West Side Market on Broadway between 76th and 77th Streets now has a for-rent sign nearby, raising concerns that another local market is about to bite the dust.
The Hotel Belleclaire, which controls the retail spaces in its building, is restoring the Broadway side of the building so it looks more like it did in the early 20th Century. Other businesses have already been pushed out, including the famed Big Nick’s Burger & Pizza Joint, which couldn’t afford a big hike in its rent.
Will West Side Market be next? Employees have told some customers that they’re not optimistic about the place staying open, but a manager told us that they’re still in negotiations. “We don’t know nothing yet,” said Caesar. “Maybe two, three weeks. No, it is not a done deal.”
A representative for the Hotel Belleclaire’s parent company Triumph Hotels did not have a comment on where they’re at in negotiations.
Click to enlarge.
The sign, which is posted on the wooden boards next to the market, shows that beauty products store Lush will be moving into the space on the corner. Next to Lush will be a new hotel entrance on Broadway and then Mille-feuille bakery. West Side Market could become two retail spaces, according to the floor plan. In a previous rendering of the renovated building (below), West Side Market was not included.
Thanks to Vince, Doug, Mike and Joseph for the photos and tips.
This plague of empty stores in our neighborhood has to stop, and I have a plan to prevent it: The Legacy Stores Act. The Act would provide tax credits to small businesses trying to renew their leases. The credits would offset the rent increases. The city would benefit by receiving the sales tax that would be lost, if the store went vacant. Please check The Legacy Stores Act on my website:www.votecarygoodman.com
In effect, this situation is basically the city favoring and subsidizing existing businesses over new business that would lease the space. It’s arbitrary, nonsensical, and possibly illegal. This is absolute nonsense
THE TAXPAYERS OF NEW YORK SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY ANY PORTION OF RENT FOR BUSINESSES LARGE OR SMALL. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT A TAX CREDIT WOULD DO LEAVING IT UP ALL TAXPAYERS TO BEAR YET ANOTHER BURDEN. AS IN LIFE, THE NATURE OF FREE ENTERPRISE IS THAT YOU SINK OR SWIM ON YOUR OWN. IF ONE BUSINESS LEAVES ANOTHER WILL EVENTUALLY TAKES ITS PLACE. SALES TAX INCOME MAY VERY WELL EXCEED THAT OF FAILING BUSINESSES. THIS INCOME CAN BE USED TO LESSEN THE LOAD FOR EVERYONE. FINALLY, GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES ONLY ENTAIL SIGNIFICANT COSTS DRIVING RENTS EVEN HIGHER. THE BEST EXAMPLE OF THIS IS SUBSIDIES OF COLLEGES WHICH HAVE ALL BUT MADE COLLEGE TUITION COMPLETELY UNAFFORDABLE FOR MANY. IT’S TIME TO LAND ON PLANET EARTH RATHER THEN TO CONCOCT SOME UTOPIAN DREAM THAT CAN ONLY TURN INTO A NIGHTMARE.
Any other whacky ideas? Oh yeah – your opposition to the Gilder Center!
Are you nuts!
The landlords would be all over this, finding yet another reason to push rents higher and higher – more so than they are now. And the last thing NYC needs is less tax revenue when the city is basically falling apart, starting with its subways and roads and bridges.
Of course you can always tax the upper class and upper middle class! That always seems to work.
That would really be a shame. but not surprising. They seem to be raising the rents of all the stores on those blocks just to push the business out. West Side Market is a dependable place. Open 24 hours. I remember when the city was shut down due to a hurricane, I had no food in the apt yet West Side Market was open & had freshly prepared food.
It is depressing as to what is happening on the UWS. So many restaurants & businesses gone, only to build new high rise buildings or to open overpriced stores that don’t even last 6 months. It’s all very sad, but again, not surprising.
Why is it depressing? Stores close, stores open.
Look at all the news businesses that have opened in the neighborhood recently:
Izakaya Ida a new Japanese restaurant
Starbucks at 61st St
Cohen’s Optical
Spiga to Go at 84th St
West Side Noodle Company
Kureiji at 506 Amsterdam
Toloache at 153 Amsterdam
Barcibo Mediterraneo
PetSmart at 670 Columbus
Noi Due Carne at 69th St
Jing Fong at 78th St
Harmon Face Values at 90th and Broadway
Dark Bullet Sake & Oyster at 72nd St
Jack’s Stir Brew at 74th St
Osteria 106 at 106th St
Really? All you Ayn Rand-ers who believe this is the free market at work had best think again. There are over 130 vacant stores on the UWS, some of them empty for years. The tax write off works out better apparently than keeping them rented. This is the real estate market on steroids, doubling, tripling and more rents when a lease is up. The free market cannot bear it and the stores will close and remain empty. The neighborhoods will have little if any needed services. And they will decline in character, safety and value. That’s why there is a government! To reign in the greed and excesses of private business which cause harm to citizens and their communities. If you wish to walk by multiple empty store fronts often under scaffolds at night and feel safe, be my guest. New York City government is going to have to address this issue to stay this crisis. Or it will also be a town of empty apartments soon to come.
There are no tax write-offs! Which makes your entire rant moot.
Maybe you should do more research on the subject before you continue commenting.
Title 26 (of the US Code), Section 167 provides for depreciation of business property. Section 1231 governs how gains and losses will be treated when there is a disposition of said property. Those are the big ones that would be relevant here. A deduction, by the way, is generally considered a “writeoff.”
You are correct in assuming that I am not an accountant. However, one need not be an accountant to have a basic understanding of how the tax code works and the incentives it can produce.
Rather than insinuating that I don’t know what I am talking about, how about you explain to me why I am wrong?
Jay,
ThisIsNotThatComplicated is a different person.
Stop your falsehoods; you are confusing yourself.
Dannyboy (aka Mark, et al.),
List the tax code section where this “tax write-off” exists…
By the points you list, you’re clearly not an accountant.
1) Have some income producing property
2) Let other commercially viable property sit vacant such that the expenses of maintaining it are lower than the depreciation deductions allotted to it.
3) Use the virtually free deductions from the basis of the vacant property to offset the rents income from your other property.
4) Sell the cacant property and, to the extent that the market value of the property (which the long vacancy has surely decreased) exceeds your adjusted basis, pay capital gains rates on the excess.
Look at that, you’ve offset ordinary rental income, recovered your initial investment, and get to pay capital gains rates on your recapture. Which is to say, you’ve effectively converted rental income into deferred capital gains, which are taxed lower and later.
Tom: of your list, 12 are restaurants… Man does not live by take-out (or eating out) alone.
And how many of these should betting folk guess will still be open in 2, 3, 5 years? How many will close when their leases are up for renewal?
Some will be around and others will not. That has always been the case – always will be.
@Tom Lee…How many of these stores are grocery stores???… Uh Exactly!
… We need the small number of grocery stores to stay! Not everone could afford to eat out everyday!
Christina, there are plenty of grocery stores and if there are not then someone will surely notice and open one. Not much goes unknown these days. Below are just a few supermarkets in the area –
Whole Foods
Pioneer
Fairway
Trader Joe’s
Fairway
Citarela
Zingone
Zabar’s
Tom, don’t know know facts and reason are not to be presented there?
Only shaking your fist at the sky will do!
Agree.
Most of the apologists for this cite “The Market” (but not West Side Market) as the determinant of what is best. That argument results in fewer stores providing what PEOPLE need. I guess The Market will ensure fresh, healthy food for our families.
Not
Most of those citing the market state that the market will sort things out – which it will, in time. But there will be a lot of disruption and pain along the way.
Adam Smith was brilliant, and his insights into market economics were fundamental. However, there has been a lot of work since he published The Wealth of Nations, and many market proponents often overlook all the developments since. There has been a lot of evidence that a market economy can function with most of the benefits, and fewer of the harms, with the protections of regulation. I’m all for markets and capitalism, but I prefer the modern form, which includes constraints to mitigate the impact of the market on individuals.
Of course, too much regulation can stifle the good of a market economy as well as the bad. So the question is balance. You regulate to stop something bad – and when you see that the regulation itself is doing harm, you figure out how to change it. It isn’t simple, it requires mature discussion of when a detriment is bad enough to merit ramping regulation up or down, it requires democracy with all its messiness – but it works out better in both the short and long term. I don’t think most of us want to live through the process of letting the market sort this out without some mitigation. THe question is, what will encourage landlords to rent out properties, without giving them free handouts (like a tax credit, which will wind up just subsidizing the landlords) and without discouraging fair market prices? I don’t know yet (I haven’t heard a proposal that i think would work, yet) – but there is no reason to shut the discussion down by saying “let the market sort it out”.
Another intelligent and reasonable comment. Always appreciate reading your input on things. You AND B.B.:)
I think you are right. There is theory and there is practice. Life is all about balance. Now, finding it…that’s the hard part.
The market is overpriced and I try not to shop there. I can get food cheaper elsewhere which is important in this city where my husband’s paycheck is taxed at about 40%.
I don’t wish any store ill but I won’t cry if this one closes. It would be amazing if an Aldi would replace it! Right now I take the 1 train up to 231 street to get the deals at the Aldi there.
West Side Market may be overpriced on some items, but not on all items. At Fairway, a Kaiser roll is almost a dollar, but 50 cents at the Market (they taste the same). Similarly, a bagel is almost a dollar everywhere in the neighborhood, but 60 or 65 cents at the Market. Also on the plus side, there’s never a long line to check out. Can anyone say there’s never a line at Fairway or Trader Joe?
Not likely. Aldi,at least in Europe, where it originated, primarily sells its own private-label brands, reduces variety (nothing wrong with the quality, from what I have seen), and cuts back on services; yet it still operates on a razor-thin margin. Their business model would probably not work with the rent that the spiffed-up Belleclaire is likely to be asking. Also, I wonder whether Aldi would want to open a store so close to Trader Joe’s, a “sister” company.
Yes WSM costs a bit more. But they should — they offer convenience, fresh ready to eat meals and party platters and a full grocery 24/7. They are like a Fresh Direct without the wait.
I don’t mean to pry. But I feel the need to channel my inner Suzie Orman here. If your household income tax rate is 40% then you are making decent money, pre tax. If you have to leave the neighborhood to afford food, then perhaps your major household expenses are put of whack. Make a budget and focus on slashing the biggest costs (housing should be around 30% and certainly no more than 40%; consider moving — there are some lovely apartments in the W150s, and look on streeteasy.com for building with a 421a or other tax abatement). Also drop cable (switch to Roku/HuluNetflix), other recurring expenses that eat up income. And restructure your cell phone plan. We make much less than you and we are overhauling all household expenses to make ends meet. You also should speak with a financial advisor or CPA if you have not already done so, to reduce your taxable base and tax rate (maximize IRA/401k, health savings plan, 529 contributions, etc.) while keeping more of your income (albeit deferred). Good luck!
What I find surprising is what a great value Fairway is. I often find myself in upstate NY (Dutchess/Columbia counties) where the incomes are much closer to the US average, and every time I go to the nearest suburban-style supermarket, I spend more money for a lot less food of significantly lower quality. I haven’t done any product-by-product comparisons, just overall sense of looking at the cart and guessing how much it’s going to cost. Fairway is always lower, suburban markets much higher.
On another note, if you’re taking the subway to Aldi to afford food you should not be living on the UWS. Maybe it’s time to give up that rent-controlled apartment.
Try billfixers.com. They take 50 % of the savings but greatly reduced my FIOS / Sirius FM / DISH.
Um, I don’t have to leave the neighborhood to buy food hahahaha. I CHOOSE to because I actually care about how my money is spent. I have a detailed budget that my husband and I drafted together and it includes maxing 401ks, maxing backdoor roth IRAs, maxing HSA savings and saving in our son’s 529 plan. We also have a charity line item and we own our apartment in the low 80s thanks. My husband makes a really great salary (more than I can make in my field) and we try to maximize the usage we get from that money (given the government sadly wastes nearly half of it ughhhhhhhh).
So while I appreciate your concern I laugh a bit because this year we are/have taken three extensive international vacations, saved another 50k, paid down our mortgage another 25k and enjoyed activities and meals out and time with family. What we have not done is waste money on overpriced groceries. I want to see the world – not spend $6 on a box of bisquik at a small/semi-dirty food market 5 blocks from me. I have a lot bigger dreams than that.
P.S. Cable? what is that? heh. Why would anyone have cable in this day and age? We have netflix and hulu and it’s more than we have time to watch. When there are sports on I really want to watch I plan to head to the gym at that time and watch while I work out. Win win!
Exactly. So many drama queens on this site. So what if this market did close — you have Zabar’s 3 blocks away, Fairway same thing. What killed this store in my opinion is Trader Joe, not evil landlords!
“Exactly. So many drama queens on this site. So what if this market did close” – Scott
So many self centered, self serving, I-got-mine-so-who-cares-about-you queens on this site.
Glad you got yours – Zabars and Fairway. Perhaps consider for a moment that we live in a community, where other people have their own needs. Or can’t you see that?
If the community had supported this store enough, then it would still be in business. The community has chosen other places to shop.
the RENT
…And so because there are 3 or so food markets around, it should close?? How about closing down more banks, Duane Reades and Starbucks that are on every other block instead!
You make no sense. THEY decided to close – no one else but the business owner. Just because you signed a lease 10 years ago does not give you the right to stay there forever. The owner of the building kept his side of the bargain and now that the lease is up the owner can do as he or she wishes and renew the lease, lower the lease, leave the space empty, use it himself, increase the lease…
“the owner can do as he or she wishes” – Tom Lee
..unconcerned with the impact on our community
Fairway and Trader Joes – both less than a 5 block walk are better and cheaper. Empty stores suck, but the competition in this case is far superior. Letting them say would of been a lost cause…
Back before the UWS was first gentrified in the 80s before the baby strollers, this market was known to be the alcoholics market. It was where all the residents from the hotel above would shop for their carbs. The famous Disco Sally lived there. It’s now a hotel for tourists. How many hotels do you know that have a neighborhood grocery store on the first floor?
That’s wonderful!!
Too many people selling the same stuff.
It’s about time we started improving the facades on Broadway..
There is plenty of empty space for them to relocate to.
I agree. That space for the Westside Mkt was so uncomfortable. Mdse great, space terrible. They would
do better in another space
If Hotel Belleclair pushes out the West Side Market, UWSers should boycott the hotel! Tell your visiting relatives and friends to not stay there. Hit em where it hurts.
Are you for real? That’s a small-minded knee-jerk reaction typical of what children would say when they don’t get their way. Business decisions by both tenants and landlords are conducted on a much higher level than what you can probably comprehend.
Uh huh. Nuts!
Truly nuts! The city allows enormous high rise residential buildings and does nothing to save the only grocery store in many blocks in either direction. City planning? Not under this mayor-if it in Manhattan, he does not care!
Are you really going to complain about the lack of supermarkets on Broadway between 72nd and 80th St….less than a half-mile? It’s 3 blocks to Zabars, 2 blocks to Fairway & Citarella, and 5 blocks to Trader Joe. Someone better call the waaahmbulance for you.
Fairway is 3 blocks south!
“The only grocery store in many blocks in either direction”? Really? Have you been to Fairway lately? Trader Joe’s? This area is far from a food desert. I will miss it as I occasionally stop in there to avoid the crowds at the other places (though I do all of my regular shopping online), but I am not shedding any major tears.
I count 1 block (maybe 1.5 if want to count the distance from the cross street to the entrance) between this store and Fairway. Please please please educate yourself before jumping to conclusions / falling into internet rage. Don’t follow the herd; form your own opinion.
As for Dr. Cary Goodman’s proposal… tax credits are the same as adding a line to the city budget for “paying old store’s rents.” How is this equitable/efficient and what does it really accomplish? The payment of ever higher rents, but now by tax payers.
Landlords will eventually grow weary of empty storefronts (or perhaps tax empty storefronts at a higher rate) and lower their rates.
Anthony:
Agreed. But not just Manhattan. He does not care about any part of this city. He is on a par with TRUMP’. Good thing he doesn’t have nuclear weapons.
Um, Fairway is 2 blocks south.
(Different Steven than commenter #2)
Sad!
if so, then it will be the continuation of the tragic dismantling of once vibrant neighborhood institutions. This is a very busy 24-7 neighborhood market, providing an always active, well lit location for its neighbors & customers. Is everything about $$$$$$$? Please stop ravaging OUR neighborhood!
THIS IS **NOT** RIGHT. THERE’S NO WHERE TO SHOP ON THE UWS. THIS MARKET IS A NECESSARY HAVEN.
@TheBelleclaire @TriumphHotels any plan is to clear out this great store @wmarketnyc is unconscionable @NYCMayorsOffice @galeabrewer
Ummm…I think you are lost, this is not Twitter.
Oh, and you are wrong. Maybe instead of emotional and dramatic nonsense you should look at facts. Crazy concept, right?
This would be a horrible loss. Produce is far, far better than Fairway and staff is always helpful. Manager wants to meet his customer’s needs and is always responsive to comments/requests for goods not already offered. Landlords need to think twice about losing tenants – nothe vacancy period will be long and costly and inevitably the loss of stores offering necessary wares for neighborhood residents will deaden all the snazzy buzz they are hoping to capitalize on. Shortsighted and just plain bad business.
I agree, West Side Market usually does have better produce than Fairway, where the quality has declined over the years. Also, WSM often has good deals on staples such as olive oil, balsamic vinegar, cheese, bread, and eggs, as well as snacks.
Zabar’s only has a tiny section of overpriced produce and herbs, and Trader Joe’s produce is awful, mostly prepackaged, and nothing local.
Those of us who like to cook or just make our own salads would certainly miss West Side Market.
Call HelenRosenthal’s office. Call Nadler & Brewer’s office as well. Helen wants relection & standing up to the corporations to disallow WestsideMarkets closure will clinch that. It’s likely time to organize opposition to this. TheBelleclaire is owned by TriumphHotels. It must be made clear any plan is to clear out this great store wmarketnyc is unconscionable. Let’s be clear it will be met with neighborhood legal peaceful organized protest and opposition
w help from NYCMayorsOffice jerrynadler galeabrewer – & hopefully westsiderrag!
Westside Market was much better in the 1990’s and now is the best place to get cheese and bread for a reasonable price. Zabars is overpriced and same goes for Fairway. Guess all these rich folks they’re building high-rises for don’t need food or don’t know how to cook because their only option would be to dine out!! Everyone in the “city planners” office needs to lose their jobs. They’re not “planning” just taking money under the table and adding to the greed.
Maybe the landlord’s plans may boomerang, they may
not find another tenant to pay those enormous rents…..
the trend is clearly more online, less stores.
We’ll see.
Maybe landlords should hang onto what they have.
West Side Market has a place. I prefer Fairway overall, but WSM has many advantages for me some of the time:
1. It is a lot less crowded.
2. It is closer to where I live, which is a savings of both time and effort (e.g. carrying heavy items like watermelon, yoghurt, milk)
3. You can buy single beers, reasonably priced and good selection – no comparison within ten blocks that I am aware of
4. Did I mention it is less crowded?
Trader Joes – an absolute zoo, no thanks.
Zabars – not a supermarket, more of a specialty store
I will deal if WSM disappears, but I won’t like it.
I agree. And the problem is that though WSM doesn’t draw huge crowds, there are enough people so that if a decent percentage of them now have to relocate to Fairway and/or Trader Joe’s, the crowds at those stores will go from bad to worse.
Juan,
You make a good point. Many of the people who’d be affected by the closing of the West Side Market are those who require convenience, shorter lines and fewer crowds…you know, the elderly and infirm.
But for many Commentors it’s just: “It doesn’t affect me so go for it.”
The community wasn’t always this way.
I have lived on the UWS for over 42 years. 86th St. area. There have always been empty storefronts. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
It’s what happens.
1. The space is totally inefficient for a market;
2. The city charges each tenant a ridiculous tax on top of the crazy rents;
3. None of the buildings on Broadway, Amsterdam Ave and Columbus Ave have not changed hands in a long while, meaning that landlords have a very low basis and yet want maximum returns – as if stores can afford step rent increases… which they can’t;
4. Incomes have not kept pace with rising rents, so pushing higher expenses onto the end-consumer is nearly impossible… although the price of restaurant and delivery meals on the UWS is out of hand. People with fixed incomes are clobbered.
5. We’re experiencing a new wave of a kind-of taxe in the form of never-seen-before fees for cable TV, Wifi and mobile phone services. People are now shelling out hundreds of dollars a month which they never had to years ago.
6. The internet is taking a huge percentage of profitability away from brick & mortar stores. Everything has become a commodity and Location, Location, Location has been replaced by Convenience, Convenience, Convenience… which most stores can’t withstand. 52% of all growth in online sales is happening at Amazon.com, that means the other 500,000 websites are only seeing 48% of the growth in Internet sales. Amazon, Walmart, Target and Zappos is killing retail.
7. 20% of retail space has a for rent sign in their windows, and another 20% are probably available once their leases are over.
8. Landlords MUST LOWER THEIR RENTS BY 30% or more because their spaces don’t deliver customers like they used to. These landlords arrive at their asking rents by comparing notes with other landlords, but the numbers don’t reflect reality. THE CITY IS NOT THE BENEFICIARY OF HIGHER RENTS. Only the landlords are. They go to Palm Beach and Aspen and say they’re taking risk by being entrepreneurs. But there’s no risk when you own a good location that has no mortgage on it.
It’s time for a reality check.
That’s a lot of hyperbole for one post. You must need a rest now.
Very little of this is accurate. I would love to go point by point but…ya know, I actually have things to do.
Maybe later.
And not only are there plenty of other supermarkets but you also have Fresh Direct and Amazon Prime now delivering groceries.
May not be cheaper but often more convenient.
How about the elderly, infirm, et al?
My 98 year old grandmother orders groceries online. She is very physically fit but it saves her the time and trouble of going to the store. Online shopping is spectacular for those who don’t move around well – much better than navigating the tight aisles at WSM, Fairway or anywhere else.
Are you volunteering your 98 year-old grandmother to assist those less computer-literate or fearful of strangers coming into their apartment? Or are you volunteering yourself?
Tom, you probably think that calling comments “liberal BS” is adding to the discussion.
I feel that name-calling limits discussion.
So just go ahead and continue talking to yourself awhile.
Neither – but you might wan to volunteer some of your money to pay for tutors to teach them. What a great idea – maybe do something rather than just complain about what others can or should do. Liberal BS – do as I say not as I do.
If you can no longer afford anything in the neighborhood that you live maybe it is time to consider moving? Is at least shopping outside of it online shopping aside. If you can no longer afford to rent or the maintenance where you do live that is something to consider too. People upgrade and downgrade all the time. Commercial properties are business investments. A landlord is allowed to make as much money as he can from his investment like it or not. The business model of a city block in Manhattan with little shops providing services to area residents is over. It peaked 50 years ago. You will not see it again or that level of post war growth and consumer spending. Good luck looking for a repair shop for your old Hoover. No one under 35 even knows what a Kaiser Roll is.
Kick em’ to the curb Sean.
No I am nearly 70 and on a fixed income. What we have here on the UWS are people who love to complain about anything. There are always options. They may not be what you were used to but they are there. Peapod is one. Fact is except for the age bracket most upset by this half of this neighborhood has their stuff delivered and lives on take out. They always have. Maybe the folks down there at Lincoln Towers can collectively hire someone to do their online shopping for them?
“Fact is except for the age bracket most upset by this half of this neighborhood has their stuff delivered and lives on take out. They always have.”
Sean, that’s the point. Half of the neighborhood are all set, but no one seems to care that half the neighborhood (including “the age bracket most upset”) are screwed. Why is it that so many commenters don’t care a fig about them?
Hey Jay,
Ask some of the residents at the Salvation Army Williams Residence how they’re enjoying the change.
Get out and talk to some older people shopping at the West Side Market and ask how much they would enjoy its closing.
Or make stuff up and just ignore them
Sean –
1. Why are you characterizing elderly and infirm as: “They just the world to revolve around them.”?
2. Then you continue with “If you know how to bitch and moan on this blog you can use a computer and thus order online.” Of course I order online, but my concern is with others who have limitations. So I guess I’m not ‘bitching and moaning’, but trying to protect others (try it sometime, it’ll help your attitude).
3. Sean, then you write: “frankly no one cooks anymore unless they have to.” Are you at all aware of other people and their habits?
4.Again you indicate that you are not aware of other people when you write: ” I used to think Zabar’s and Citerella were expensive. Not anymore.”
Sean, is it all that ordering-in that is making you so self-centered? Get out to a supermarket and talk to your neighbors,you may learn something.
No one is getting “screwed”. The elderly are quite adaptable and they have more options than ever. They have seen more change in the neighborhood than all of us.
You’re the only person who can’t deal with change. So, maybe don’t project your issues on anyone else.
They are not screwed. They just the world to revolve around them. If you know how to bitch and moan on
this blog you can use a computer and thus order online. Those complaining now were once those who ordered in themselves. It’s a normal course of events. The difference is that cuisine is different today and frankly no one cooks anymore unless they have to. Peapod is cheaper than a brick and mortar store. I used to think Zabar’s and Citerella were expensive. Not anymore. These stores are all within range of each other. This argument is simply nonsense. And yes if there isn’t sufficient traffic in a store to support it you have a problem. Years ago a clean well stocked Food Emporium opened one block south of Fairway in The Ansonia. The locals didn’t supply it. They marched right past it to their beloved Fairway. And Fairway was filthy inside.
Previous WSR article. 😉
https://www.westsiderag.com/2017/05/31/small-business-focus-crown-machine-services
One shop!
The Hotel is owned by Triumph Hotels. Triumph is owned by Gerald Barad and Shimmie Horn. They own other hotels The Iroquois New York and Hotel Chandler, and the Limited Service Boutique Hotels include Cosmopolitan Hotel-TriBeCa, and Washington Jefferson Hotel. We run a business in NY and have NEVER and WILL NEVER suggest or put anyone up in any of those hotels. They have restaurants and bars in the hotels and would NEVER eat or drink there and have convinced others to do the same. If you have business in NY and can decide where to place it NEVER give these guys your business. Further, they profit if their tenants prosper. We never set foot in Mille Feuille and never will. Anybody who asks … the place stinks. Any other business that goes in? the same. Sorry, there needs to be collateral damage for those who patronize these thiefs. Maybe, the next time they want to kick a local business out, they will think twice about gutting our neighborhood. Until then, trying to get the city to do anything is futile. The only thing that motivates these landlords is money.
Perhaps you can enlighten all of us as to the source of your aversion towards these people/businesses. Simply stating “greed” is not a convincing theme since this is NYC after all.
Smithe, I think my reasoning is pretty clear. I am upset that Triumph Hotels increased the rent of Big Nick’s forcing them to leave. Triumph and their owners Gerald Barad and Shimmie Horn were fully within their rights in doing so. That was THEIR business decision. Good for them. As a consumer and member of the community, I am fully within my rights to never pay a dime to support these businesses or any businesses that they profit from (their new tenants). When they make that business decision, they calculated that the additional rent money coming in would outweigh a.) the chances that other tenants might not pay the scky high rent. and b.) the bad taste that decision leaves in the tastes of the local community that might refer patrons to their hotel or patronize their tenants. Again Mille-Feuille decided to open up and pay exhorbitant rent to Triumph Hotels. But given that I believe it negatively impacts the neighborhood that we all live in, I choose to not only not patronize but express my opinion about those businesses. Because as much as many may want public officials who will make this all better … they can’t and won’t. We must vote with our spending money, because that is all that matters to landlords and unfortunately, to our elected officials as well.
“These thiefs”? Seriously MarkM? What color is the sky in your world?
They are businessmen who employ lots of UNIONIZED labor at their hotels. They pay substantial taxes to City and State through Real Estate, Business and Employment. They have turned the Belleclaire from a pretty crappy hotel into one that attracts quality tourists, who by the way also support the local businesses and pay hotel and sales taxes. The renovations to the property have been a much needed improvement over what was there before, both visually and business wise.
I don’t understand the love for Big Nick’s, it was filthy inside, I have no idea how they passed inspections. I did like West Side Market a lot, even though it was limited. It was, for me, much better than Fairway, which I passionately dislike for so many reasons.
So boycott all you want – get your ’60s radical on. But think for a moment about what you are doing and who you are affecting. Certainly not the owners of the hotel, more likely the people who work there and those at the businesses you target.
Oh, by the way what business in NY do you own? In terms of fair disclosure I would like to know so perhaps I could boycott your establishment for your views. It’s only fair!!!
So to b clear, you say that boycotting the hotel and the businesses they rent to don’t affect the hotel owners? Who collects the rent and the room charges? You are entitled to your opinion as am I. My opinion, and maybe if you read the posts of present west-siders, is that the landlord, fully within their rights, jacked up the rent to fully realize the value of their property. Good for them. But I do not need to patronize or support them in their endeavor. They can do what they want as can I. So I am disappointed. How do I voice an opinion? By trying to get the government to support independent businesses. I don’t believe that is the government’s role. So my choice, is to not patronize that business and any business from which they profit.
The employees? They have chosen to work for a company that has booted out businesses that served the community for decades. So by your name “Happy Ex-UWSer” It appears that you don’t live here any more. As for fixing up the Belleclaire if you do any research at all you can see these owners are not the squeakiest if clean landlords. https://nypost.com/2011/06/19/wealthy-stealthy/
Having left the neighborhood, if you think the man noted as “at the center of a lawmaker-bribery scandal” has done great things for the neighborhood, come back and overpay at Mille-Feuille patisserie or at the Belleclaire. I choose not to and will broadcase my reasons why.
Firstly, I appreciate your cogent and passionate response (something seriously lacking on these boards, at least the cogent part- we have enough passion). I tend to agree with most everything you said, especially the part about how it’s not government’s role to prop up business. You are well within your rights not to patronize any of these businesses, frankly I do the same at times when I feel I’ve been wronged.
I think where you and I disagree is your characterization of the owners as “thieves”. These are businessmen with investors who are trying to maximize profit, something you as a business owner must appreciate. They made a substantial investment renovating the Belleclaire, having walked by nearly every day for 15 years I saw it first hand. I am sure the value of the property has substantially increased and thus the RE taxes, which get passed through to the tenants. This is the way things work in NYC -sad fact of life. I loved West Side Market and am sad they may have to close. The owner was there all the time and a real nice fellow, along with great friendly employees. But the grocery business is extremely tough and low margin and I can’t see how this store would make it.
In any case, I think we agree on far more than we disagree. And yes not only did I leave the UWS, I left the country (prior to the election, so I’m not one of those if so and so wins I’m outta here). The only things I miss are a good slice of pizza and decent bagel (so sad that I’m even accepting decent at this point).
Fair enough Happy Ex-UWSer, the use of “thieves” night be excessive. BUT- if you in your overseas lair miss a good slice of pizza, you may not want to revisit the west side of your past (assuming you were walking past the Belleclaire every day) because those same landlords you are encouraging to maximize their investment in real estate have pushed out almost every purveyor of good pizza. New Pizza Town and Big Nick’s are gone, as well as Vinnie’s. Others remain but it is quite sad. So while sparing you and any other reader another rant, I stand by the idea that we should exercise our right to boycott and criticize landlords that we feel are ruining our neighborhood.
I sent an e-mail directly to Triumph Hotels at: triumph@jpublicrelations.com and was surprised to get a response back so quickly from: rholmes@hotelbelleclaire.com
Perhaps it would help to keep our West Side Market where it is if you write directly and register your feeling. Keep it short and to the point.
Does the WSM have other options? I shop there quite often, but they could certainly use a reno or some kind of clean-up and organization. Maybe moving to another location in the neighborhood would be an improvement.
Thanks Jezbel….I sent email to rholmes at address you gave….also see my response ….phone number for IAN is 212-222-3367; WSM manager suggested I call him. I am determined to save our market. so many good reasons to keep it…not one reason to close it. Whoever is responsible for this has caused a panic in Lincoln Towers among elderly as well as all tenants. OK here’s hoping. Best to you.
Thank you
Typical UWS block: Vacant space, Duane Reade, bank, vacant space, another bank. Yes the free market is working wonderfully.
You forgot CVS.
I just e’d my horror at the possible loss of yet another actually useful business to Triumph Hotels at: triumph@jpublicrelations.com
Please do the same. It is time we, who believe in stores with real people values, to keep speaking up. Before the neighborhood is forever lost.
First, property owners place “for rent” signs on commercial rentals all the time when a lease is due to expire. It does not mean the current business is leaving, but does ratchet up the ante as it is obvious LL is putting out feelers to see who is interested.
It is similar to a residential rental landlord showing your apartment even though you have a few months left on the lease, but not renegotiated and or settled on renewal terms.
Next as have said before the answer is *NOT* always *more* regulation (which this city does not need, lord knows), but a cold hard look at facts on ground.
Accepted business practice is that commercial rent should equal or be less than ten percent (10%) of sales on an annual basis.
Now go here: https://www.cityfeet.com/cont/ny/upper-west-side-retail-space#
Pick any property and run the sums; you’ll need to take the common given of price per square foot, multiply by total space and then run numbers for the entire year.
Clearly many businesses not just on the UWS but all over NYC have two issues; rents are rising (yes), but they also are in a tight margin business where they simply cannot generate revenue to pay even the they have now, much less any increase.
What would then be needed, and or what some of you seem to be suggesting is that rent should be somehow tied to sales. That isn’t going to happen by regulation at least without a serious fight.
Commercial landlords can and often do negotiate “favorable” terms with a current tenant. But that does not mean things should be codified into law.
I’ll say it again; all these businesses from laundries, barber shops, supermarkets, etc… all operate on very small margins. The are getting hammered by tax increases (which normally via lease they pay in full or part), wage increases, and other rising costs. On the other side that rapidly growing monster; The Internet, is creating very formidable competition.
“I’ll say it again; all these businesses from laundries, barber shops, supermarkets, etc… all operate on very small margins. The are getting hammered by tax increases (which normally via lease they pay in full or part), wage increases, and other rising costs. On the other side that rapidly growing monster; The Internet, is creating very formidable competition.”
Did you intentionally leave out THE RENT?
Again with the cherry picking of comments.
Just what part of “other costs” do you have issues with understanding?
B.B. You clearly wrote: “The are getting hammered by tax increases (which normally via lease they pay in full or part), wage increases, and other rising costs.”
Let’s read it:
TAX INCREASES
WAGE INCREASES
OTHER RISING COSTS
Looks like SKYROCKETING RENT didn’t merit mention.
That would be AWFUL…. it is the best local market…. with great delivery service
Here’s the real story: WSM has 4 other stores. Broadway &98th Broadway &110th 12th St.&3rd Ave. and 15th St.&7th Ave. All close to each other. So ….maybe it seems they decided to close our WSM ….why? They have the best fresh cooked food, the greatest bread, and superior variety of cookies, chips etc. Without the hassle rudeness and flies on the rolls (you know who you are!). Their chicken and salmon are wonderful as opposed to that other market who gave up their kitchen when they filed for bankruptcy. Anyway, tomorrow I’m calling IAN at 212-222-3367 as per manager of 76th st. WSM. IAN’S fax is 212-222-1500. I believe he’s the manager of the 110th St. store and is instrumental in this. My neighbors in Lincoln Towers are upset and worried. Many are elderly and depend on West Side Market for good, fresh food and produce at fairer prices than Fairway without the chaos. Haven’t you noticed since the takeover/bankruptcy how high the prices are at Fairway? And the prepared food…most of us don’t even know what chorizo etc. is. It all gets thrown out. In any case, please do not let our West Side Market close. It would be a big bad loss foodwise and for the neighborhood in general.
CALL IAN at the above number. I will. THANKS AND PLEASE HELP SAVE OUR MARKET.
Fairway stinks. It no longer is the Fairway of the past.
Fairway wasn’t “taken over”, but sold itself/went public with an IPO. Owners were hoping to make a killing, but instead sold their souls to the devil and got trounced by new competition (Whole Foods, Trader Joes, etc..). They just didn’t see the whole “organic” food market thing becoming so generic so fast.
That being said increase in prices is yes, likely due to the bankruptcy (Fairway has to get its fiscal house in order), but also several other factors. One of them is the increased costs of doing business in NYS/NYC. This includes raising of minimum wage.
“One of them is the increased costs of doing business in NYS/NYC. This includes raising of minimum wage.”
son it’s minimum wage that’s killing them…and not RENT
oh, I see
First, am 100% sure you are not my father, so the “son” bit can go.
Two, what part of “One of them is the increased costs of doing business in NYS/NYC. This includes raising of minimum wage.”, do you have problems comprehending?
You seem to have this annoying habit of extracting part of what a poster writes then attacking. Am guessing you are a professional photographer going by the way you enlarge things.
Am also guessing you’ve never taken a business course in college, written a business plan, owned an business, and or have had no other experience in same other than what you read in media then lash out upon.
Most businesses if they are doing well enough can manage one or maybe two increases in costs. To have several coming at once *and* not being able to grow additional income to cover is where the problems start.
There are and have been for ages accepted accounting formulas for nearly every type of business. These are what everyone from banks to accountants to credit grantors and even the IRS examine to determine the fiscal health of a business.
An increase in rent alone may or may not harm a businesses provided it can be managed. But several costs all rising at same time without corresponding rise in revenue is *not* a good thing.
i too am highly skeptical about B.B.’s assertion that the rise in the minimum wage played a large role in all these stores going out of business, and the West Side Market in particular. i don’t see where he has any actual facts to back that up.
and the stores were going vacant before the new minimum wage law went into effect.
more importantly, the rise in the minimum wage puts money in the pockets of the lowest rung of working class people. rise in rents puts money into the pockets of rich landlords.
I think if when the lease came up, we saw a 5% increase from the commercial landlords, or something similar, we would not have the sort of crisis we do today. instead, it is not uncommon for them to double the rent, from all reports.
please let me know when wages double. then, maybe, you can blame the workers.
“Am guessing you are a professional photographer going by the way you enlarge things.Am also guessing you’ve never taken a business course in college, written a business plan, owned an business, and or have had no other experience in same other than what you read in media then lash out upon.” – B.B.
As much as I’d prefer not to discuss my credentials for commenting here on WSR, I need to correct more of your inaccuracies,again”:
1. MBA Finance/Accounting, Columbia Graduate School of Business
2. 30 years Wall Street major firms.
3. Currently Chairman of multi-national Not-for-profit.
And you, I have come to understand, Google a lot.
“So”
Save our Westside Market. I just spoke to IAN at the uptown store. It is of course a matter of the new and greedy landlord. We as a community need to do everything possible to make ourselves heard. We need to contact ms.Rosenthal and anyone and everyone we can think of. Put up signs etc. I emailed the Hotel Belleclaire….I will no longer be using them for out of towners if this matter is not resolved. Also, this Triumph company….they sound particularly corrupt. Please help in any way you can. Thanks.
This is a horrible situation for UPS good shoppers..
More buildings going up with families… few markets
For people in the 80’s!!! I always use West side market
Market!! Gristedes is disgusting!!!! We now have 4 h
Huge makeup stores opening…
Can’t we protest the conditions on our
Community!!
I wonder if it has ever occurred to the hoteliers that the market is actually a significant amenity for their clientele.
Virtually every time I’m there I see at least one set of (usually European) tourists buying provisions.
Read this:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/nyregion/no-longer-a-market-like-no-other-fairway-fades.html
NYC supermarket/grocery store business in general has been in trouble for almost a decade. In fact that trend is playing out across the country. Simply put times, tastes, and demographic changes are causing havoc as such stores must adapt.
On the one side there is the monster called the internet which as brought us Fresh Direct, Amazon.com, Peapod, and others. Then you have the fact convenience stores like Duane Reade, Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreens have become mini-supermarkets. Often selling groceries at lower prices than established supermarkets.
The stores aren’t always the cleanest, and often staffing could use improving, but every single Rite Aid one goes into is always busy. Nearly all the time one sees lines made of persons buying groceries (milk, bread, cereal, coffee, etc…) rather than standard “drug store” items.
Finally there is the explosive growth of those street fruit vendors who have been allowed to set up shop every where, including right outside of supermarkets.
Garden Eden chain of grocery stores called it quits: https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170804/chelsea/garden-of-eden-23rd-street-closing,
There are other forces at work as well.
Fewer housewives or anyone else are bothering to cook full meals from scratch seven nights per week. Just look at all the persons carrying or having delivered take out. Places like SweetGreens are packed each evening during the after work/dinner time hours.
New Yorkers like elsewhere in the USA are moving away from the large once a week grocery shopping that boomed during post WWII years. Instead are moving back or towards something long established in Europe, small and frequent trips.
Speaking of rats and trash; look at the recycling put out weekly. Bags and bags full of plastic or other take-away containers and pizza boxes. Next are boxes from Amazon, Chewy, Jet, Fresh Direct, and other online grocery vendors.
Places like WSM are being hammered by competition which limits how much they can raise prices, *and* seeing traffic patterns drop as potential customers go elsewhere.
so it’s got nothing to do with The Rent.