Inside 8th Hill.
8th Hill, the Turkish restaurant that opened last year in the former home of Isabella’s on the corner of Columbus and 77th Street, was robbed early on Friday morning. The thief stole the restaurant’s top-shelf liquor and other items valued at $14,000.
Owner Semi Feyzioglu tells us the thief broke in through the sidewalk cellar door on Columbus shortly before 7 a.m., quickly grabbing expensive items from throughout the restaurant. A surveillance video shows him using a cart to wheel all of it away before 7:20, when the staff showed up. He was so convincing, a passerby even helped him set up the cart. “He took a lot of bottles of champagne, high top shelf old year whiskeys, wines and liquor,” Feyzioglu wrote. “The guy is well known by the police and I am sure they will catch him very soon.”
Feyzioglu complained about the mayor and the new state bail law: “new bail law is working well for thieves, they will release the guy again and again he will be back!”
I’d like to add something to the bail law reform issue. From what I understand, if you were arrested and couldn’t make bail, you likely ended up in Riker’s Island. And if you didn’t take a plea deal, you might die of old age before you got a trial to prove your innocence. THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. Wealthy people made bail, poor people not so much. How many poor and innocent people were in Riker’s that were innocent took plea deals just to get out of that god forsaken place? I bet thousands. So the problem isn’t the bail reform law, the problem is that there aren’t enough prosecutors and judges to give people their right to a trial! I am very unhappy about the new bail laws, but we have to start doing the right things, don’t we? Hire the prosecutors and judges needed! NYC, like many places, got to comfortable using Riker’s, bail, and plea deals to do all the heavy lifting for them. This stuff adds up and hurts EVERYONE in our society.
It’s not enough that you hardly see any customers in there (perhaps I am wrong), but now this? I hope they can make it to the spring when they will (allegedly) have outdoor seating! That’s what I am waiting for anyways….
Bring back Isabella’s! There are a million Mediterranean style places in the neighborhood, but no classic places to have a nice ladies lunch and get a yummy salad.
I wonder how the ladies who lunched at Isabella’s would have liked the mouse which ran across the floor one evening while we had dinner. Ah, well, even the finest restaurants have a mouse, occasionally.
Agree. Not a fan of heavy dishes on the 8th Hill Menu especially in summer. Miss the outside tables for lunch or dinner in the good weather with lighter fare and Sancerre.
“Uws mom claims a million Mediterranean style restaurants in the neighborhood. I doubt that there are that many in the world. A sister Turkish restaurant (8 Hills) on 72nd Street is quite good, reasonably priced and very pleasant. If she is looking for a place to have a nice ladies lunch and get a yummy salad, she might try it. I have seen ladies eating there and enjoying themselves. She is not clear about what she means by “a nice ladies lunch”. Is it the ladies who are nice? (I certainly presume so.) Or is it the lunch that its nice? Presumably she means a nice lunch for nice ladies. Enjoy!
A ladies’ lunch might be what you would have found on a Schrafft’s menu. Or watercress sandwiches on white bread with no crusts.
Uwsmom guess you’ve never been to cibo y vino…
Feel awful about this! Such a great restaurant with helpful staff and owners!
“Feyzioglu complained about the mayor and the new state bail law: “new bail law is working well for thieves, they will release the guy again and again he will be back!”
Yes, they will release him.
NY judges cannot set any bail, even in cases of bank robberies, physical assault, and violent hate crimes! This is not my opinion–it is fact, check the court records! So, in this atmosphere, not only will they let him out on bail, they will drop him off at the restaurant so that he can steal again.
Well, I’m going to make sure I eat at this restaurant soon and support the establishment. Besides I love Turkish food! Tesikkur ederim, Mr. Feyzioglu!
As though businesses don’t struggle enough. What so they pay taxes for? Soon we’ll be back in the days of protection money.
It may not be Isabella’s, but I had brunch there last weekend, it was very good. It was neither empty nor crowded, service was friendly, Turkish wine and tea plus stuffed grape leaves appetizer were nice departures from the standard UWS brunch.
Hope the robbery doesn’t hurt them too much.
The bail laws are racist. You just lost a lot of customers.