[Bereket Turkish Kebab House]
From the EVG inbox…
SAVING OUR NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANTS: EXPERTS DISCUSS HOW (AND WHETHER) IT CAN BE DONE
Tuesday, August 5, 6:30 – 8 P.M.
Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South
Free; reservations required: rvsp@gvshp.org
It could be Lucky Cheng’s or University Diner that you miss, Havana Chelsea or Manatus Restaurant. New Yorkers are in a tizzy over their favorite spots disappearing fast. The question is, what to do about it?
A panel of experts will investigate just that during this free discussion. Inspired by a Historic Restaurant Preservation Plan recently proposed by Eater.com restaurant critic Robert Sietsema, the inquiry will include Sietsema as well as former New York Times restaurant critic and longtime Villager Mimi Sheraton, who is skeptical of such a plan; Stacey Sutton, a Columbia University assistant professor of urban planning who specializes in community retail dynamics; and Robert Perl, the president of Tower Brokerage, which specializes in the sale and rental of commercial and residential property in the East Village. Karen Loew, The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation's director of East Village and special projects, will moderate.
Around the world, people are taking action to extend the lives of businesses they love – in effect aiming to preserve the “uses” inside buildings alongside preservationists’ usual target of the structures themselves. In England, traditional pubs can be deemed assets of community value, allowing community groups time to raise money to buy and preserve them, in order to compete with other buyers who may change the use. In San Francisco, the preservation group SF Heritage promotes Legacy Bars and Restaurants as a way to drive customers to qualifying businesses. Would it make sense for our capital of innovation, dining and independent business to be the next to create a path for restaurant preservation?
We’ll look at all sides of the issue, from rent hikes to owner retirement, to explore what can be done to save our favorite cafes and bars: our hangouts, our clubhouses, the places that feed our souls as well as our stomachs. Come join the discussion that could be the beginning of something: fewer endings.
Reserve your spot today at rvsp@gvshp.org or call (212) 475-9585 ext. 35.
For more background, read our blog post Maybe You Can Save Your Favorite Restaurant Before It Closes
EVG's favorite spots disappearing fast: Bereket, Caffe Rakka on Avenue B, the Odessa Cafe and Bar, Polonia, Whole Earth Bakery and Kitchen, 7A, among many others…
10 comments:
Thanks for sharing Grieve. My favorite part of this blog (other than the content), is reading the comments. They range from funny to serious to aggressive. Despite differences, we all deeply care about the EV. We are all frustrated and angry about the fabric of our neighborhood getting destroyed. Even more alarming is the rapid rate at which it is happening. I am going to this event tonight because I want to learn about solutions. The Greenwhich Village Society for Historic Preservation put this discussion together. For those of you who may not know, these are the guys who go to bat for us when our buildings are threatened. Hope to see you there tonight :)
why only save restaurants?
isn't the issue the rapidly rising rents and NO COMMERCIAL RENT PROTECTIONS? there are other neighborhood establishments that need preserving to keep this a neighborhood. i fear it is too late. no state or city official is committed to commercial rent protection. over the past 40 years all they have done is talk about it and blame each other for nothing happening. state vs city = perfect zero action.
As much as I hate seeing a favorite restaurant close especially because of a huge rent hike, I don't think "preservation" for businesses makes any sense. Local businesses reflect the make up of a neighborhood and only survive when people patronize these places. We have had some evidence that even a horrible 7-11 will close if it opens on a block without "that" kind of customer. The new breed of "restaurateurs" invading the EV sign 10 years leases and relaunch one failed themed restaurant followed by another 2-3 year later until their lease has expired. In a city of choice I would not want to patronize a businesses just because it is on a preservationist list. If you love the convinces of your laundromat, shoe repair, bodega, diner, etc... you better damn use it or it too will become another "Craig's Cajun Crab Shack".
I wish I could attend this. It's true that restaurants/cafes are meeting places for people, but it's also true that owner profits are the driving force behind this effort.
I would ask "Given that 7 out of the 10 lowest-paying jobs are in food service, and with all the effort being made by customers for the owners' sake, what effort are you going to undertake for your workers?"
And what is Tower Brokerage and Perl doing on this panel? He is the owner of Bolton and Watt and the Blind Barber to name a few, so what is he doing to preserve cherished businesses. His company is also responsible for leasing space to a ton of banks and duane reeds to name a few. Finally he was one of the two landlords who let Life Café go under and we are now stuck with Maiden Lane. I'm not sure what expertise he brings to the table except to help us all understand how to ruin a vibrant residential neighborhood. Geez GVSHP what are you thinking.
The answer is nothing. They will continue to hire illegals at sub minimum wage. And note what the other cities are doing. Lots of marketing or locals raise money to buy/preserve spots. Of course in the ev it ha.to be someone else's money. And ignore all your beloved local shops that sell stale crap commit food stamp fraud sell crack pipe and alcohol.to minors. Bodegas are wonderful. They.show that creativity is.still here.when they prep their taxes. If.you like a spot spend there
To Anon 10:18 --
It makes sense to have a real estate person on the panel, as RE is blamed for indie businesses closing. I know EVG readers (like yourself) often are sure they know everything and needn't be troubled by new information, but might there possibly be other sides of the story to hear? Perl is to be commended for volunteering to participate and take the heat. Also, he's community-minded (helps make HOWL happen, for example) and, btw, tried to help Life Cafe stay where it was. If you were interested in facts, though, you may have noticed that Life was often empty...no business can survive without enough customers. I was one of the few there, in a mostly-empty dining room.
Cannot attend, but am about to file a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT against my landlord/others for DISCRIMINATION in the form of selectively choosing ‘students’ (who by nature come and go, sometimes each semester). The apartment is renovated over and over and the rent goes up each time, causing the place become DEREGULATED forever. Not to mention destroys harmony in buildings, ruining the neighborhood. WHO’S WITH ME. Which local politicians want to get involved (I lost a decade+ of life in court/MUST I do EVERYTHING)?!
Nobody likes to see a favorite restaurant (or favorite anything) close, but if a restaurant closes it has nobody to blame but itself. Is commercial rent high? Sure is. But there are still tons of restaurants that still make it anyway, and do so because they get enough customers to be able to pay their rent and other bills. So, if you want your favorite places to last, be a frequent customer.
As long as CB3 approves liquor license after liquor license, any other effort will be a waste of time. Over-saturation is killing off these places as much as anything. There are only so many tourists and visitors to go around. The restaurant owners are doing it to themselves, so I'm not sure why we need to bail them out of what they themselves created.
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