Click to enlarge. Photos by Paul.
RCI Appliances closed in 2014 after 80 years at 98th Street and Broadway. The landlord marketing the space now envisions it as a — you guessed it! — bank or medical office. The renderings on the windows depict plans for a possible renovation for the space.
But hey, nothing’s set in stone. If you have an idea for a handmade gnocchi shop, the landlord might consider it!
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I do prefer a handmade gnocchi shop. What’re the odds?
I hate NYC landlords…they are NOT supportive of Manhattan culture or communities and should be publicly shamed!
Great idea. Perhaps this space could be turned into a re-education center for those landlords after their public shaming.
I hope this is bad sarcasm.
I bought Manhattan culture *was* all about banking and making money. Who knew?
“I bought Manhattan culture”
GENIUS!
What is Manhattan culture and what makes you the arbiter of what is and is not Manhattan culture?
Bravo!
A handmade gnocchi shop. Now that’s a great idea.
how about a ketchup store
Gnocchi shop won with a slim margin over Ketchup shop.
maybe next time you’ll get your ketchup shop, but for now, you’re welcome to shop for fresh gnocchi at B-way & 97.
the Market has spoken.
Whether or not there’s such a thing as “Manhattan culture,” I think it’s fair to hope for something other than a bank or a medical office, given that we have more than a few in this stretch of Broadway. What makes a neighborhood interesting is not another bank (at one corner on this stretch, there are four banks with another on the way!) but small businesses that add color, delight and fill needs (even a gnocchi store could qualify) for a neighborhood. That does require some imagination and maybe a bit of risk-taking from landlords, who are typically more interested in chain businesses with the least risk possible. Understandable, I suppose, but it makes life pretty boring for the rest of us.
I think we need more banks on the UWS. Two per block is not nearly enough.
Sometimes…
i go to the bank and withdraw money to shop..
…then i shop at the new stores coming to the neighborhood that are overpriced…
…so i stop at the next bank on the block to withdraw money
see how that works?
What is really ironic is that banks are required to open bank branches, and often required to maintain them even when they would prefer to close them. It started out as a way of preventing redlining by banks, but isn’t helpful in this neighborhood. Maybe we should lobby bank regulators.
Erica,
the banks got you believing that the Regulators make them do it? They ARE good!
…maybe they’re drop-off points for drug sales
I took the M5 from the West Village up to 72nd Street last week. Every neighborhood is the same. The mall has taken over Manhattan. There was a time when each neighborhood in Manhattan had its own character and charm. They were different from each other. That is fading quickly as chain stores take up more and more space and the idea of neighborhood is losing it’s validity. The buildings that are going up all over are boring towers boxes…reminds me of the theme to Weeds:
Little boxes on the avenues,
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
Little boxes, just the same.
There’s a white one and a grey one
And a glass one and a shiny one
And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.
Sigh.
I hate to minimize your reverence for television fiction as a source of culture, but “Little Boxes” was written by Malvina Reynolds, a folk singer and songwriter, and was very popular back in the 1960s – you know, back when people believed in things.
What?
“What” is right. What an absurd comment.
Malvina Reynolds (born as Malvina Milder on August 23, 1900. She was an American folk/blues singer-songwriter and political activist.
my kind of hero
Landlords don’t decide on what gets built or rented , , , the highest bidder does.
Who would buy land and rent it out at a loss?
Clearly written by someone who doesn’t understand business. Two points you should consider…
1) Simply going to the highest bidder will never serve the interests of the community. Large corporations can always afford the highest rent because they are not dependent on a single location to provide all of their profit. Theoretically they would be satisfied with only $1 profit because it is $1 more than they had without this location. The owner of a single bakery requires 100% of their living to come from this location so it is unlikely they will ever be able to pay as much as a bank.
2) The landlords do decide what goes there by way of renting out a larger space instead of three smaller ones let’s say. They also can choose to make less money, that doesn’t mean a loss, just less than a bank would pay. As a pure capitalist, I understand a landlord wanting to make as much as possible. But that is why the community should put restrictions that force them to serve the neighborhood as a whole.
Also, who’s to say a bank doesn’t serve the neighborhood as a whole? Tell me, what is the correct number of banks for a neighborhood and how you arrived at that conclusion?
1. me
2. fewer
3. look around
A company won’t invest somewhere merely because they can make $1 in marginal profit. They don’t have infinite resources, so they’re going to invest where they can get the highest return. If it costs $1 million to open a new store, a $1 annul profit is a 0.0001% ROI. You can do better just putting your money into the bank.
Being large in and of itself is not a reason chains can afford more expensive real estate. There are any number of variables at play. A large company probably has greater fixed costs and overhead, for example, but they may also get better prices from their suppliers.
Being seen as a large, stable tenant might even get you cheaper rent than a mom and pop store because there’s less risk for the landlord (and the landlord’s bank).
That’s not really the full story either. Nobody is going to be satisfied with a $1 profit simply because it’s a dollar they wouldn’t have had without this location. You are ignoring the concept of return on invested capital. A $1 profit would represent a terrible return on invested capital (effectively zero), and would certainly be lower than the company’s cost of capital. If you earn a 0% return on invested capital, you are shrinking the value of your business.
And if you ask in response — “Well then, why do the banks keep opening more branches? Doesn’t that mean that it must be a good business decision?” — I would answer that banks have generally been very poorly run businesses, which have in fact earned very low returns on their invested capital. And the performance of their stocks reflects that. Over the last 20 years, bank stocks have done much worse than the overall market. So don’t assume that their willingness to pay high rents for increasingly unnecessary branches actually makes any business sense.
You break up one space into three and you need to get the city and an army of people involved. Just to touch upon some highlights:
Hire an architect for to draw the plans for the Dept of Bldgs, wait to get it approved…Hire plumbers to (probably) build a couple more bathrooms for the space because the one space only had one bathroom…Get your electricians in to separate the electrical power into one for each store…Get ConEd to come in and install three new electric meters…Get the plumbers back to install gas lines for whoever needs gas…Get ConEd back to install new gas meters…then there is separate heat and air conditioning and ductwork for 3 separate stores.
Restaurant coming in? Get a new Certificate of Occupancy for that space. Gym coming in? Get an new C of O and make sure you have the permit for a physical culture establishment.
Much easier and cheaper to rent it out as one space to a well financed tenant who will take care of all of that for you.
Everyone is an idealist as long as it is someone else’s money involved. Once they get their own money involved they turn into an uber-capitalist.
Sorry for your experience.
ever consider finding some new people?
and who would buy land and rent it out at a gain and for the common good!
phooey
Good riddance to RCI. They had the highest prices of any appliance store in our area, and they ruined my AC after storing it over the winter.
Yep, definite shortage of banks in this neighborhood. Last time I walked by one I noticed dollar bills slipping out from under the door — they have so many that they don’t have room to properly store them all. Same problem with medical facilities (especially walk-in clinics), except it’s patients rather than bills.
it’s called “Synergy” in B-School.
…gotta’ get that money for medical care
(or else!)
I would love to see a combined bank + medical office. One where the tellers also have medical degrees, and the ATMs also draw blood.
Might as well throw in a pharmacy and make it the holy Trinity. Maybe the ATM’s can dispense drugs.
There is a CURE medical facility next to the old Metro , and at 103 / Bdway as well CITY MD at 88/ Bdway and 104 /Bdway.
Do we really need another in this vicinity.?
Do we really need another bank?
What’s need got to do with it? (the Great Ms Aretha Franklin)
Tina Turner
you are right again
What the UWS really needs is a Food Co-Op!
I was personally hoping for a CVS.
The CVS is at Amsterdam and 96 Street, almost around the corner from the old RCI.
Manhattan Culture is getting a mani-pedi like your life depended on it.
We can all complain OR we can do what our activist precedessors would have done in this neighborhood – vow to never patronize whatever is in there. If you think landlords are going to stop ruining our neighborhood forget it. Use your purse strings. I hope the landlord (btw WSR, who is the landlord?) chokes on that space.
I lived in that building for 19 years. The landlord was Weinreb Management. Not sure if that’s still true now that it’s converting to a condo.
In an era where actually going to the bank becomes increasingly less important it is shocking at the proliferation of them.
fronts for money laundering
You are funny, Dannyboy.
You know less about crime then you do about business. But you are amusing so keep it up.
Keen observation.
I know a lot about crime.
I know a lot about business.
What I’m just now learning about is Criminal Business.
NY is Bankland.
I wish there was more of a movement like
Austin’s Keep Austin Weird, that keeps the chains out and provides incentives for interesting incentives.
Would be nice if there were penalties for stores that were kept vacant and perhaps pressure the rents to be lowered.
What we need are copy shops, laundromats, Food Emporiums, delicatessens, the Bagel Nosh,and a place that shows art film. Oh and dress shops that sell aparrel with wide arm holes. Just sayin’.
https://tinyurl.com/sean-for-president
Coffee shop with no wifi so I can find a seat would be nice!
https://www.villagevoice.com/news/law-that-would-help-nyc-from-being-strangled-by-chain-stores-is-deserted-by-city-council-9169261
Support the small business jobs survival act
https://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/51405/p/dia/action3/common/public/index.sjs?action_KEY=15307
It’s a pity that so many mom-and-pop stores are closing in on the UWS. Until about 15 years ago, national chains couldn’t crack the Manhattan market. It was too different from their templates: no free parking lots, small stores, etc. Now that they know how to do business here, their demand for space is driving up commercial rents and accelerating the trend.
Thank God for far-sighted local business owners, like Zingone Brothers, who were smart enough to buy their own buildings way back when the UWS was not such a huge investment.
Too late for Manhattan, but if you have a successful business anywhere, you ought to try to buy your own property if you have plans on a long term existence.
Some people like Zignone, Acker Merill Condit, and others saw the writing on the wall and bought in the last 25 years.
can we get a Duanne Reade?
or CVS?
maybe a bank?
no seriously…
@Nathan & @AC: We moved from the Upper East Side to Riverside almost a year ago. When we started looking in the summer, the store was already empty: it’s been empty for at least a year. That’s not good for the neighborhood.
Second, when you go to CVS or TD Bank, the money goes to Florida or Toronto. When you bought from the old electronics store, a lot of the money stayed in New York with your neighbors.
The rapid expansion of chain stores is one of the reasons why 1% of the population of the world owns 51% of the world’s wealth.
I just want to point out to all the complainers, that there is always the option of putting up your hard-earned money, or that of your friends and family, to start your own small-business.
kinda’ ‘put up or shut up’?
YOU TOOK THE WORDS OUT OF MY MOUTH!!! THANK YOU
Finally someone with some common sense around here….DB could learn something from this comment.
Bravo!:)
That “Put up or Shut up” threat is obviously aimed at shutting down discussion and views that differ from your own.
The whole premise, that money is required as a prerequisite for having any say is kinda’ unAmerican.
But, you got your buds on-board, so you’re feeling it. And yes “DB could learn something from this comment.” I learned that bad manners runs in crowds.
And that’s “dannyboy”. Don’t hide will that!
Danny, I don’t understand how my comment was interpreted as “put up or shut up”
I’m just pointing out that there’s no invisible hand conspiring to bring banks and pharmacies to the neighborhood; rather a complex set of economic factors.
Perhaps our time would be better served supporting initiatives which promote, serve, and motivate small business instead of trying to debate the landlords motivations and/or values.
” rather a complex set of economic factors.”
start with the advantages the government provides corporations.
that’ll explain 92% of it.
we can discuss the other 8% later (i.e. “Perhaps our time would be better served supporting initiatives” blah, blah, blah).
I’m sorry, James. Logic and reason are not allowed here.
Dictating what to do with other people’s money and time is what most of the folks posting here do as a full-time job.
@james: I have my own small business.
John, I agree with your above post about money staying local being good for the local economy.
I’ve often wondered why there aren’t tax incentives for folks who run local businesses which employ local people and live locally. Seems like there should be some major tax rebates for keeping the money in-town.
Keeping local economies strong also helps localize the impact of macro-economic factors. For example, a global banking slow-down which puts stress on TD or another bank, could influence how many branches are opened/closed and how they services, regardless of their actual value to the neighborhood.
“Seems like there should be some major tax rebates for keeping the money in-town.”
ya’ think?
But, but how would that benefit the multinationals, the RE Industry, and their pols?