Gotham Food, a beloved grocery store and deli on Columbus between 72nd and 73rd street that opened in 1970, is closing in the next few months because it can’t keep up with rising rents.
Nick, the owner, told us that the rent has continually risen in recent years and that he simply can’t keep up anymore. “Everything has to end.” He says he has the option to stay until September and hasn’t decided yet if he will close before then.
A tipster had told Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York that “the Starbucks located next door will be expanding into the deli’s space,” but Nick was doubtful.
He predicted that a clothing store may end up renting the space. “The boutiques are expanding on Columbus.”
Ore loyal customer said that Gotham’s closure is a big loss for the community.
“All that will be left are the rot-gut stuff (wraps and pre-made sandwiches and dirty tasting salads) cranked out by chains like Lenny’s,” said Paul, a longtime customer who gets sandwiches at Gotham at least once a week.
I don’t think Paul has ever set foot in the UWS’s very own Lenny’s.
I agree that this is sad, but Lenny’s is a nice place, and a NY chain, if I understand correctly. No need to bash someone because they are able to open several stores.
Hmmm…guess there must be a HUGE demand for “rot-gut stuff…and dirty tasting salads” because the Lenny’s on Columbus is ALWAYS crowded, but not unpleasantly so.
As ’tis said, people vote with their feet. And there aren’t too many feet in Gotham Food.
Very sad that our neighborhood is losing it’s identity .
Sad, but Lenny’s is actually decent. Just hope it is not a bank.
Lenny’s wonderful but you can’t compare the two—Lenny’s doesn’t have groceries. I guess CP Yang and Pioneer are next.
But if you need a high end dress—well this is the place for you!
NYC as a whole has terrible grocery stores, but Pioneer might be the worst of the worst. That place is disgusting.
Totally agree. Pioneer is the worst. The selection is almost as bad as their prices, but neither can compete with how terrible their service is. The only redeeming point is their beer selection.
Hardly think that the closing of a food store means the neighborhood is losing its identity.
After all the buildings are still there as if it was the 1920s.
I like the good looking boutiques, which also closed en masse in the 90s when Columbus was torn up for a few years.
this is the nature of cities, change is inevitable and is not necessarily a bad thing.
Webot… Are you from here? How long ago did you move to th Upper West Side? Just curious.
Say it ain’t so!!! I’ve been going there since I moved to NYC in 1979! Neighbors leave an extra set of keys with them in case they lock themselves out! They’re family!!! I even dated an Afghani that worked behind the counter ages ago. This sucks!
Yes! It is WAY more than a grocery store or deli. It is part of the fabric of our neighborhood for decades–and those places are what identifies a neighborhood. Some change is not good especially when it is about greed.
This place has been a stalwart since I moved in over twenty years ago. I know he’s been fighting to stay in business for a long time. I am crushed.
Pioneer will not close until the owner passes as they own the building. There are at least 3 other stores just like Gotham Food within 2 blocks. The place is filthy and I can’t see how anyone would have a sandwich made there. You buy products and they are covered with grime, and you have to check expiration dates because everything looks like it has been there forever. Maybe if they cleaned up the store and made it presentable they would have been able to keep up with the rents…
Hi folks. I’m new to the UWS and it seems every day there are stores/restaurants closing because of increasing rents. What gives? Are costs increasing for property owners?
what gives? doubling, tripling, quadrupling or rents. Yes, the property owners can get the rents but not from hardware stores, show repair shops, small mom and pop restaurants, Korean delis, mom and pop pizza restaurants, and so on that indeed help give the UWS its identity.
We need some form of protection that keeps the landlords in check. Just because “demand” is there doesn’t mean it is good for the community. “Greed” is not always “good.”
False. The last thing that we want is government telling private businesses what they can and cannot charge. They should charge what they want, and if the market commands it then they should receive what they ask for. That’s what a free market is. When the government starts telling people to make less money for the “better of the whole”, which is what you are suggesting, we have a much bigger problem. That model has never succeeded, in any country.
… and it has clearly gotten to the point on the UWS that we need SOME FORM of protection for small businesses if we are going to retain the residential character in the neighborhood.
there are dozens of ways that local government limits the rights of landlords to do whatever they damn please, both residential landlords and commercial landlords. somehow this has not affected property values in NYC.
1) residential rent stabilization
2) seniors rent increase exemptions (SCRIE)
3) vast limits and regulations on coop and condo conversions
4) health and safetly laws (sprinkler laws, for example)
5) zoning regulations
and on and on… all having the effect of “telling” private businesses (landlords) what they can and cannot do.
it’s nice to just trumpet the so-called “free market” but the public has an interest. this is 150 year old principle in NYC.
I would not condone any price fixing by the government. Though I agree with you, the government should not subsidize landlords that do not need the subsidy, Trump being an excellent example. I am all for low interest government small business loans, low interest loans for minority owned businesses, etc., but they should 1) be loans, and 2) be subject to the same competition as every other business. Let’s give small business a chance, but not thwart business at the same time. Everybody decries Walmart, but they are the biggest employer in the country. Without it thousands more people would be unemployed, we need to reward that, not punish it.
you would consider preventing rent increases of 300% or 400% “government handouts”?
I would love to get to look into the financial books of some of these landlords and see how many different types of handouts THEY receive, particularly in the form of tax credits and tax deductions but also in the form of direct govt aid. Donald Trump, for one, is notorious for feeding at the public trough.
an article on this “self made” man’s proclivity for subsidies:
https://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/11/nation/la-na-trump-20110511
Yes, the public does have an interest. I am the “public” too, and my interest is in seeing businesses survive that can afford to survive, and those that can’t, should fall by the wayside. That’s the way of the world. I am not interesting in giving tax breaks or incentives to business that not enough people support to stay in business. All that is doing is rewarding the lazy. If a business wants to compete, then compete, but don’t sit on your hands waiting for a government handout in the name of “preserving character”.
What retail spots have been lost due to rent increases that truly have “hurt” the neighborhood? There are more — and better — restaurants than the UWS has had in years. Mom and pop hardware stores have been hurt far more by Home Depot than by random landlords raising rents.
@Mike… thats not true. I grew up in the neighborhood and there used to be a number of restaurants that were very good, reasonable and very neighborhoody where everyone knew your name.
typo above: I meant to say that most remaining UWS hardware stores would DISAGREE with you that Home Depot is more of a threat to them than rising rents.
Mike said:
“What retail spots have been lost due to rent increases that truly have “hurt” the neighborhood?”
Mike, usually once or more per week, West Side rag chronicles small stores and restaurants than are going out of business because of rent increases, often ludicrousoly large rent increases. Obviously whether the demise of any particular store “hurts the neighborhood” is subjective. But it’s ironic that you posted this item on a thread that is discussing the demise of a local store that has been here for 44 years.
the vast increase in commercial rents means pressure on low cost restaurants and an influx of high cost restaurants. Low-margin businesses such as hardware stores, shoe repair shops, pet stores, and pizza parlours are threatened. In fact, just today WSR posted that Pet Health Store was closing, at least until they can find a new place.
i think most remaining UWS hardware stores would agree with you that the Home Depot is not a threat to them. the closest Home Depot is 59th Street and 3rd Avenue! of course I will walk the two blocks to Metro Hardware abnd hope they don’t get priced out.
Mike, don’t feed the troll.
Trust.
The area is exploding and there is great demand. When a store come available once very 10-20 years, the owner gets as much as then can for the rent. It is not like apartments which turn over every few years – stores sign 10-20 year leases and what has happened is that a store like this the owner can get a LOT more for it than the store was paying from their last lease, which probably was signed during the downturn in the 90s or early 2000’s. It is supply and demand and demand is great now.
Mike & Erica: Yes, I have been to the UWS Lenny’s and have found it pretty mediocre. I’ve always found something ‘off’ about the sandwiches and salads. If I want a quick salad I go to Aroma on W 72 – everything is much fresher there. But their sandwiches are too ‘bready’ for me.
ScooterStan: There’s a HUGE demand for McDonald’s, too. The McDonalds a few blocks away on Broadway is ALWAYS crowded, sometimes unpleasantly so.
As ’tis said, most people can’t tell the difference between swill and sirloin.
great points Paul and Jason.
Some people think the answer in a city with 14+ agencies that oversee small businesses and swamp them with red tape and often conflicting requirements is … more government involvement.
Some people refuse to listen to anything but their own misguided extremist views. Never for once asking how the huge real estate tax increases effect the same small business as they pay the increases in taxes. or the doubling and tripling of water and sewer charges , or fines and permits.
rent controls are what have kept us in a housing shortage for 60+ years. The only way to address it is to allow developers to build thousands of units to meet the demand. Adding controls to commercial is just plain stupid.
Webot- The only housing shortage we have is for the middle class. The isn’t a Luxury housing shortage at all. There is and have been luxury buildings being built for years at an enormous rate.
That is your opinion C. H.
In reality these units are a drop in the bucket that does not meet the demand. And this is all supply and demand. when demand goes down or there is extra product, the prices go down. It happened as recently as 2009.
Also, in NYC , the word “luxury” is thrown around a lot to mean basically any housing that is not regulated or subsidized. Therefore, many of us middle class live in so called luxury housing – which sure doesnt feel like it.
Now that said, every recently built is mostly very high end. one is there is demand for it, another is that there is no financing for anything that is not an expensive condo. The exception is government subsidies for construction, but then the housing is only for low or no income, so yes the middle does gets left with little or nothing.
@ Webot… and that’s your opinion. We just disagree.
of course the excess fining of small “mom and pops” was a Bloomberg policym, which our great new Mayor is bringing to an end in his new budget and with his new appointements! Talk about pro-small business!
https://www.downtownexpress.com/2014/04/30/mayor-puts-lower-manhattans-menin-in-charge-of-consumer-affairs/
Yet another neighborhood institution is biting the dust. I pointed this one out several weeks ago when its was reported that Joe & C’s deli on 72nd St. closed rather suddenly.
I moved to the UWS about 20 years ago, and I remember that there were at least 2 delis on 72nd, one on Broadway, one on Columbus, and about 4 on Amsterdam in the area between Broadway and Columbus and 72nd Street and 76th Street.
Unfortunately, all of these shops are now gone and sadly in many cases the places that replace the delis are also long gone.
Andy’s Deli on 74th and Amsterdam has managed to survive. They have a great hot food section (check the back of the store — Mon – Sat.) Also, they are very helpful and very friendly. Delivery is good too and they take orders over the internet.
Store prices are higher than a regular grocery store; but I guess that is to be expected. Store is very clean.
P.S. re: Pioneer. Maybe it’s me; but, I like Pioneer. Yes, it’s old fashioned. However, I have gotten lots of good buys and are happy with their prices.
I’m not crazy about Trader Joe’s. Prices are really not that great and all they have is their own brand. Plus, once you find something you like they stop carrying that item.
Trying to shop at Trader Joe’s is a nightmare. You have to fight your way to the shelves and cases and many times it looks like all the good stuff has been picked over.
Their fruits are not fresh.
Call me crazy, but, I miss the Food Emporium.
They had this policy: Credit card, minimun $10.00
Once, My bill was $ 8.50, & the lady cashier didn’t budge and let me go.
I miss the mexican guys.
Sorry to hear the place is closing down.I have eaten there many times…sad news:(
And more than a year later (Oct 2015) the space is still empty!!!