El Taller was open for 20 years in this building on 104th and Broadway.
El Taller Latino, a Latin American culture and arts center on 104th street and Broadway, will be moving to a new temporary location and then to the East side after failing to secure a new lease with its landlord.
Founder Bernardo Palombo told New York Press that the rent was just too damn high.
The landlord raised its rent this year, despite the center’s 20-year history in the space and letters from local politicians and community members hoping to keep El Taller in its current home.
“It’s the same thing that’s happening all over the city,” Palombo said. “The little business, the independent businesses that are not part of a corporation have to move to some other place. There are less places where people can sit down and be human and not be texting or have to pay $250 to listen to opera.”
El Taller is open for now and holding Spanish classes at St. Michael’s Church, 225 West 99th street, and will move to the old PS 109 building in East Harlem once that space is ready.
We wrote about the history of the building where El Taller was located here.
it’s great that they found a new space — in a not-for-profit former school building — but this is yet another loss for the UWS and the fabric of our community. more evidence of the need for some time of regulation on commercial rents.
Adios!
Sad to see an educational institution go but that building is long overdue for a makeover. With Rite Aid shut down hopefully the landlord can restore the Art Deco ground level details and find a tenant that will occupy the entire space. FYI, it started its life in the 30s as a cafeteria.
It was a Horn & Hardart AUTOMAT . I ate there at least 1000 times and was never disappointed
I am sorry to see the loss of El Taller Latino, as it was and will always be a part of the fabric of diversification on the UWS. As a kid I too ate at Horn and Hardart Cafe and loved going there.
Commercial leases are set up with the tenants paying for the tax increases — with retail paying for most of it. Normal rent increases are usually 2 and 3 % , barely keeping up with City’s skyrocketing costs.
BUT the taxes have doubled and tripled (via the City assessing the buildings as worth double and triple then a few years ago), so it is the City’s fault as it continues to businesses and landlords.
this claim is patently ridiculous. For one, increased real estate taxes, which are passed along as per formula, take effect DURING a lease. it is when the lease is up that we are seeing the stores run into trouble.
typo ^
the City’s fault as it continues to gauge businesses and landlords.”
I just looked it up. Webot is correct that the taxes on the building in question have approximately doubled in the last 5 years.
However, even in this case, the extra tax amount paid by El Taller would not have been more than several hundred a month, and were already being paid. The proprietor of El Taller is clear that the problem, at the end, was a landlord’s rent increase.
Of course, the high property taxes give the city leverage to demand lower rents. If a landlord is allowing affordable rents to small businesses for the majority of his/her building, lower the tax rate or give exemptions. (although frankly i don’t think this would be enough to appease the landlords.)
First, I try and not engage the extremists directly – whose answer to everything is more regulation. It is just an absurd illogical stance, which has created the most expensive city in the country to do business (and therefore provide jobs and thrive). A brick costs the same everywhere and yet it costs twice as much to build in NY as Chicago.
Second, they are moving to a taxpayer financed former school in El Barrio that I assume will have minimal rents. a Win win for all.
This is indeed a loss for Manhattan Valley. The language classes, the music, the gallery space, all will be missed.
Yes, RE taxes have increased throughout the neighborhood. But no where near the many thousands of dollars per month increase in rent that the landlord wants.
So the landlord gets some higher-paying generic chain business in, and we lose one of the few local organizations that was truly a neighborhood cultural anchor.
well said, Raymond. Bravo.
A “win” for E. Harlem. Perhaps, if they say so, a “win” for El Taller (and more power to Mr. Palombo — and “THANK YOU” for your decades of service to our community). A “loss” for the Upper West Side.
Again, every situation is different.
I am merely trying to push back from the constant propaganda from the far left and explain the entire situation.
Trying to push an agenda filled with more government bureaucracy , waste, higher costs for everyone except for the insiders, red tape, delays, etc.
The key word here is propaganda on all sides. Properties are selling at very high prices and costs have also gone up over the years. The sale price could be the assessment base price in addition to a location tax. The seller should also pay a high sales tax based on length of time owned. All buyers and sellers need to be identified to check for money laundering and pyramid schemes. In many cases landlords are selling properties to themselves, getting the bank and investors to pay, then pocketing the profit. Definitely the system has to be updated and improved.
Unfortunately the political will is not there. The real estate industry needs to have stricter legislative controls. It is easier to give away tax payer money and not support businesses that actually create jobs. As long as we have no term limits in government offices there is no possibility of change, career politicians and their friends will rule.