Native Leather
VANISHING
On Bleecker Street since 1968, Native Leather is closing.
photos courtesy of Carol Walsh
Owner Carol Walsh writes in:
"Native Leather, formerly Natural Leather, has been a constant on Bleecker Street for 49 years. I was heartbroken when the landlord told me that he would not be offering me a new lease. The last lease expired 2 years ago and since then he has been trying to find a tenant who will pay double what my rent was."
The shop was originally started by sandal-maker Dick Whalen in a basement on MacDougal Street in 1962. (For more history on the shop, see Mitch Broder's account.) Since then, it's been a favorite of locals and tourists.
Carol notes, "A day doesn’t go by that I don’t hear from someone 'I’m so glad you’re still here,' or 'I was so worried walking over here that you would be gone.' It wasn’t because they needed me to make them a belt or sandals, or they needed a new hat. It was the comfort of knowing that this little plot of Greenwich Village was impervious to the 'progress' that has afflicted so much of New York and notably the Village. I have customers who started out window shopping on their way home from elementary school across the street at the Little Red Schoolhouse."
The high-rent blight that afflicts western Bleecker Street is creeping east. More and more, we see For Rent signs in the windows of shops shuttered by impossible rents and denied lease renewals. They are unprotected by the city. The Small Business Jobs Survival Act would have helped.
Carol says, "The 'Commercial Space for Rent' sign has yet to appear in the window. I expect it any day. 203 Bleecker is destined to join the many empty storefronts which populate Greenwich Village and beyond. The future is still uncertain, but I know that I will need help if this business is to survive to start a new legacy somewhere else in Greenwich Village."
On Bleecker Street since 1968, Native Leather is closing.
photos courtesy of Carol Walsh
Owner Carol Walsh writes in:
"Native Leather, formerly Natural Leather, has been a constant on Bleecker Street for 49 years. I was heartbroken when the landlord told me that he would not be offering me a new lease. The last lease expired 2 years ago and since then he has been trying to find a tenant who will pay double what my rent was."
The shop was originally started by sandal-maker Dick Whalen in a basement on MacDougal Street in 1962. (For more history on the shop, see Mitch Broder's account.) Since then, it's been a favorite of locals and tourists.
Carol notes, "A day doesn’t go by that I don’t hear from someone 'I’m so glad you’re still here,' or 'I was so worried walking over here that you would be gone.' It wasn’t because they needed me to make them a belt or sandals, or they needed a new hat. It was the comfort of knowing that this little plot of Greenwich Village was impervious to the 'progress' that has afflicted so much of New York and notably the Village. I have customers who started out window shopping on their way home from elementary school across the street at the Little Red Schoolhouse."
The high-rent blight that afflicts western Bleecker Street is creeping east. More and more, we see For Rent signs in the windows of shops shuttered by impossible rents and denied lease renewals. They are unprotected by the city. The Small Business Jobs Survival Act would have helped.
Carol says, "The 'Commercial Space for Rent' sign has yet to appear in the window. I expect it any day. 203 Bleecker is destined to join the many empty storefronts which populate Greenwich Village and beyond. The future is still uncertain, but I know that I will need help if this business is to survive to start a new legacy somewhere else in Greenwich Village."
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