NYU has faced down many controversies in the Village and walked away victorious, so the irony of the furor about the Met Foodmarket on Second Avenue is inescapable. The writing was already on the wall after a community board meeting last week, and today's post brings word that the University may be ready to wave the white flag in the Battle of the Met. The background is that NYU owns the Second Ave. building where "one of the last affordable food stores" in the East Village, in the words of the Post, is located. The University offered a three-year lease at triple the current rent. The store said it would have to close. Then, came a boatload of bad publicity, culminating in 3,000 petition signatures and a serious rout at a Community Board 3 meeting last week. Now? A City Council Member is mediating and the two side are said to be close to an agreement. "They seem to want to sustain local business," said the Council Member in the middle.
· NYU Tries to Settle Food Fight [NYP]
· E. Village Food Fights Pits NYU Vs. Grocery [Villager]
· Met Foods vs. NYU [Jeremiah's Vanishing New York]
[Photo courtesy of Jeremiah's Vanishing New York]
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