By Lisa Kava and Natalie Demaree
Lily’s Roasters, a coffee shop, is planning to open this spring at 107 West 86th Street (between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues). It is owned by married couple Bessi and Ariana, who have been in the restaurant industry for over 10 years. This will be their first coffee shop. “Hospitality has always been a big part of our lives and opening a neighborhood cafe is something we’ve talked about for a long time,” Ariana wrote to West Side Rag. “We’re excited to create a cozy neighborhood spot where people can enjoy great coffee and feel at home.” Along with freshly roasted, small-batch coffee, the shop will also serve croissants and pastries. The planned hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday. The owners chose the name Lily “because it feels warm and happy, and it reminds us of blooming flowers and fresh beginnings,” Ariana wrote noting that it is also her mother-in-law’s name.
Healthyholic Kitchen, a healthy meal plan service founded by husband and wife Jose Rodriguez and Daniela Padilla, closed their location at 2801 Broadway (between West 108th and West 109th streets), in November. However, the Upper West Side remains a service area, and customers may order meals for delivery online via the website, Padilla told West Side Rag in an email. Healthyholic, which opened the UWS location in June 2024, serves pre-packaged meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the goal of providing healthy food for people who do not wish to or have time to cook. Meals are prepared by a team of cooks at a hub kitchen in the Bronx. The company’s three other locations (Bronx, Yonkers, and Englewood, N.J.), will remain open.
Pilates Addiction, a Pilates studio, is coming to 117 West 72nd Street (between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues). It was founded in Los Angeles in 2022 as a franchise opportunity, and opened its first studio there in May 2025. The company now has numerous franchises in multiple states. The Upper West location and a planned Upper East Side location will be the first ones in New York. Pilates Addiction utilizes an apparatus called the “WundaFormer” which according to the website “combines the reformer, wunda chair, ballet bar and jump board into one patented machine.” The company has not yet responded to West Side Rag’s outreach, but we will update when we have an expected opening date.
HearUSA, a hearing aid center, will reopen within the next few months at 2825 Broadway (between West 108th Street and West 109th Street), a company spokesperson wrote to the Rag in an email. The location has been temporarily closed since February 2025 due to lack of provider coverage, according to the spokesperson. “Currently we have an apprentice waiting to take her state licensure exam and she’ll move to the Upper West location after successful completion,” the spokesperson wrote. Signage on the door says “We appreciate your understanding and patience during this transition,” There are four other HearUSA locations in Manhattan, with the nearest one at 1212 Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side.
Nightingale Eye Associates, an ophthalmologists group providing comprehensive eye care, moved from 211 Central Park West (at West 81st Street), to 1776 Broadway (at West 57th Street), in December. The reason for the move was that larger space was needed, a representative told West Side Rag on a phone call. All services remain the same.
The Openings & Closings column wouldn’t be possible without our many tipsters: thank you! Anyone can send tips about openings and closings in the neighborhood to info@westsiderag.com.
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I for one will try Lily’s and am rooting for them to succeed, but I worry that opening a coffee shop three doors down from a popular Starbucks location will be difficult hill for them to climb.
I read somewhere that opening near Starbucks is the best location for an independent coffee shop. I know it sounds counterintuitive but it’s true. People stop going to Starbucks and start going to them.
I’m rooting for, and curious about, Lily’s too, and clicked the blue link above, to discover that they are kindly offering a free coffee on the day of their upcoming grand opening if you sign up with your email address.😊
Good luck to Lily’s! Hoping there is room to drop-in for a coffee and sit with friends. Many of us enjoy coffee that is roasted and not burnt, like you-know-who’s 🙂
Wishing Lily’s the best of luck attracting customers accustomed to frequenting its close neighbor, Starbuck’s, located on the corner, just a few feet east of them. To survive, Lily’s coffee will need to provide a tasty alternative for coffee lovers to explore.
Or people will be thrilled to have a convenient alternative to Starbucks, which is still stonewalling its workers on the salary and benefits elements of a proposed union contract. And the company just paid 40 million in fines because of how much wage theft it engaged in.
exactly why I haven’t purchased a Starbucks coffee in years. Screw them.
And I’m not buying “Luckin Coffee either. Not going to consciously spend my $ in a chain owned by China.
Luckin Coffee Inc. is a Chinese coffee company and coffeehouse chain founded in Beijing in 2017. In July 2025, Luckin had 26,206 stores globally.
in my opinion, what they need is no Wi-Fi access no electrical plug outlets for laptops and reserve the tables for the casual person coming in for a cup of coffee to chat with a friend and leave
100% agree. Too many hanging out cling ons at Buxster
I’m so excited to welcome Lily Roastes into the Neighbourhood. It will be a fine addition. I only hope that they are smart enough to reserve tables for people who are not using laptops.
It has become impossible to go sit down in a coffee shop because people sit for hours with their laptops, and the casual daily drop-ins like myself and friends who want to drink a cup of coffee and chat for 20 minutes are no longer able to ever get a table.
It really defeats the whole purpose of a great local café: no one can pop in to sit down with a friend because everybody’s writing a book or doing their work for hours on their laptop.
Dr Nightingale is wonderful. I have been seeing them for 25 years, first to Dr N Sr. and when he retired and his son Andrew took over the practise a number of years ago to Andrew.
Too bad he moved. He’s advised me well on a few issues, seen me quickly for an emergency, and I’m not sure I’d trust anyone else nearby for surgery. But for yearly exams with dilations, I don’t want to try to get home either walking or by subway from 57th!
Been a Nightingale patient for years. You would think they would send a notice out a few weeks before, or an auto phone call. Had to read it on the Rag.
Ditto.
Agreed. Dr. Nightingale treated my Stepmom’s eye issues for years. She had dementia which made visits difficult. The entire staff was kind and gentle during her visits. They always made her smile.
I will miss their prime-convenience location across from the museum but I’m glad they are moving to a bigger place – good for them!
Waiting for an update on BroadwaY Farms.
Hoping against the odds they found a well-heeled buyer.
Fascinating that a cozy. friendly coffee shop is opening next door to Starbucks. Says a lot abot how far Starbucks has fallen from the {third place” concept with comfy chairs,
So many vacant store fronts 107-110 on Broadway.
The store fronts are really filling up on this exact stretch of Broadway. We’ve seen the opening of Hashimart, the return of Absolute Bagels, a new restaurant opening at the SE corner of 108 & Broadway, and work being done at the restaurant on the SW corner of 108 & Broadway. There’s a ton going on in this corridor.
How do you figure that?? They’re in one vacancy in that whole stretch (former spectrum site). The healthy holics is technically a second but it was TINY. 1-2 spaces I. 3 blocks is a lot?? Stop that hating on Broadway from 96-110 all the time.
Far fewer than there used to be. With any luck, we will get a new Bubble tea or K-pop shop!
@Esmeralda — Looks like there’ll be a new one soon on corner of 108 & Broadway where 108 Food used to be. Gotta keep the Columbia kids happy!
Hey, over 55 thousand students, staff, and faculty, they have to eat. Columbia supports these businesses.
I have had several disappointing experiences with HearUSA. Once, there was no doctor at the 108th Street location, which I learned only after making the trip there. I was told I had received a phone message, but it was not true. Another location was closed without notice to customers.
In addition, it hires some very recent graduates as professionals, who seem to have no local supervision.
My experience with Hear USA was really bad. The hearing aids I got were cheap, but they performed badly. I would never go there again, and I’m angry at the audiologist who sent me there. I’m saving my money to get new hearing aids.
Are there any updates on the new NYU Langone location at 66th & Broadway that was projected several years ago to open circa 2026?
Cannabis store opening on Amsterdam/95th in what was last an illegal smoke shop. Crazy that the community doesn’t get to weigh in on leases such as these but liquor licenses and sidewalk seating get a full public hearing.
There has to be a contraction of the market sometime soon. There is a shop on Broadway and 92nd and there’s another one up on I think Broadway and 99th. There’s another one on 86th and Columbus and another one on 72nd. There is no way that many people are buying weed.
Healthcare is the only industry in this city that’s really growing
Opening a coffee shop literally a few doors down from a Starbucks is a bold business move. Ideally you at least have to cross the street to get to the competition. I wish them nothing but luck.
What’s the latest with West Side Market purchasing the Staples building on 81st? Is it happening?
Reopen NYSC on 80th what a waste
Construction going on in CVS and face value any update on what may go there