Sunday, March 1, 2009

New Port Authority plan could wipe out a dozen Midtown properties (including two good bars)



From the Post:

An $8.75 billion plan to build another train tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan may wipe out a dozen Manhattan properties that can be seized through eminent domain, the Port Authority said.


And what could be lost?

That means Sunglass Hut, Payless Shoes, Duane Reade, Foot Action and several other businesses -- including 40-year-old neighborhood favorites Blarney Rock pub and Hickey's bar -- are in the way.

PA Executive Director Chris Ward added that the agency is hoping to work with the businesses to relocate them and is "in fact going beyond" in negotiations with shop owners.

But Blarney Rock owner Tom Dwyer -- who has been in his 33rd Street location since he and his immigrant dad opened the pub in 1969 -- is worried he will not find an alternate location he can afford close to Madison Square Garden.

"This is devastating," said Dwyer, who hopes to pass on the business to his daughter. "We worked hard all these years, just to have our place turned into a fan plant. It doesn't seem right."


Jeremiah wrote about Hickey's (and Peep World!) last January.

1 comment:

Ken Mac said...

"The Legacy Continues" is correct, further demolition of the City we love from the city we hate.