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, reportedly opening on Tuesday…which Tuesday? Here it is Wednesday morning and the space is still under condtruction and looks as though it may be a Tuesday or two yet before the coffee drips and leaves steep.
I was excited to see a new Candle Cafe West just opened on Broadway at 89th Street. This is a branch of the fantastic vegan restaurants (Candle 79 and Candle Cafe) on the Upper East Side.