In New York City, more than anywhere else, the cliche holds true: the only constant is change. Some businesses aren't destined for long-term success. Others, however, could stay with us for a long time, if only they were given a fair shot. That's the sentiment driving the new #SaveNYC movement, which officially kicked off in March thanks to the perseverance of Jeremiah Moss. Yes, he of the nostalgia-filled, openly cranky blog that chronicles the travails and closings of long-time institutions: Jeremiah's Vanishing New York. The group's goal is to "protect and preserve the diversity and uniqueness of the urban fabric in New York City" by passing what advocates call the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, which would enpower small businesses to negotiate fair lease renewals with their landlordstaking some of the power out of property owners' hands and thereby stemming the tide of mass evictions and catastrophic rent hikes. Moss started the #SaveNYC Facebook page in December, and now its 4,273 members regularly discuss how to raise awareness about institutions that have closed because of outsized rents.
Thanks to Jeremiah (not his real name), below please find 20 noteworthy, and often beloved, businesses that have closed in the past year or soor are about to close. There are no doubt more, especially because this list hones in on Manhattan. Please leave any suggestions in the comments below.
—Evan Bindelglass is a local freelance journalist, photographer, cinephile, and foodie. You can e-mail him, follow him on Twitter @evabin, or check out his personal blog.
· #SaveNYC [Official]
· Jeremiah's Vanishing New York [Official]
· How We Lost 6,826 Years Of NYC History In Bloomberg's Era [Curbed]
· Count Up the Dozens of NYC Institutions Lost to Rent Hikes [Curbed]
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