By Lisa Kava
Tamizdat Book Corner, which will carry books that have been banned in Russia, is opening on February 26th in a corner of White Rabbit Books, at 200 West 86th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue). There will be an opening celebration at 7 p.m. for the public. Tamizdat means “published out of Russia” or in English “self published,” White Rabbit Books co-owner Michael Epshteyn told West Side Rag during a visit to the store. Tamizdat Book Corner will carry an assortment of books published in Europe over 40 years ago, along with more current books by author Linor Goralik who supports Ukraine, Epshteyn said. White Rabbit Books, a multi-language bookstore for kids and teens, opened in January, 2025. (Thanks to Scott for the tip.)
Poppie Toys, a pop-up toy store on the corner of Broadway and West 83rd Street, closed in mid December. It sold toys and wooden children’s furniture, using the material rattan, a wooden weave. Owned and operated by Upper West Side mom Carlijn Joosten, Poppie Toys opened in November 2023, in a space vacated by a Bank of America branch. It had been operating on a month-to-month basis under an agreement with the landlord, while he searched for a permanent tenant. “It was such a fun adventure,” Joosten told West Side Rag. Upper West Siders will not have to travel far to find Poppie toys and furniture in the future. Jenn Mattie, who helped Joosten run the pop-up, is soon opening a new Upper West Side toy store which will sell the Poppie brand among others. “Since West Side Kids closed, I don’t think we have a dedicated toy store so I hope to remedy that,” she told the Rag. We will update when we have the name of the store, confirmed address, and an opening date.
Sisu Clinic, a skin care clinic has signage up on the corner of Broadway and West 83rd Street. It is expected to open in May, CEO Pat Phelan wrote to West Side Rag in an email. “Sisu Clinic was founded to make high quality, doctor-led, aesthetic treatments accessible, ethical and results driven,” Phelan wrote. “We combine medical expertise with a modern patient first approach to cosmetic treatments.” The clinic specializes in non-surgical aesthetics such as botox, filler, brow lifts, and microneedling. Other NYC locations are on the Upper East Side, Flatiron, and SoHo. They also have locations in Houston and Miami. Poppie Toys, the pop-up, was previously in the space. (Thanks to Mia for the tip.)
Farmer’s Market Cafe has signage up at 700 Columbus Avenue (at West 95th Street). We will update when we have more information about the cafe and an expected opening date. Kumon, a math and reading tutoring center was formerly in the space. (Thanks to Gustavo and Mark for the tip.)
THISBOWL, an Australian restaurant chain has signed a 10 year lease at 1880 Broadway (at West 62nd Street). THISBOWL was founded in Sydney, Australia in 2016 by three college students who wanted to “change the culture of fast food” and make it “fresh, tasty, and affordable.” Customers can create their own bowls, picking a base, protein, vegetables and extras. There are now over 50 locations in Australia and NYC locations in NoMad, Rockefeller Plaza, and NoHo.
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.
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.
Verrrrry excited about Tamizdat Book Corner — love the concept AND that it’s a small business.
“THISBOWL, an Australian restaurant chain has signed a 10 year lease at 1880 Broadway … ”
How optimistic of them!
Indeed. I fail to see a differentiating factor for yet another slop-bowl chain.
Today I passed a place that invites people to make their own hot pot. Well, would that tactic cut labor expenses- make the customer excited to do the work?
There is a need to define rattan for WSR readers?
I appreciated the definition. I may know it when I see it but I would not have been able to define it.
I would rather not have fast food, no matter what the culture. Give me a restaurant and bar that suits the neighborhood any day.
Nothing wrong with a healthy-ish, customizable option at a decent price. I’d take that over a $50 sit-down meal at a place that drowns their entrees in butter.
Long before Kumon was at 95th and Columbus Avenue, there was an A&P . But my favorite in the spot was West Side Story ! Anyone remember that?
Don’t remember that, but i fondly remember Under the Stairs. I think that space is part of the new Jacob’s Pickles now.
I remember West Side Storey (Sep. 1, 1979–1993ish?) vividly and longingly from the early 1980s! Morning sunlight gleaming through its glass-brick walls, the compact white Formica(?) booths, and above all their epic Eggs Benedict, a favorite menu item in my prevegan period: gone, gone are the days.
I remember west side story very well it was owned by a west sider named Jerry and offeref a comfortable space and menu
I remember it fondly.
Maybe Poppie Toys can move to the space being vacated by Runaway Poppy on Broadway between 80 & 81 st? Its a sweet space in a nice location.
You’re suggesting that that space be used for “pop-up” stores??
The Wendys on Broadway and 97th opened, to not much fanfare.
Love Wendy’s – very excited. Not something I eat every day but good to have. For family’s with kids, sometimes fast food is a necessary evil. And it creates jobs. And Wendy’s actually does some really good philanthropic work.
And much better than an empty storefront.
But I’m sure some of our neighbors will hate it because it is a chain. So they don’t have to eat there.
I hate it because it’s a chain, it’s gross, and you’ve spurred neighbors to hate it.
/s. Lol I am glad a business has moved into the space
Now if only we still had Alouette and Turkuaz …
passed that the other day and had a “wtf” moment
What is going on with Miznon on W112th and Broadway? Is it ever opening?
Also wondering if there’s a planned opening date for Lily’s Coffee Shop, on 86th just west of Columbus. Can’t see any activity behind the papered-over windows.
Also why is W 113th and Broadway on the southeast corner empty with fifty thousand students and staff walking by it every day?
It’s a Columbia University property that used to be an ATM for years. Maybe Columbia is warehousing it.
I have been to ThisBowl near my job in Nomad and I would not say it is affordable. I think almost $20 for the salad and the bowl was not as full as I would expect for that price point. I think is affordable is subjective as what I consider affordable and someone else may differ.
This bowl will have to charge 30-40 dollars a bowl to pay the rent!
I trust Tamizdat Book Corner will carry, along with everything else, a generous selection from the works of Nabokov (in and out of translation), whose writings have been banned in both Soviet and post-Soviet Russia.
A million-dollar idea — remember where you heard it! — might be a store specializing in books banned right here in the good ol’ USA, of which we have a swiftly growing number (https://pen.org/banned-books-list-2025/) thanks to the Tangerine Nightmare’s reign of firings & ICE. Such a business might do especially well by offering discreet mail-order delivery to “woke” (i.e., smart) readers in benighted states.
Not including a book in a library is not a ban. The books on the PEN lists can be purchased or perhaps viewed at a different library. It is not a crime to possess them. All libraries have to curate their titles because of space and cost. Let’s please not compare that to what Russia does.
A bookstore with all of the many books banned by US library policy and literature course designers would be much better.
Much better than … Tamizdat Book Corner?
Please don’t muddy the water, or, as your comrades would say, don’t spread disinformation.
These books were banned by some school districts, not by the government. This has been happening for ages; it didn’t just start now.
Gee, I wish my comrades would come forward and identify themselves, but at the moment they apparently exist only in your imagination.
Since you raise the issue, yes, government IS banning books, right now, during the djt regime, and it’s getting worse. Here’s one quick morsel of evidence from among many: https://pen.org/books-banned-by-department-of-defense-schools/ (“596 Books Banned by Department of Defense Schools Include Titles on Democracy, Feminism, Racism”). What, are 596 examples too few to count? If so, here’s a bonus source for you: https://pen.org/report/the-normalization-of-book-banning/ (“The Normalization of Book Banning”).
True, it didn’t start just now — but now it has become epidemic.
We need a permanent toy and gift store on the Upper UWS.
Perhaps Stationery and Toy World (1985–) at 125 West 72nd Street can suffice for now.