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Subway Work on 2nd Avenue Hobbles Stores: |
| A version of this article
appeared in print on October 5, 2010, on page A1 of the New York edition.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/nyregion/05second.html?_r=1 The noise, dust, barricades and occasional explosions associated with construction of the long-awaited Second Avenue subway are driving away customers from businesses along the avenue and plunging many shops and restaurants into deep financial trouble, two dozen merchants said. In July, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce counted 29 shuttered storefronts between 63rd and 96th Streets - a once-bustling stretch where the subway’s first three stations and the connecting tunnel are being dug. Since then, at least two other businesses have closed. And while the anemic economy has surely taken its toll, many merchants say business has declined 25 percent to 50 percent over the last three years because of the hurdles posed by construction. "Second Avenue has become a place that shoppers avoid," said Jeffrey Bernstein, the chamber’s chairman. "People don’t want to come. It’s difficult to maneuver." The disruption is far worse than many of the merchants had expected when work finally resumed on the subway tunnel on the East Side of Manhattan in 2007, after decades of stop-and-start planning and construction. The resulting damage to the local economy is also far worse than they had expected, store owners said. In particular, restaurants and local service stores that depend on sidewalk traffic, like dry cleaners and pet stores, have been hit hard. "New Yorkers don’t go out of their way more than a block and a half for service, so if you make it impossible, they retreat to another location," said Faith Hope Consolo, chairwoman of retail leasing and sales at Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. Even landmark businesses like the 74-year-old Heidelberg Restaurant and Dorrian’s Red Hand, a 50-year-old bar, are suffering because construction has gobbled up entire blocks of parking. Chris Cunningham, a manager of Schaller & Weber, the 73-year-old purveyor of bratwurst and other German specialties, said business was down 30 percent because customers who left Yorkville for the suburbs and who drove in could not double-park to pick up their bags. The construction has taken away at least one traffic lane along several long stretches where stations are planned, and chewed off five to seven feet of sidewalk in some spots. The work will not be finished until 2017, and many merchants said they doubted they could hold out. Many say they were misled at meetings about the damage construction would wreak. "I think they painted a picture at these meetings, and then they delivered something else," said Joe Pecora, an owner of Delizia 92 pizzeria and restaurant at 92nd Street, who formed the Second Avenue Business Association two years ago because of the construction’s impact. Officials say they have honored commitments they made to minimize disruption and mitigate noise and dust. Lois Tendler, a vice president for government and community relations at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said the agency had met regularly with merchants and had signs on its Web site and at Lexington Avenue subway stations urging people to "Shop Second Avenue." Shopkeepers say they need financial help and compensation. But an effort to provide tax relief and grants was vetoed last year by Gov. David A. Paterson. "We have been incredibly responsive to every feasible request," Ms. Tendler said. "Where we part company with shop owners is that we do not have the ability to pay them for the lost income. We use public money, and we do not know of any government entity that pays for lost business." A Second Avenue subway from 125th Street to the Wall Street area to relieve crowding on the Lexington Avenue line has been on the city’s agenda since the 1930s. A tunnel section in Harlem was dug in the 1970s, but halted during that era’s fiscal crisis. The current construction phase stretches from 100th Street to 63rd Street and Lexington, where a station connects with the existing Q line. New stations are being built at 96th, 86th and 72nd Streets. The transportation authority has postponed the completion date to 2017 from 2013, and increased cost estimates to almost $5 billion, from $3.8 billion. A few stores - including a hardware store and restaurant, whose sites will be used for subway entrances or ventilation - were closed by eminent domain and the owners compensated. Since then, Mr. Pecora said, he has seen a pharmacy, liquor shop, two dry cleaners, three delis and a tool store cease business. Two restaurants, CiaoBella at 85th Street, which closed on Wednesday, and Cinema Cafe at 70th Street, which closed at the end of July, say they shut down after losing a large chunk of sidewalk to construction barriers, which prevented them from putting up outdoor tables, a major source of earnings. Their losses were not reimbursed. Dust, noise and ugly views also deterred customers. Khalid Ziouti, an owner of O.K. Falafel House, a 15-year-old nook at 92nd Street, said much of his trade consisted of drivers of taxis and ambulances who parked or double-parked in front, ran in and picked up a pita meal. With head-high construction barriers sealing off the traffic lane, those drivers go elsewhere, and business is down 35 percent, he said. Peter Ahn, the owner of Ivory Cleaner near 85th Street, said earnings were down 10 percent because customers told him they were dropping clothes off on more pleasant commercial avenues. Orest Lapan, manager of the Pet Market in the 72nd Street area, said business was off 45 percent and the store was considering closing. "A lot of people think we’re already closed because they can’t see us behind the barriers," Mr. Lapan said. Ms. Tendler of the transportation authority said that with the weak economy, stores had been doubly hit. But merchants say that the economy slackened before construction began on their blocks, and that the harm from construction was far worse. Mr. Lapan, the manager of Pet Market, said five other Pet Market locations in the city were thriving. Merchants assert that they often get a runaround when they complain to the city. Officials of the Bloomberg administration say an outreach team from Small Business Services has taken steps to make sure stores are accessible, extend utility payment plans and check that signs advise passers-by where obscured businesses are located. But Giorgio Manzio, manager of the three-year-old CiaoBella, which had 25 employees, said that in the months before it closed, the restaurant was ticketed for having tables on too narrow a sidewalk - a sidewalk narrowed by construction. Abigail Lootens, a spokeswoman for the Department of Consumer Affairs, said permits had to be revoked for 13 outdoor cafes along the construction zone, with refunds given. One businesswoman had to call in family for help. Young Yoo, a Korean-born widow who opened Buddha BBeeQ, a narrow Asian grill near 92nd Street, a few months before ground was broken for the subway in front of her store, has exhausted her savings and is three months behind in rent, her son, Peter, 38, said. A year ago, she brought in Peter, who quit his job as an editor in Binghamton, N.Y., and her daughter to work without pay. He said the family was trying to keep the business alive until April, when Mrs. Yoo, 64, can qualify for Social Security. "Instead of being a prosperous restaurateur, she’ll end up being a penniless person waiting for a check," Mr. Yoo said. "That’s what Second Avenue did to her. It created a pauper." |
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Time Out New York: |
| 2010: "While you need not be a hard-core Yankees fan to hit this narrow, wood-paneled sports dive, you’d better pretend to be one if you hope to commandeer one of two gas grills stationed on the back deck. (At the very least, refrain from announcing you’re a lifelong Red Sox obsessive.) Reserve it ahead of time by ringing up the bartenders, who pour potent, sports-themed martinis on Wednesday nights, like the tart A-Raz ($8), made with Stoli Razberi vodka and blue raspberry and cranberry juices. Or maybe just go for a beer." |
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ourtownny.com: |
| 2010: "Tradition trumps trends at Reif’s Tavern. Drink beer, play pool, throw darts, or if you call ahead, you can BYOM—Bring Your Own Meat—for the outdoor grill on the backyard patio. The tight-knit regulars welcome a new face but it might be wise to keep your Red Sox shout-outs to yourself at this sports bar." |
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thousandbars.blogspot.com: |
| 2005:
"Now this bar, at 302 East 92nd Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues,
is the real deal, opening in 1942 and looking as though it hasn’t
changed much since. There was an old wooden bar with a foot rest. The
chairs looked fairly new, dark wood with black vinyl seats and somewhat
fancy backs. The back bar is fairly simple, several large plain mirrors
with tiered shelves above old wooden coolers and drawers and metal ice
chests holding bottled beer and vodka. A couple of chalkboards had beers
and beer specials written on them. Dusty rose walls above the mirrors.
The brick wall opposite the bar had narrow mirrors above a narrow ledge
with stools in front. Pictures of old baseball players and customers
hung on the wall above the mirrors. There is a decent sized back room
that had a nice pool table and a Black Buck Hunter game. A couple of old regulars were in there talking about their health, the heat, and the cost of funerals. Somehow this led to a discussion of Ocean’s 11, Monty Python, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Elvis imitators (they knew one) and Frank Sinatra. One of those conversations you generally only get into over a drink or two. I enjoyed myself." |
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sheckys.com: |
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2003: "Although you could walk past this place a million times without knowing it exists, this cash only establishment has been at the same location for over 60 years. Equipped with a back patio for grilling your own food, as well as seven televisions connected to four satellites, this place is a haven for a neighborhood crowd that doesn’t mind watching a Yankee game with an NYC cop or firefighter. With five beers on draft and no happy hour specials, the family atmosphere at Reif’s Tavern is a nice change from anyone sick of wading through layers of bridge and tunnelers just to get a drink." |
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2002: "Reif’s is a solid neighborhood dive where the life stories of the locals pour as freely as the shots. Pass by once and there’s a good chance you’ll become a regular. It’s the sort of place where talking shit is not only expected, it’s encouraged. There are two grills on the back patio where you are welcome to cook your own food. Against all odds, the twentysomethings have discovered this gem and hang around the back room playing pool and darts on the weekends." |
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On your way to Reif's, make sure you pick up a slice from Claudio next door at Delizia! See their website for a menu. |
Reif's Tavern
302 East
92nd Street, btw 1st&2nd Ave.
New York, NY 10128
212.426.0519
open noon - 4am, 7 days a week
