Vanishing New York Backup

Yesterday, local organizers, politicians, and community members rallied to save Galicia restaurant on Broadway near 172nd Street in Washington Heights. After 30 years in business, they're being denied a lease renewal by the Edelsteins of Edel Family Management, owners of several buildings in the area. As always, the restaurant was full of faithful customers, dining on delicious home-style meals. Hand-lettered signs in the windows read "Save Galicia" and "Make the Small Business Job[s] Survival Act Law!!" A large crowd of New Yorkers gathered on the sidewalk. Unlike at last week's rally for Coogan's bar and restaurant a few blocks south, the phalanx of major news cameras was not present. ( NBC4 got some shots.) I saw no reporters from major papers. ( Patch was there.) Congressman Adriano Espaillat, Public Advocate Letitia James, and City Comptroller Scott Stringer did not appear. But dozens of others did--and they were passionate about sm...

Yesterday, local politicians and community members gathered to rally for Coogan's Bar and Restaurant in Washington Heights. After hiking Coogan's rent by $40,000 , the landlord, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, surrendered under public pressure this week and made a deal to keep Coogan's in place for the foreseeable future. (The details are being kept confidential.) On the cold and sunny Sunday afternoon, in front of a large crowd, Congressman Adriano Espaillat, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Public Advocate Letitia James, and City Comptroller Scott Stringer made celebratory speeches, calling Coogan's "the United Nations of Washington Heights" and a "civic center" for the neighborhood. They also promised to save small businesses across the five boroughs. "We spoke with one voice," said Brewer. "We want to do the same thing for other mom and pops. This is just the beginning." "Our work must continue," sai...

VANISHING At yesterday's rally for Coogan's , Congressman Espaillat pointed up Broadway and announced, "My next stop is Galicia restaurant." After 30 years in business, he explained, they're being denied a lease renewal by the Edelsteins of Edel Family Management, owners of several buildings in the area. "I spoke to the Edelsteins," Espaillat said, "and they seem to be over the top and heavy handed." After the rally, I went for lunch at Galicia. The place is warm and welcoming--and busy. Customers converse from table to table. The counter fills up and empties, and then fills again. The food is good. So is the cafe con leche. On my table I had the flyer announcing a rally to save Galicia, January 21 at 12:00 noon. A woman stopped to read it. She said, "I'll be there. Just because this neighborhood is changing, everybody has to get out? No. We've been here. This place is part of our community ." She went on to he...

Earlier this week, the Times reported that Coogan's bar and restaurant will be forced to close at the end of May after being in business since 1985. The closure will happen, wrote Jim Dwyer, "for the usual horrible reasons, the end of a lease and impossible rent demands for a new one." Coogan's space, at 169th and Broadway, is owned by New York-Presbyterian Hospital. “ They want about $40,000 a month more ,” said one of Coogan's partners. That's a lot of beer. This loss is hitting home with many New Yorkers, including Broadway luminary and Inwood native Lin-Manuel Miranda, who tweeted the announcement, saying "My stomach hurts from this news": Graham Ciraulo, an organizer with the Northern Manhattan Is Not For Sale coalition, started a petition to Save Coogan's . Over 10,000 have signed so far. And there's a rally at Coogan's this Sunday , January 14, at 12:00 noon, organized by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Congre...

VANISHED Reader Keith Taillon writes in about the recent loss of yet another affordable coffee shop: "A beloved neighborhood diner in Washington Heights abruptly closed recently, and I don't know why. I visited one week, and walking past a week later, found the space emptied with auction fliers taped to the windows. It remains empty." photos by Keith Taillon "The diner was called Reme, and it sat at the northwest corner of 169th and Broadway. It was a classic NYC diner, open for at least 40-50 years, attracting old timers, hospital workers, students, and newcomers (like myself) drawn to the area by low rents and a sense of 'home' you can't find elsewhere in the city anymore. Part of what made Washington Heights home for me was being able to go to Reme, where I knew all of the employees by face if not by name, and where I knew I could get a good hot meal for just a few bucks." Keith shares a few anecdotes: "- It was cash-only, and...

When the 25-year-old Jesse's Deli got the boot from its landlord in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, local customers Doug Cameron and Tommy Noonan protested with a colorful collection of " artisanal landlord price hike " posters. They created a sensation. all photos courtesy Doug Cameron Now they've turned their talents to a block of mom and pops in Washington Heights. The businesses, many of which have been on Broadway and West 162nd for decades, have been evicted by the building's new owners, again with an impossible rent hike. ( Read about their story in the Village Voice .) Doug Cameron explained to Vanishing New York: "This time an entire block in Washington Heights is throwing a ‘Gentrification In Progress’ Sale. The Punta Cana is officially rebranded as the Casa de Campo, which is the name of an extremely wealthy gated community and resort in the Dominican Republic. Posters in its windows now offer 'small plates for twice the price,' such a...