Roosevelt Island Cards n' Gift Store Going Out Of Business - Closing June 30
A sign in the window of the Roosevelt Island Card n' Gift Shop announces that the store is closing and out of business as of June 30
As previously reported, the Card n' Gift Shop lease had expired and Main Street Retail Master Leaseholder Hudson Related offered the store smaller premises.
Apparently, a deal could not be reached.
UPDATE 4:40 PM - A reader know as Long-time RI Veteran observes:
Thanks once more to RIOC & David Kramer & Related, the heart of the Island's Main Street loses yet another service now -- no newspapers, no greeting cards, school supplies or sundries. I cannot believe that the folks in the original WIRE buildings will now have to go to Gristedes or Duane Reade to buy to get their daily papers.
Will M&D Deli or Wholesome Foods start selling newspapers?
That RIOC & David Kramer could not figure out even a smaller, temporary space in any of the other commercial spaces they cleaned out, and still cannot rent to offer or make a decent deal with our newsstand operators is shameful & embarrassing. Mr. Kramer complains about not being able to rent the empty spaces -- well, what is he & RIOC going to do next?
4 comments :
It's about time. If they gave them a much, much smaller space, they could probably run a great little newsstand.
Or someone else could, assuming -- and it's a big assumption -- that the rent was appropriate.
Another Main St small business bites the dust because of Mr. Kramer's greed - all of which was enabled by the spineless RIOC Board under the misguided leadership of then-ringleader Kalkin. Not only does H/R receive "wonderful" discounts on ground rent, the State of NY also enables "money-grubbing" "cut-throat" rents by its hero, Mr. Kramer - so that one by the one, the humble business are all driven out. Even the Boy Scouts was driven out - because of Kramer's greed.
Mr. Cuomo please make the right decision and cancel the Master Lease for non-performance (numerous storefronts are still empty) - also, cheap stores the "proletarians" might feel comfortable shopping at or, put more precisely, whose prices they could afford, are certainly needed, considering that there are still thousands of low to moderate-income residents on RI. Or isn't the Governor clued in to that reality? Or the reality that the thousands of RI residents who have fewer and fewer places to shop at, also vote.
Much as Mr. Kramer would love to see RI taken over by yuppies like himself, this is still not the case. Mr. Kramer: There are still thousands of those "annoying" poor to moderate income people living on RI, a few even in your "high-end" development. And didn't you promise that 8 would contain "a lot" of affordable housing? Where do no you expect those who qualify for the affordable housing in building 8 to shop at? Those that qualify for affordable housing aren't exactly "Crate & Barrell" clientele - they must shop at cheap 99 cent stores, like Jacks. No Whole Food market for them, Mr. Kramer. No fabulous sushi dinners for them. Mr. Cuomo: NYS gov is supposed to be about preserving affordable housing? Well, how about preserving businesses that the poor people in the affordable housing can afford to shop at?
Agree we deserve a newsstand, but we also deserve better than that place.
Post a Comment