Goomba38 wrote:
> Margaret Suran wrote:
> >
> > I just heard on the 5 o'clock morning news, that the Second Avenue Deli
> > in New York City is closed since Sunday, in a dispute with the
> > landlord. There is a good chance, according to the owners of the deli,
> > that the restaurant will not reopen.
> >
> > I hope that it is not going to happen.
>
> After reading the articles posted, and admittedly I know little about
> real estate in NYC, do you think they were price gouging 2nd Ave Deli a
> bit much? Do rents really go for 33,000/month for that type of space?
> Such a shame the deli never purchased the building long ago
> Goomba

Purchase the entire building... you're talking The Donald, not some
fercocktah deli.

Yeah NYC rents go up by the thousands, they do, and more. Actually for
NYC that space at a $5,000/mo price increase is not exhorbitant,
especially not at the end of a five year lease, that's like an 18%
increase... RE has increased far more and with normal inflation figured
in that rent is actually a bargain. A $5,000/mo increase comes to some
$200/day... or a dozen sandwiches.

I don't think the rent increase has anything to do with whether the
deli will continue in business... they can very easily make up that
$200/day if only by increasing the prices on their menu by 1/2%, and/or
squeezing in one more small table. I think there are two other reasons
the deli may close forever... first, the cost of massive upgrading to
meet current health code requirements... obviously seriously neglected
over the past many years until now it's a huge bill... that's pure
neglect, which means the owner was seriously contemplating for a long
time not renewing the lease regardless (like he didn't know there'd be
a rent increase, right) and instead was simply squirreling away the
upgrade gelt for retirement, which leads to the second reason, and
probably the more real reason, the owner is just getting too old and
there is no family heir who wants to continue in what is one of the
roughest businesses on Earth, operating a kosher deli... no outsider
will buy it, because even though many would like to they just can't do
kosher... even McDonalds with all their Mega-Billions can't do
kosher... I don't mean won't, I mean can't, as in literally
*incapable*... I mean there's a lot more to doing kosher than an
Irishman agreeing to a circumcision. Shit happens... noo, what else...
next victim.

Sheldon