It's interesting to see how misinformed a reporter from the Times can be in writing such an article. If they had visited the bodega at 169th and Audubon prior to their preparation to close, they would have seen that there was little or no business there. The store was significantly in arrears and totally undifferentiated from the multiple other bodegas in within a block or two. The quantity of bodegas in the neighborhood had been driven by lack of other viable businesses willing to take a shot in the area. That is changing. Might not be a bad thing in the end.
1
Perhaps there are just too many bodegas and the market is flooded. They're everywhere and about 75% of them are overpriced and terrible. If I ever leave NYC, one thing I will not miss at all are bodegas. If I every happen to miss one, i can go into a gas station mini-market, close my eyes for a second, and pretend everything is haphazardly stocked and covered in dust.
4
During the mid 1990s, I was a limo driver based out of Stamford and, during my 'down times' near LaGuardia Airport, I used to get snacks at a nearby bodega. The clerks were familiar and my favorite snacks were there. But it was a dingy place as well. It should be no surprise that bodegas are closing in the city's most expensive borough, Manhattan. Newcomers who grew up in wealthier areas want their familiar Trader Joe's or Whole Foods and want their experiences replicated in NYC. But, for working class residents, the local Pathmark and Key Foods stores are often not well-kept. Hence, there are no real winners in this saga.
3
A bodega where you would get your 16oz Schaefer beer and the owner would put it in a special brown paper bag that fit the can exactly so you could sip the beer on your stoop in the hot summer night and the owner was always happy with a smile, calling your boss in Spanish
6
This has happened before, most recently with independent bookstore owners. The chains will eventually be surpassed by something more efficient. The milittle guy who can adapt and provide services the big boys can't, or wont, will always win at the end.
1
Having the same problems on this side of the country. As customers we are taking things in our hands to save our small businesses. I feel this model can work even better in NY as the population density is much greater.
http://blog.sfgate.com/bookmarks/2015/02/26/borderlands-books-no-longer-...
Or at least this model can be applied until laws change. Get the customers involved before shutting the doors.
http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/02/26/customers-save-a-beloved-san-francis...
http://blog.sfgate.com/bookmarks/2015/02/26/borderlands-books-no-longer-...
Or at least this model can be applied until laws change. Get the customers involved before shutting the doors.
http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/02/26/customers-save-a-beloved-san-francis...
2
If a bodega can't compete with 7-11, there's a reason, somewhere at the intersection of price and selection. We can't keep bodegas out of nostalgia.
3
I live in North Carolina. Laugh so hard when I see New York's TV commercial about why I should move to New York....lower taxes, etc. If this is put out by NY's Chamber of Commerce of some Government office, DeBlasio, comes to mind, they should be fired. It is the worst commercial on TV. Even worse than Pajama Boy for Obamacare.
1
My experience with bodegas is they're not very clean, the quality of the products is often suspect, selection is nil and they charge a lot. Wasn't there a great hue and cry about the lack of supermarkets in City neighborhoods not all that long ago and how these small stores which were the only choice for city dwellers without transportation were ripping off their customers? So, is the disappearance of a few bodegas, relatively, really a problem?
Still, as for what's replacing them, there I see a problem. There is an unrelenting march toward homogenization of retail choices in NYC, once an island of individuality in the megalopolis of blah blah chain retail. But hey, you want your Dunkin' Donuts to be just as it was the last time, you want that McDonalds' experience to be consistent from store to store, visit to visit, you want all those chains precisely because they're so goddamned predictable. So what are whining for, you got what you wanted.
Still, as for what's replacing them, there I see a problem. There is an unrelenting march toward homogenization of retail choices in NYC, once an island of individuality in the megalopolis of blah blah chain retail. But hey, you want your Dunkin' Donuts to be just as it was the last time, you want that McDonalds' experience to be consistent from store to store, visit to visit, you want all those chains precisely because they're so goddamned predictable. So what are whining for, you got what you wanted.
5
I am the owner of James in Brooklyn and the lease issues not only threaten bodegas but all locally owned, small business including our treasured shops, bars, and restaurants. We are at risk of losing what is truly at the core of this unique and amazing city. We can change this, however, if we join together and make NYC a level the playing fields for all business owners by supporting the Small Business Jobs Survival Act and joining the TakeBackNYC community. It is easy and we can change the fate of our great city.
9
In other words, you want the government to get in the middle of a transaction between two businesses and take sides in your favor. No.
6
Hopefully this model can help - at least till the laws can change:
http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/02/26/customers-save-a-beloved-san-francis...
http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/02/26/customers-save-a-beloved-san-francis...
Doesn't the government help big out of state corporations, not owned by Deborah that writes her own piece of mind, but has millions of dollars for advertising and lobbying?
Where's your outcry then when it's helping the middle class? She's asking for a level playing field, not a handout.
Where's your outcry then when it's helping the middle class? She's asking for a level playing field, not a handout.
5
"The company that manages the property, Treetops Enterprises, did not respond to requests for comment"
No surprise there. What are they going to say? "We are greedy and don't care"? Renting in NYC you get to know how low some people will go for a profit.
No surprise there. What are they going to say? "We are greedy and don't care"? Renting in NYC you get to know how low some people will go for a profit.
2
The tenant stated he has a five year lease. That must be in writing under the Statute of Frauds. If, as seems to be the case, that lease contains increases, what explanation is necessary?
3
I'm glad I have memories of how wonderful NYC was before business ruined everything.
8
New York was my home for 40 years, East Harlem and the Bronx was where I lived and breathed. I am in Round Rock, TX now, and most days I just wish I could walk to the corner bodega to get what I need or have a late night run for some basic necessities, but alas no such luck. I can't even find a decent Dominican or Puerto Rican local barbershop and have to rely on my wife's hairdresser. It may sound trivial but when you live in an urban environment it can make life easier. Even going into a local diner like the Bedford Park cafe could make my mornings infinitely better because people get to know you and even know what you order without you having to say a word. Sure you can get friendly service at chains, but they are a dime a dozen and its like your a brand new cusotmer every week because the same person is never there.
New York is cutting away all its character for trendiness and pandering to trust fund infused new comers who will gladly abandon the city for newer shinier waters once mom and dad stop paying the rent. My beloved city is in a cultural death throes and no one sees it.
I fully expect all the places i love to be gone in 10 years. Shame on New York for not realizing the working class and immigrants are the life blood of the city.
Welcome to the New Age.
New York is cutting away all its character for trendiness and pandering to trust fund infused new comers who will gladly abandon the city for newer shinier waters once mom and dad stop paying the rent. My beloved city is in a cultural death throes and no one sees it.
I fully expect all the places i love to be gone in 10 years. Shame on New York for not realizing the working class and immigrants are the life blood of the city.
Welcome to the New Age.
9
It's interesting how non-spanish speakers use "bodega" to reference a convenience store. There's no equivalent in California. The correct term in Spanish here would be "Tienda" but it's not used ad largum. Everyone calls these stores "corner stores"(especially in SF where they are almost always on the corner of the street on the first floor of an apartment building--there are 4 in my neighborhood) or in LA we called them "mini markets" or "liquor stores". Sure way to let it be know your from NYC is to ask where the local "Bodega" is.
3
Panaderia, perhaps.
The term "bodega" has its roots in the legions of spanish-speaking Puerto Ricans and Dominicans who flocked to New York City and other east coast cities throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, many of whom owned and operated these bodegas. Nowadays the stores New Yorkers call bodegas may be run by Koreans, Chinese, Yemenis, or other ethnicities in addition to Latinos, but the name remains a part of NYC lingo. Just as it would be impossible to understand LA and SF without understanding the impact Mexican communities had on those cities, it's impossible to understand NYC without understanding the impact the enormous Caribbean Latino population has had on this city, which by itself is larger than the entire populations of almost every other city in the US.
6
It's Caribbean dialect, not Mexican.
In Dominican we say "colmado" or "bodega", or "tienda", I think Puerto Ricans say "bodega", although it also means a warehouse.
What's your point anyway?
In Dominican we say "colmado" or "bodega", or "tienda", I think Puerto Ricans say "bodega", although it also means a warehouse.
What's your point anyway?
For all of the charm and virtue of the bodegas, they are the product of a nineteenth century mercantile and distribution system. A system riddled with middleman, inefficiency and bloated costs for the consumer.
Some notice the numerous oil refineries of northern New Jersey; I have noticed that much of New Jersey Turnpike is lined with miles and miles of warehouses.
There is a connection in my mind.
Some notice the numerous oil refineries of northern New Jersey; I have noticed that much of New Jersey Turnpike is lined with miles and miles of warehouses.
There is a connection in my mind.
5
I loved my bodega on the corner of Meeker Ave and Russell St in Greenpoint when I lived there back in the '90s. There was always a character or 2 sitting on milk crates out front, the Yankee game playing inside to a small crowd, and enough essentials that I kept going daily (mostly for the Bacon Egg & Cheese). I moved away and returned, this time to Park Slope. This neighborhood has a handful of really great bodegas that have upped their game and remain busier than ever. A few of them make great sandwiches at any hour and all of them seem to have the fancy junk food that you don't know you want until you see it. Each of the 4 or 5 I'm thinking of also have a friendly counter guy who greets you with a big wave and a smile. They are all surrounded by chains and grocery stores too, with little effect. If the standard bodega wants to survive they need to get their act together and offer what people really want. The one closest to my shop is woeful and grubby, and feels like a private club. When they close I'll be fine with it.
7
When will the NY Times and Mayors Office address the empty retail spaces or retail spaces kept by the developers in new developments. You will find chain stores, and who benefits from the rent - the developer. No revenue goes back to the HPD built coop or condo and the residents have no say of who the retail in the buildings they live in.
2
The retail does two things:
one, retail adds to neighborhood quality, it puts people on the streets, adds sets of eyes which discourages crime, provides jobs, etc.
two, the rental income invents the development of affordable housing. The income isn't supposed to go to HPD, the prospect of that income becomes a part of the viability of the project.
one, retail adds to neighborhood quality, it puts people on the streets, adds sets of eyes which discourages crime, provides jobs, etc.
two, the rental income invents the development of affordable housing. The income isn't supposed to go to HPD, the prospect of that income becomes a part of the viability of the project.
On my 2 block walk to the subway, from 112th to 110th on Broadway, there are now 5 empty storefronts that have been sitting for months, some for years. They become neglected, dirty and attract vagrants. This warehousing of commercial space, while landlords wait for the next Chase or Starbucks, is ruining the neighborhoods throughout the city.
13
I would love to see a study of how many of the landlords own rent controlled residential units above the bodegas they raise the rents on. Rent control, a scourge on this city, prevents landlords from raising rents as they see fit on their apartment dwellers and then must redirect their need for income to the business owners.
5
With the caveat that some bodegas have exceptionally good sandwiches and fresh meals, which adds value and differentiates these stores from your generic Duane Reade, bodegas mostly just sell commodities and branded CPGs. That means price, assuming equivalent selections, is the only thing that matters to consumers.
If Duane Reade ousting a local bodega means I can save a few bucks on that same box of Cheerios, from an economic perspective, I'm all for it.
But I'd be lying if I said I don't prefer walking into a bodega over walking into a Duane Reade. There's just something about them. Friendlier faces, more interesting selection, local flavor, etc.
This New Yorker is on the side of the bodegas.
If Duane Reade ousting a local bodega means I can save a few bucks on that same box of Cheerios, from an economic perspective, I'm all for it.
But I'd be lying if I said I don't prefer walking into a bodega over walking into a Duane Reade. There's just something about them. Friendlier faces, more interesting selection, local flavor, etc.
This New Yorker is on the side of the bodegas.
6
When neither FAO Schwarz nor The Four Seasons can afford to stay in New York, what chance has the little guy got?
Not too many years ago, real estate greed turned almost every storefront into a place-holder Bonsai Tree shop. Now they hold out for bank branches.
These people, with their unslaked avarice, are destroying this town.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
Not too many years ago, real estate greed turned almost every storefront into a place-holder Bonsai Tree shop. Now they hold out for bank branches.
These people, with their unslaked avarice, are destroying this town.
https://emcphd.wordpress.com
7
What kind of five year lease did he sign that "rent has increased $100 from one month to the next, with little explanation?" Maybe he should have signed a lease.
Maybe he wasn't offered one.
1
A five year lease, if it truly is, must be in writing.
Being a recent transplant to NYC (If 2 1/2 years is probably still recent), I was initially wary of going into a bodegas. Living where I had no access to anything like a bodega unless it was a travel center in a gas station. Most of the time I went to McDonalds or Burger King or Starbucks or ate at home. I avoided places like bodegas because they were often viewed as dirty and unsafe. It was not until I went with coworkers to ones near my job for breakfast did I discover now truly great they are or at least a few. It is sad that many in the area I live in (Hamilton Heights) have closed in recent years and I guess I am part of the problem shopping at Key Foods since it is next to my train exit and on my way home.
3
I love bodegas. They are always there when you need them; they come in the clutch. And, as the article accurately states, there's no concrete way to define one as I learned when trying to explain to my out-of-town friends. "Deli/corner store/convenience store" is how I'd explain it, although those terms still don't capture the true New York spirit that they encapsulate.
But let's pause the nostalgia for a moment. Ever consider that there is a very broad spectrum of quality, service and convenience at the various bodegas you and I have all stumbled into over the years? Perhaps this is an opportunity for these small businesses to explore their creativity in terms of providing the greatest product. Perhaps their all-American ingenuity will step in and ultimately provide the consumers a with top-notch, and ever so personal bodega experience. At the end of the day, people crave good customer service with that personal touch that will never exist in the chain stores.
May the best man win.
But let's pause the nostalgia for a moment. Ever consider that there is a very broad spectrum of quality, service and convenience at the various bodegas you and I have all stumbled into over the years? Perhaps this is an opportunity for these small businesses to explore their creativity in terms of providing the greatest product. Perhaps their all-American ingenuity will step in and ultimately provide the consumers a with top-notch, and ever so personal bodega experience. At the end of the day, people crave good customer service with that personal touch that will never exist in the chain stores.
May the best man win.
1
Even the best customer experience will not matter if the greedy landlord wants to kick out the bodega for a chain store or bank..
2
CVS's, Rite Aids, and Duane Reades are ugly. They should be sequestered and hidden behind trees.
6
To me, what this is about is small business. Bodegas are family run businesses that spend all or most of their money in the community or another NYC community. This helps the local economy and provides a decent income for a person or a family. With chains, you have low wage employees working without benefits. Most of the profits go back to some other city in another state or country where the corporation is headquartered. It's also about the homogenization of NYC. People come to NYC to experience variety and uniqueness, not chains that exist in every bland town and city around the country.
12
When McDonalds and the other fast food restaurants started opening in New York City, long after the rest of the country was saturated with them, I thought to myself, How can McDonald's make money here, with all the delis and lunch places we have? We already have everything they offer.
I was wrong then, and the trend continues. I went to a show in Coney Island a few weeks ago, across from Nathan's, around the corner from Totonno's, and in front of Table 87, and the people in the audience and the performers were enjoying their Little Caesar's pizza. People seem to want chains, with all that implies. (yes, I know, but this is the REAL Nathan's.)
I was wrong then, and the trend continues. I went to a show in Coney Island a few weeks ago, across from Nathan's, around the corner from Totonno's, and in front of Table 87, and the people in the audience and the performers were enjoying their Little Caesar's pizza. People seem to want chains, with all that implies. (yes, I know, but this is the REAL Nathan's.)
6
Well said.
Bodegas and Korean owned delis are not only acts of survival and triumph for many immigrant families but it was once, a cultural fabric of NYC. To see the demise of small businesses owned by minorities in this city, is truly devastating.
17
The other day I went into my trusty bodega in the EV to get milk - only to find they only had organic milk or Lactaid milk. No regular, plain old milk. I actually had to go next store to Rite-Aid to get it. Oh, the irony!
6
There is nothing worse than the incredible slowness and chemical sterility of a Duane Reade/RiteAid/CVS/etc. I can walk into a normal bodega and have a drink in my hand, paid for, in 30 seconds flat. Try that in a CVS. There will be 5 people in line at all time, guaranteed. And you soon see why: their register system is slow as molasses, their employees couldn't care less, and at the end, you're treated to a two foot-long receipt full of spam. Give me a deli any day.
6
The WALGREENS on my corner (57th & 9th) is about as good as the worst bodega. What we are supermarkets. Not WHOLE FOODS and not CVS, DUANE READE AND WALGREENS.
5
The bodega that closed on the corner of Tiemann and Claremont served the locals in many ways. In addition to stocking some basics, its convenient location meant I didn't have to slide downhill on icy days to pick up a few items! It was open and well-lit almost 24 hours a day, making the area much safer. I'm absolutely NOT worried about the wealthy having upscale places to shop. I am concerned that anything that helps the little guy, or the community as a meeting place, is fast going the way of the dodo.
27
I opened one of the first natural food stores on 2nd Avenue near 23rd St in 1970. I had two 10 year leases at a rent that was by today's terms very reasonable. In 1990, I was forced to relocate and had to triple my rent. By the end of 1998, I watched as the auctioneer sold lock stock and barrel as it were for pennies on the dollar. Yes I had a good run, but in the end I had to leave my native city because I could no long afford to live there.Bodegas and little mom and pop natural food stores are a thing of the past, and young entrepreneurs like myself have been succeeded by multinational corporations without the personal touch and caring of our cliental that I and my family gave. We are an anachronism from a time past as many things have changed in my 79 years. We love progress, but sometimes long for the gentle kindness that I and my customers shared in mutual greetings each day. (Gosh- I'm beginning to feel like an ancient relic)
10
Right here in Chelsea there was a decades-old Korean grocer who had everything, was active in the community (put up Thanksgiving meals for the poor, even). A 7-11 moved in DIRECTLY next door, one of several in a 5 block stretch of 7th Ave. Within a couple months, that Korean grocery was gone.
6
@Joe: The public has spoken.
I've only been in the city for about 2 years and agree with another commenter who mentioned stores like Key Foods instead of Duane Reade, etc. I live in Harlem and Key Foods is a couple blocks away - but I almost never go there because everything is so overpriced! When Whole Foods opens on 125th it will be absolutely mobbed because its prices are decent by comparison and quality is great. I also agree about the quality of Key Foods produce. I don't buy anything there except for when I run out of half&half. There are also some fruit/veggie stands around here so I don't know why anyone would do much of their shopping at Key Foods.
As for bodegas, I have a Mexican one near me that has AWESOME tacos and other food, plus they sell a bunch of Mexican grocery items. The other bodegas always seem like such a rip-off. When I lived in Brooklyn I had a little green market right by me that somehow managed to carry pretty much everything I could want/need, as well as had reasonable prices and fantastic produce.
As for bodegas, I have a Mexican one near me that has AWESOME tacos and other food, plus they sell a bunch of Mexican grocery items. The other bodegas always seem like such a rip-off. When I lived in Brooklyn I had a little green market right by me that somehow managed to carry pretty much everything I could want/need, as well as had reasonable prices and fantastic produce.
6
Wait a second! "Upper Manhattan, the figure was slightly more favorable to retailers: Rents rose around 20 percent." Really! You mean to tell me that rents rose a whole 2.0% per year for a decade! Wow. That would be ... roughly the rate of inflation. Yeah, sounds like rent increases are a big problem, huh. Of course, blame the greedy landlords. Meanwhile, how many of these bodegas have even rudimentary inventory control systems? I'm always amused when I seen 15 varieties of canned olives covered in dust but only two tubes of toothpaste. Everyone knows there are well run bodegas, and horribly run bodegas. Some close. That's business.
5
I left Manhattan almost twenty years ago now, couldn't have lived without my Korean "Bodega" on the corner of 88th and third! It's sad but you are lucky they have lasted this long...Manhattan's just catching up to the rest of the country, every where you go the same stores whatever the retail category. So it seems a combination of Dunkin donuts, subway and 7-11 are your future too.
2
The future of "world class" cities, New York, London and Paris chief among them, is the "hollow city", a place with apartments and condos that are empty most of the year awaiting the return of the potentates. Those who remain in the hollow city, the servants of the mega-rich, will make do living on the outskirts or in the bowels of the city, forbidden except by employment to enter the zones reserved for the wealthy. They shop in bland, airless, overly lit aisles of chain stores designed for the sole purpose of a quick sale and a quick exit. These stores nurture nothing but commerce and a dull, blankness across the eyes of those who take the money and tote up the sales.
Over time, the mega rich will drive out the very reasons they chose to live in the city in the first place. Artists, non-conformist creative types and people of varied backgrounds and outlooks will be gone. What will be left on the streets will be the terminally hopeless, the drugged and those who offer themselves for sale. The vistas of Paris will remain and the view from the 52nd floor out over Central Park will still astound, but the concrete and steel towers will gradually be abandoned by the mega rich at lower and lower prices. Ghosts will move in with or without permission of the condo boards.
The hollow city, fearful and no knowing any future, will start to rebuild from the ground up, store by neighborhood store.
Over time, the mega rich will drive out the very reasons they chose to live in the city in the first place. Artists, non-conformist creative types and people of varied backgrounds and outlooks will be gone. What will be left on the streets will be the terminally hopeless, the drugged and those who offer themselves for sale. The vistas of Paris will remain and the view from the 52nd floor out over Central Park will still astound, but the concrete and steel towers will gradually be abandoned by the mega rich at lower and lower prices. Ghosts will move in with or without permission of the condo boards.
The hollow city, fearful and no knowing any future, will start to rebuild from the ground up, store by neighborhood store.
24
The bodegas, Korean delis, other specialty shops, and large grocery stores all have roles. And as mentioned below, the small non-chain establishments were the ones that stepped up during Hurricane Sandy.
Recently I had a specific craving, and remembered a few bodegas on the other end of the neighborhood that carried cocada. I hadn't visited this area in a few months. My disappointment was unprecedented as I approached each one, only to be presented with the depressing wall of Cliff Bars, Amy's Frozen Pizzas, and $7 plastic tubs of kale chips. I did not return home with cocada.
Recently I had a specific craving, and remembered a few bodegas on the other end of the neighborhood that carried cocada. I hadn't visited this area in a few months. My disappointment was unprecedented as I approached each one, only to be presented with the depressing wall of Cliff Bars, Amy's Frozen Pizzas, and $7 plastic tubs of kale chips. I did not return home with cocada.
7
Part of it also has to do with the fact that people are increasingly reading articles online, which means bodegas have lost a lot of money not selling magazines and newspapers. My husband fondly recalls buying Playboy from his local bodega with his buddies as a teenager - now you just have to open your smartphone.
6
Supply and demand. The current generation of New Yorkers don't want bodegas and don't feel any of this nostalgia. The bodegas are being out-competed by others offering a better product/service. The proof is in the closings.
6
If this statement is accurate, then rising rents are not the culprit in the downfall of bodegas:
"the average commercial rent in Manhattan rose 34 percent from 2004 to 2014. In Upper Manhattan, the figure was slightly more favorable to retailers: Rents rose around 20 percent"
A 34% increase over 10 years is 3% a year: Above the national rate of inflation, but significantly below the in rate of inflation for Manhattan real estate, goods and services.
"the average commercial rent in Manhattan rose 34 percent from 2004 to 2014. In Upper Manhattan, the figure was slightly more favorable to retailers: Rents rose around 20 percent"
A 34% increase over 10 years is 3% a year: Above the national rate of inflation, but significantly below the in rate of inflation for Manhattan real estate, goods and services.
2
Soon all of retail Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens will be owned by Duane Reed, C Town and Key Foods.
Times Metro: how can you write a story about rents and not include the rental prices or the dollar amounts of the increases? How many sodas and cigarettes must one man sell monthly to make that rent?
Times Metro: how can you write a story about rents and not include the rental prices or the dollar amounts of the increases? How many sodas and cigarettes must one man sell monthly to make that rent?
6
Where is the economic story? Who owns the property? Who is raising the rent? Who shops for what and where? Who owns the bodegas, and whom did they buy the stores from and who owned the stores before that? This article, filled with sentiment and anecdote, supports a nostalgic view that the comments don't support, thank goodness.
5
Though I have no particular ties to any bodega, one of them did help keep my building going in the South Bronx years ago. They can be considered a cultural icon but hardly one that keeps the economic engine running in a city as large as NYC! Of course, one needs to feel sorry for the people and families whose businesses can no longer succeed in such a city. It feels like so many other small entities that come and go, forcing the little people to move on!
3
Does New York really want to look just like the boring cities where there is nothing but chain stores? I lived in Fort Worth, TX and there was a Walgreens on every other block. Miles of sprawl and big box stores but very little that was unique or interesting. NYC, don't become the dull cities of the middle of the country!
13
New York is one of the most amazing cities, and if you didn't know, is full of amazing places. One thing is trashing the city online, but its another thing if you rely on the internet to tell you what its like.
1
New York is no longer livable for the ordinary person. The NY Times doesn't care.
I*m a native and now thankfully ex-Noo Yawka who came of age in the late *60s, and without a college education and in minimally-paying jobs, could afford not only my own one-bedroom apts. with real kitchens, in various Queens and Manhattan neighborhoods, but to go to the theater and eat out fairly often. I was able to see Zero Mostel and Frank Langella and Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn live onstage for well under fifty dollars. I could save money for yearly backpacking holidays abroad. All this on less than five thousand dollars a year.
Now young people with graduate degrees and with jobs making ten to twenty times what I made then cannot live in NY without tripling or quadrupling with roommates.
And you*re waxing elegiac about dirty little stores that exploited the poor people who had no other options for milk and bread?
I*m a native and now thankfully ex-Noo Yawka who came of age in the late *60s, and without a college education and in minimally-paying jobs, could afford not only my own one-bedroom apts. with real kitchens, in various Queens and Manhattan neighborhoods, but to go to the theater and eat out fairly often. I was able to see Zero Mostel and Frank Langella and Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn live onstage for well under fifty dollars. I could save money for yearly backpacking holidays abroad. All this on less than five thousand dollars a year.
Now young people with graduate degrees and with jobs making ten to twenty times what I made then cannot live in NY without tripling or quadrupling with roommates.
And you*re waxing elegiac about dirty little stores that exploited the poor people who had no other options for milk and bread?
17
Those "dirty little stores" are small business people, who often let people buy milk and bread on credit (no interest). Yeah, let's wipe out all small businesses.
9
Bodegas may add local character to a neighborhood, but as far as real shopping goes, they are not of much use. Most people whom I see at my bodega in Queens (near the subway) buy beer, loose cigarettes and chewing tobacco, lottery tickets, ice cream, candy bars, jerky and cups of coffee. Obviously a market exists for those items, but it does not help a family much with everyday shopping. The few food items I see are dusty and past their sell-by date. I for one would celebrate if the bodega closed and a Key Food opened. My neighborhood has several grocery stores now, but I remember 25 years ago when we had to drive to the Pathmart on Northern Blvd to do any real shopping. So I welcome this change.
13
The Bodega written about are not the original owners of their store.
The majority of the original owner first rent the store worked all the time, eventualy purchased the building,when the city was down and out, then sold the building.
God Bless America.
The majority of the original owner first rent the store worked all the time, eventualy purchased the building,when the city was down and out, then sold the building.
God Bless America.
1
YouMy bodega on Avenue A in the East Village is so vital that I can't imagine life without it.
1. Forgot my wallet at home? My bodega lets me come back later, or tomorrow - or next week.
2. Where do I keep my extra house keys? At my bodega.
3. Who knows exactly how I like my two eggs on a roll? Yes, my bodega. I don't have to even verbally order it. Just walking in the front door, and those eggs hit the grill, sizzling. I'm out of there in 3 minutes.
4. During Hurricane Sandy who was open? Not the chain stores. But the bodegas all were.
5. Perhaps the best: my bodega workers are a lot cheaper than a therapist. They know me better than anyone, and always support me and encourage me in life.
1. Forgot my wallet at home? My bodega lets me come back later, or tomorrow - or next week.
2. Where do I keep my extra house keys? At my bodega.
3. Who knows exactly how I like my two eggs on a roll? Yes, my bodega. I don't have to even verbally order it. Just walking in the front door, and those eggs hit the grill, sizzling. I'm out of there in 3 minutes.
4. During Hurricane Sandy who was open? Not the chain stores. But the bodegas all were.
5. Perhaps the best: my bodega workers are a lot cheaper than a therapist. They know me better than anyone, and always support me and encourage me in life.
31
Get a better psychologist, buy a keychain, and stop eating eggs with all that cholesterol which would improve your health - and let your neighbors have a better place to buy their groceries.
5
Some bodegas in Manhattan are great. Most are not. The good ones with good delis and good customer service and good locations will survive. The rest...oh well.
8
I do love bodega's, but to be honest, most do mark up their goods. I would rather go to a CVS and will always find a better deal for bottled water or a snack. Bodega's are great if you buy cigarettes, newspapers, mags, lotto tix, but everything else is $$$.
9
New York is changing and not for the better. What made NY special, were the quirky neighborhood stores, the dry cleaning lady who knew your name and your business, the baker that sold a quarter loaf of fresh bread, the special little bookstore that knew what you liked and put the book aside for you when it came in. I can think of ice cream shops, toy stores and tiny cafes that were all part of my neighborhood. Some have survived even thrived but many have been replaced by chains and banks. The people who owned those small shops have had to leave the neighborhood because they can't afford to stay. The artists have been shoved out to the margins and been replaced by movie stars. In Manhattan giant buildings are full of insanely expensive empty condos, owned by foreign nationals (financed by the often ill gotten gains they've taken out of their countries) that don't support the few small businesses left. Yup, NY is changing and not for the better.
13
I did my undergrad at the City College of New York. The food on campus lacked variety and did not taste very good. Campus Deli is a place that my friends and I frequented. The staff knew us all and after a while our sandwiches, bagels and coffee were made without us providing any instructions. Meats were fresh and piled high onto the sandwiches. I don't think my friends or I ever frequented any of the chain restaurants in spite of being on a college budget. The demise of Campus Deli is sad indeed for City College students.
2
Rest assured. Campus Deli is not closing. They do really well. Furthermore, there are a lot of new, exciting places---a 9.95 all-you-can-eat Indian buffet right across from the main entrance on Amsterdam! And then there's halal!
2
What matters is quality. If a chain has better quality, go with the chain. Small business matters only if the quality is better. Personally, I prefer Whole Foods to bodegas.
6
Because there's nothing in-between? NYC's boroughs have the best selection of grocery stores featuring products from all over the world. Grocery shopping: you're doing it wrong.
1
it sounds like you think that diversity and quality are the same thing.
Why even publish these stories? Is there a proposal, other than handwringing and crypto-nostalgia? The Times is foursquare behind real estate and commercial development and has been for as long as I can remember. It pays lip service to preserving existing residential protections such as rent stabilization, but I know of no concrete ideas from the Times about sustaining the character of individual neighborhoods, including their commercial character. And now we have the current situation where it's entirely possible to live in a (wealthy) neighborhood with no supermarket (let alone bodegas), no place to get dry cleaning done, no place to buy fresh flowers, no place to get shoes repaired, no place to buy a book or a newspaper or a pack of cigarettes, but a hundred different places to eat dinner or get a glass of wine. Nice!
21
New Yorkers are experiencing what small towns across American have been experiencing for the last few decades. Their downtowns have already been wiped out by the Walmarts, Lowes, CVS's, etc. And, yes, even the small town banks that served them and their neighbors with compassion and friendliness are gone. Welcome to corporate America and the new plutocracy. Bottom-line is everything.
16
The bodega is a part of the New York circulatory system, as vital as blood flow. More and more the small stores and decades old ownership is getting drowned by a flood of artificial cool. The real cool is walking into a bodega and getting a bottle of beer and drinking it in front of the place listening to the real people talk life.
4
Bodegas are grossly inefficient. They should be disappearing much faster. Only 75 out of 12000 so far this year? That's about a 1% annual rate. They should be disappearing at 5% per year.
5
I think this article is conflating what I see as two different types of places (both of which are locally-owned business serving the needs of the neighborhood):
-The local Deli: Usually pretty clean, high turnover of fresh food including cold cuts, maybe prepared foods, and pastries. They might sell groceries or other goods, but that's not the focus. These places are super busy at peak periods and packed with all sorts of people.
-The grimy corner store: Way more of these than clean-looking delis. Not enough turn over to trust that the cold cuts or other perishable food items are fresh. Fine if you need a bottle of soda or some snack foods, but sandwiches are Eat-At-Your-Own-Risk.
There are several grimy corner store-type bodegas in my neighborhood that I wouldn't even consider going into. If I want a nice sandwich, cold cuts, or fresh produce I walk an extra block and go to the nice deli-type bogeda, produce stand, or the local Italian Deli.
-The local Deli: Usually pretty clean, high turnover of fresh food including cold cuts, maybe prepared foods, and pastries. They might sell groceries or other goods, but that's not the focus. These places are super busy at peak periods and packed with all sorts of people.
-The grimy corner store: Way more of these than clean-looking delis. Not enough turn over to trust that the cold cuts or other perishable food items are fresh. Fine if you need a bottle of soda or some snack foods, but sandwiches are Eat-At-Your-Own-Risk.
There are several grimy corner store-type bodegas in my neighborhood that I wouldn't even consider going into. If I want a nice sandwich, cold cuts, or fresh produce I walk an extra block and go to the nice deli-type bogeda, produce stand, or the local Italian Deli.
16
Street life is what separates New York from many other American "mall and car" cities. So what strikes a chord here is not so much bodegas, in an of themselves, but how they represent the larger trend of disappearing local shops. In my neighborhood, half a dozen blocks of brownstones with local shops on street level have made way for block-long high-rise apartment building with cold businesses that do not contribute to life of the street: a brokerage, a rental sales office, a bank with an empty lobby. Another block lost a local bakery to a chain clothing store, and a tchtotchke shop to a chain greeting card store. Local coffee shops where families raised their kids, where packages were held, dry-cleaning was held, spare keys were held . . . are now being driven out by banks. There's a bank on nearly every corner in my neighborhood, and there is usually only one or two people in the lobby. DEAD streets. I used to shop in NYC for amazing and unique things to take home as gifts; now I just wait and shop at the same store there. No point in dragging something on the plane that I can get half a mile from my parents' home. I shop very little in NYC now. I don't have to buy food at the chain restaurants, and I avoid every other chain as much as possible.
8
Wait a bit and you'll be reading articles about how Key Foods and Duane Read stores are suffering because Wegmans arrived in Brooklyn. If someone does it better, other businesses either evolve or vanish, as they should.
8
No, native New Yorker (born and raised here) ever says, "We need another chain store in this neighborhood."
12
What will happen to the bodega cats????
48
Hopefully nice people will take some of them home. I always make a point of shopping at delis with cats and I always let the deli owners know that's why I go to their deli vs another one.
Yeah, who need small stores (usually run by real people, who often live above the store) selling gratuities like bread, milk, (cheap) iced coffee, and veggies, when you can patronize another mass-chain like Starbucks, the newest Verizon cell phone shop, or new nail salon? They all sell food after 11 pm too, right?
6
Bodegas? Aren't they the local stores that failed to stock healthy fresh foods, now carried by the new large stores? Perhaps the consumers have gotten wiser. First we hear about food deserts, now we are supposed to feel badly because these little businesses cannot thrive. Is there anything that the Times editors will not wring their hands over?
11
Yeah we don't need neighborhood small businesses. We want chain stores like every other city in the USA.
It would have been very helpful if the journalist had provided some information on what these shops pay for rent each month.
4
The enemy in lower Manhattan seems to be the landlords who can and will charge whatever they want when commercial leases come due. Bodegas and other "mom & pop" shops that gave NYC its character are long gone.
It's now so expensive that even the big chains are moving out -- real estate karma.
It's now so expensive that even the big chains are moving out -- real estate karma.
7
This angers me. Whenever a major chain wants to move in, threatening the livelihoods of small business owners, the chains always claim that they can survive in the same economic ecosystem. This is simply not true and it's proven time and time again.
Jersey City implemented an ordinance limiting the percentages of businesses that are part of a chain. That could be a good start for NYC.
Jersey City implemented an ordinance limiting the percentages of businesses that are part of a chain. That could be a good start for NYC.
8
@numb9rs. In the central New Jersey community in which I lived in the mid-80's, there were three independent video rental establishments--all owned by local residents and each with offerings of both popular and esoteric genres. The Pathmark food chain store started renting videos for $.99. Within one year all of the indies were gone. So, Pathmark raised the price of video rental now that there was no competition? No, Pathmark didn't raise the price of rental; they stopped renting videos. Can anyone tell me, what purpose was served by this corporate "marketing' strategy"?
2
Bodegas are and should be mementoes of the past. Growing up in the Bronx in the 60s and 70s, I recall bodegas as tiny crowded places that smelled of feet, had slow-moving and overpriced inventory, outdated meat and dairy, etc. Gross. Not to mention you couldn't even get in the places what with the domino tables stationed at the door. In some neighborhoods, bodegas were the only game in town and people without cars or who didn't want to take public transportation for groceries were stuck. After Daitch and the A&P left the neighborhood, my mother drove to Pathmark in upper Manhattan or Waldbaum's in Riverdale to shop for groceries.
I have not lived in New York in decades but I was happy to read that more grocery chains were coming to the city so people had choices of places to buy healthy nutritious food instead of being at the mercy of bodegas and other low-quality food stores.
I have not lived in New York in decades but I was happy to read that more grocery chains were coming to the city so people had choices of places to buy healthy nutritious food instead of being at the mercy of bodegas and other low-quality food stores.
18
You haven't lived in NYC for decades, and your memories are from the worst of the worst. This isn't about the decline of just the worst, neglected bodegas -- this is about mom & pop corner stores of all kinds being taken down. You have no relevance to this conversation.
I grew up buying at the local bodegas. Every bodega had a different feel even though they sold the same items for the most part. I still purchase from them when I have a chance... soon they will be a memory.
4
We have many bodegas also in NJ; they're similar to those I grew up with in Manhattan. Many are quite good and a pleasure to visit. Unfortunately, too often they resemble Lara's Deli in the photograph: dirty, understocked, food displayed haphazardly on dusty shelves, poorly lit. I ended my patronage of one bodega which was so poorly organized and unclean I felt it was an affront to the customers and neighborhood.
7
It*s not the big chain stores that are the problem. It*s the local staff that work in them...
I am a native and now thankfully ex-Noo Yawka who gratefully escaped a place I could no longer afford to live in anyway. Up here, even in Walmart and Staples, employees behave as though those cavernous stores are the mom and pop establishments of yesteryear. It took me awhile to get used to being treated with friendly, helpful courtesy, but it feels normal now...
Bodegas were for people who had little money at a time to spend, so had to overpay for everything and take what they could get. Their main purpose was providing beer and cigarettes at all hours.
The death of real old-fashioned candy and variety stores--those places where kids of my generation got those cardboard cameras for 25 cents or three yards of button candy--is sorrowful. Bodegas not so much.
I am a native and now thankfully ex-Noo Yawka who gratefully escaped a place I could no longer afford to live in anyway. Up here, even in Walmart and Staples, employees behave as though those cavernous stores are the mom and pop establishments of yesteryear. It took me awhile to get used to being treated with friendly, helpful courtesy, but it feels normal now...
Bodegas were for people who had little money at a time to spend, so had to overpay for everything and take what they could get. Their main purpose was providing beer and cigarettes at all hours.
The death of real old-fashioned candy and variety stores--those places where kids of my generation got those cardboard cameras for 25 cents or three yards of button candy--is sorrowful. Bodegas not so much.
10
A "bodega" is a small, neighborhood store that stocks a large proportion of Spanish or Latino-themed goods. Other establishments are "convenience stores" or "local delis".
5
Not only bodegas but Korean shops have disappeared in the Lower East Side/Alphabet City area. Loved shopping at both them when emergencies occurred(batteries, candles, milk). Remember hurricane Sandy! Well bodegas were open after the storm and supplied my basic needs. Chain stores were closed. Will forever miss them both! Extremely high rents is to blame.
18
This comments section is my everything right now! God, I miss New York!
9
All part of the progressive vision. Who needs those small businesses anyway?
1
I moved away from the NYC area five years ago and have yet to miss it. The last time I was there - two years ago? - I had so much trouble finding a basic bialy in Manhattan that I knew it would soon trend to be "anytown usa". Too expensive, too much hassle in general. The demise of the bodega follows the demise of the used-furniture, art, lamp, and independent clothing boutique stores and diners. That old soul is gone.
11
Can we take a moment to talk about Key Food instead of Duane Reade? Key Food and the Met Supermarket are the only two "grocery" stores available in my neighborhood--sure, they're chain supermarkets, and their non-perishable items are cheaper than going downstairs to the bodega, but their produce? Gross! It's almost always half rotten by the time it gets to these stores--at least I can count on my bodega to have fresh apples and bananas (and Boar's Head deli meat, if we deign to go there) instead of the mush Key Food attempts to pass off as produce.
27
Years ago my local tiny grocery store in the West Bronx was replaced by a bodega. I understood the need ... the demographics changed enough that the new community could use a store catering to their tastes. But bubble-gum-flavored Good-o cola (made Coke taste like zero water), expired milk, and canned biscuits that were so old gray dough popped out had me traveling blocks away to the larger chain.
14
A Good-o-cola and a bag of plaintain chips were once my go-to snack. I happened to see a bottle of Good-o here in DC a while back and purchased it for old time's sake. The super sugary taste of that drink nearly knocked me off my feet. What was I thinking back then?
New York City killed my small business too. $50,000 in fines for not having my business license number on every page of contracts. Even though my license number was so plain as day on the first page of all my paperwork! That absurd, enormous fine destroyed my livelihood and all of the jobs I created.
Want to invest in a small business? Run from NYC.
Want to invest in a small business? Run from NYC.
6
"Chain grocery stores like Key Food are helping to push bodegas out of business."
Aren't the customers having a say in this?
Aren't the customers having a say in this?
10
I was asked by my pastor, the leader of a prominent NYC congregation, to assist the members of a visiting choir who wanted to "eat some real Italian food." I contacted several restaurants in Little Italy who were most happy to put together tasting menus for my group. I wrote, and had copied for distribution to the group, descriptions of the various dishes we would be sampling, their origins, and how they came to America, along with brief biographies of the proprietors--all of whom we were would be meeting--of the restaurants that we were going to visit. I asked if there were any questions before we set off. There was only one: "When do we go to Olive Garden? NYC as a prime tourist destination because chain enterprises proliferate--sad, sad, day.
16
It's really sad that out of town visitors can't find something to eat on their own, and have to be shepherded around like that. When I visit someplace new, I do research and enjoy the local culture. I don't understand adults who can't take care of themselves.
@ Scottilla. I don't understand the "herd mentality" either and would only take a "guided tour" if there were language and security issues. So far, my only trip that was not a solo sojourn was to Mongolia.
2
While I think it is ridiculous that people are calling for rent control of small businesses, because that is a terrible market distortion, I would like to remind New Yorkers and residents of New York that the burden of protecting small businesses lies on your shoulders. It is your obligation not to patronize Chipotle, McDonald's, and Wendy's. It is especially important that you not purchase things at 7-11. If you can buy drugs and other goods at a local pharmacy. Again, I believe in capitalism, but I also believe that we are the invisible hand. If you patronize chain locations, then you effectively have no right to complain about New York not being "as cool" or "authentic" as it was in the past.
73
She's right guys. It's a 2-way street. Rent control only takes away people incentive to invest in a property because they know ahead of time that their potential for income is pre-determined. By the way, Gov Patterson has a rent stabilized apt & Congressman Rangel has 3. So who is it helping? :)
I agree and never ever set foot in a 7-11. But I also do believe that small business deserve some protection from over-the-top rent increases. I don't want to live in the suburbs, and I don't want the suburbs coming to me either.
For years we have been hearing about "food desserts" and the lack of good quality fresh foods in neighborhoods like Harlem, Inwood, Washington Heights etc. And we have also been told that bodegas were usually high priced, with low quality foods and eyesores. Well maybe, just maybe this is a GOOD sign.
27
I for one, will not miss them. They had a time and place and today's world doesn't need overpriced, under-stocked generic goods that are never rotated. I do think the issue of small businesses being priced out of neighborhoods is an important related, but separate issue that can be discussed elsewhere.
For now, all I can say is that these bastions of dusty shelves and moldy smells have been on the ropes for years. Time to let them go.
For now, all I can say is that these bastions of dusty shelves and moldy smells have been on the ropes for years. Time to let them go.
16
Shopping preferences are changing, but another powerful driving force is real estate financing because property owners can increase the leveraging of their properties if they have high credit stores (=national or global chains) as tenants. It may also be related to post-crisis banking regulation because home mortgages are harder to make and banks may be looking to mixed-use buildings where guaranteed leases can move part of the loan amount out of the liability column.
6
Even small commercial landlords prefer chains because they pay the rent on time no matter what.
From the early 1990s to the mid-2000s I lived in the East Village and bought items like beer, ice cream, and chips at nearby bodegas. Their prices were very high then, and even more so now. When the Whole Foods store opened on Houston St., you could buy those items for less at Whole Foods than at my local bodegas. Yes, LESS at a Whole Foods!
I'm thrilled to see national chains like Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Target, and others moving to NYC. Prior to their arrival options for food shopping weren't great, whether corner bodegas, or the similarly cramped, over-priced, local chain grocery stores like Key Food.
With these new stores, consumers now have a middle class shopping option that wasn't available before. In the bad old days you either shopped at a bodega or Key Food or at a Jefferson Market or Balducci's -- No middle ground.
I'm thrilled to see national chains like Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Target, and others moving to NYC. Prior to their arrival options for food shopping weren't great, whether corner bodegas, or the similarly cramped, over-priced, local chain grocery stores like Key Food.
With these new stores, consumers now have a middle class shopping option that wasn't available before. In the bad old days you either shopped at a bodega or Key Food or at a Jefferson Market or Balducci's -- No middle ground.
12
I hate to break this news to all of you but small groceries have been fading away in NYC since after WW2. My grandfather had a small Italian grocery/sandwich store near the navy yard in Fort Greene in the 1930s through 1950s. During the WW2 years he did quite well as many defense workers stopped by for a nice Italian sandwich. By 1959 the larger chain groceries had cut into his business, even selling Italian products more cheaply than he ever could. He closed the store. Also by 1959 that neighborhood had become dangerous, but that's another story.
12
What's the difference between a deli and a bodega?
A bodega has a cat.
A bodega has a cat.
10
where have all the eggcreams gone?
3
Rock singer Jonathan Richman in the 1970s wrote a wonderful, bittersweet paean to the disappearing corner store, entitled "Corner Store".
It encapsulates in song the comments many express here:e.g. "I spot a trend that has got to stop; I want them to put back that corner store."
Well worth a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5lq_FIjbOo
It encapsulates in song the comments many express here:e.g. "I spot a trend that has got to stop; I want them to put back that corner store."
Well worth a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5lq_FIjbOo
5
The city needs to adopt rent controls for small businesses.
6
Hey, thats called corporate America. We, including our government, are owned by corps that get bigger and bigger here. Remember, only rich people get richer in this country. You can't run a business and compete with them. Opportunities are gone in this country.
8
If the type of Bodegas describe in the above article, are to survive they must simply give the customer what they crave for great service and quality!For a lot of folk,that trumps big chain names.
2
Some months ago the NYT published a piece on coconut water, one of the new category of products that generates millions of dollars. Others are bottled teas, flavored waters, energy drinks and so on. Did you know that they all get invented in NYC? You know why? Because of bodegas. Inventors can convince a bodega owner to stock his or her product, and slowly grow. Inventors of new products cannot get a meeting with the buyer at a large chain, and -at first - they would not be able to provide the large quantities the chain would buy anyway. So bodegas create an auspicious environment for innovation and start-ups. In economic terms, thats a positive externality - a lot,of money - that bodega owners create for the city and the country that they do not keep. Some form of legal protection or even a subsidy to keep them in place would be appropriate.
7
"Landlords" are not longer Mr. Roper. Financial capital owns New York real estate. They want a return on their money, so rents go up and into their investment portfolios. This is why neighborhoods have become one bank and chain store after another. It has nothing to do with serving the needs of the neighborhood, yet everything to do with serving the greed of a few pockets.
New York, like San Francisco, should pass a city ordinance limiting the number of chain stores to keep the city from looking like a strip mall. I want to live in New York, not Ohio.
New York, like San Francisco, should pass a city ordinance limiting the number of chain stores to keep the city from looking like a strip mall. I want to live in New York, not Ohio.
14
If no one is shopping at them they will close. Maybe more people in NY like them.
3
I suppose only off-brand banks with few visible customers are the only enterprises that can afford the rents. At least that's how it works in the East Village. Very choice locations along Second Avenue sport bank branches of banks we never heard of ten years ago. And well-known New York banks are closing on Avenue A and another one on St Marks and 2nd Avenue. What's the deal?
8
I can't figure it out either. On a commercial stretch of Amboy Road stand-alone Chase, TD Bank, and Bank of America branches have opened up - pretty much right next to one another. I didn't know we Staten Islanders were that rich.
1
The article states that "According to a report from the Real Estate Board
of New York the average commercial rent in Manhattan rose 34 percent from 2004-2014." Yeah right. Try rents doubled. tripled and quadrupled. Why else would successful businesses close their doors? NYC independent small businesses are "dead men walking" waiting for their current lease term to expire. Meanwhile the City Council band plays on. Who's their daddy?
of New York the average commercial rent in Manhattan rose 34 percent from 2004-2014." Yeah right. Try rents doubled. tripled and quadrupled. Why else would successful businesses close their doors? NYC independent small businesses are "dead men walking" waiting for their current lease term to expire. Meanwhile the City Council band plays on. Who's their daddy?
7
“To generate exuberant diversity in a city's streets and districts four conditions are indispensable:
1. The district, and indeed as many of its internal parts as possible, must serve more than one primary function; preferably more than two...
2. Most blocks must be short; that is, streets and opportunities to turn corners must be frequent.
3. The district must mingle buildings that vary in age and condition, including a good proportion of old ones so that they vary in the economic yield they must produce. This mingling must be fairly close-grained.
4. There must be a sufficiently dense concentration of people, for whatever purposes they may be there...”
― Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities
1. The district, and indeed as many of its internal parts as possible, must serve more than one primary function; preferably more than two...
2. Most blocks must be short; that is, streets and opportunities to turn corners must be frequent.
3. The district must mingle buildings that vary in age and condition, including a good proportion of old ones so that they vary in the economic yield they must produce. This mingling must be fairly close-grained.
4. There must be a sufficiently dense concentration of people, for whatever purposes they may be there...”
― Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities
10
Well if Jane Jacobs said it then it must be true forever.
Bodegas may be expensive, grimy, and cramped, but they're often the only place open at 3 a.m. How many of us have wonderful, drunken memories of stopping at a bodega for greasy egg sandwiches or rock-hard bagels or stale donuts after a night out? It's practically a rite of passage for 20-somethings in New York. The less-than-pristine conditions of these stores only added to the charm of the stories we told of our nocturnal adventures.
13
For better or for worse, most Duane Reade stores are now open 24 hours. The one in my apartment building certainly is.
Will they make you a fried egg sandwich?
When you put layer after layer after layer of additional regulations, paid sick leave, etc (which small businesses are usually the least able to absorb) you get fewer small businesses. Mayor Bill and City Council Leader Mark-Viverito can look in the mirror if they are looking for the source of this problem.
6
Did you even read the article? The problem is rising rents and competition from chain stores. Nothing you wrote has anything to do with this.
9
Funny, none of the suffering bodega owners blamed regulation. They blamed increasing rent and new competition from large chains. Their laments are based upon reality not talking points.
7
Well, when a person has an agenda it doesn't matter what the article is about.
17
Such one-sided, sentimental claptrap! You want Both sides of this issue? Read the comments! But hardly surprising from a Kennedy grandchild who has a one-dimensional POV and doesn't bother to look into all aspects of working class life and economics.
8
What is your specific objection?
It's not the bodegas specifically, it's also the candy store, the coffee shop, the barber, the dry cleaners - laundry, the tailor, the shoe repair shop, the Deli, etc.
83
@ A. Taxpayer You can thank our leaders for decimating our city with an endless push for more tourism. Brooklyn is a great late example. The Park under the bridge is built for tourists and kids, not for residents of the area. It's un-walkable most of the time and designed to entertain tourists, the High Line, Whitney Museum, as well. These things drive out services residents need in favor of another disney themed restaurant or park. The city is starting to resemble the back lot of Universal Pictures. Nothing is real, it's made for visitors. No one seems to be complaining, until they are and then it's too late.
6
"The Park under the bridge is built for tourists and kids, not for residents of the area."
The people I know who live in Brooklyn Heights like the new park very much. They sit on the benches and watch the boats go by. And now that the promenade has lost its lovely, iconic view of the Brooklyn Bridge, the new park is even more important.
As for the park's being only for tourists: I assure you that the young men playing basketball and soccer on those new playing fields are not tourists; they are Brooklynites from somewhere in the borough. As to that, why parkland with a magnificent view should be given over to young men whose eyes are strictly on the ball they are chasing is beyond me.
(I still would like to hear from Mr. Eric Adams and Mayor de Blasio as to why they did not stop construction of the enormous, illegal carbuncle that has blotted out the view of the Brooklyn Bridge. They could have, and evidently they chose not to.)
The people I know who live in Brooklyn Heights like the new park very much. They sit on the benches and watch the boats go by. And now that the promenade has lost its lovely, iconic view of the Brooklyn Bridge, the new park is even more important.
As for the park's being only for tourists: I assure you that the young men playing basketball and soccer on those new playing fields are not tourists; they are Brooklynites from somewhere in the borough. As to that, why parkland with a magnificent view should be given over to young men whose eyes are strictly on the ball they are chasing is beyond me.
(I still would like to hear from Mr. Eric Adams and Mayor de Blasio as to why they did not stop construction of the enormous, illegal carbuncle that has blotted out the view of the Brooklyn Bridge. They could have, and evidently they chose not to.)
5
@A.Taxpayer Brooklyn, NY
...and the MEMORIES!!! You're right!!!!
...and the MEMORIES!!! You're right!!!!
Looking at the bodegas in my neighborhood, I'd say good riddance! Bodegas aren't delis, we have plenty of those - Russian, Polish, Albanian, Korean, plain old American - and those I am sad to see go. Bodegas, on the other hand, are the tiny stores that sell overpriced junk food, often past the expiration date. They are not a good deal from either price or nutrition standpoint, and where I live, there are plenty of healthier and cheaper alternatives. If they do extend credit, people pay dearly for the privilege with the price mark up. No good guys here.
21
The current Bodega owners pushed out the former small shop owners. Now they are complaining they are being pushed out. What hypocrisy. Also, small store owners never pay all of their taxes. It is a simple fact. Chain stores have to pay because all of their records are computerized. The New York I knew is long gone. Its pretty funny hearing the people who destroyed it complaining that their world is being changed.
17
This genre of article is becoming ubiquitous. Small businesses, neighborhood bars and restaurants that have been around for years, classic music venues, iconic stores of every stripe . . . All struggling to cope with the "new New York" and the income inequality that pushes up rents until the struggle is finally lost . . .
I'm only 55 years old and already feel like an old hark-backer. The new generation won't remember and will soon enough take New New York for granted. I know that's the way life goes, but still think it's a shame.
I'm only 55 years old and already feel like an old hark-backer. The new generation won't remember and will soon enough take New New York for granted. I know that's the way life goes, but still think it's a shame.
44
no big deal--just open chain groceries and 7-11s---better selection, better prices and much cleaner!
4
and owned by corporations who don't need more of your hard earned money, wiping out the possibility that the "little guy" can make it.
3
I know . Let's start a government program and subsidize bodegas !!!
Please. If you know anything about the history of NYC you know it is a city in
flux . Always changing .
Please. If you know anything about the history of NYC you know it is a city in
flux . Always changing .
15
BodegaCare!
4
Is that like PetroCare? You know, where we pay massive cash hand outs to planet destroying, all time record profit making corporations. Or maybe it is like "CornCare" where we hand out generous cash hand outs to farmers simply because they don't make "enough" money from the great, almighty Free Market.
A few years ago all we heard about were urban "food deserts" where the residents had no access to decent food. The question was how to incentivize grocery stores to open their doors in these neighborhoods. Now that the stores have come, we mourn the loss of the stores that contributed to the food desert phenomenon.
20
I recall that issue was that Bodega's didn't offer the variety of fresh food that supermarkets sold. Supermarkets aren't opening up all over, it's chain drug stores, and they certainly don't offer anything close to an acceptable variety of fresh food. I was in a CVS recently, and it was bountifully stocked with microwave pizza, frozen burritos, beer and other dorm life essentials. Hardly adequate or civilized. I went in to buy a greeting card, because (of course) most of the card stores are gone, and chain drug stores are the only place to get a card. BTW, their selection was awful.
27
You must not have spent any time in NYC recently or, even, read the article. These bodegas are being pushed out by Duane Reed and Rite-Aid not grocery stores with reasonably priced fresh food. These massive chain pharmacies do not sell resonably priced fresh food so have no impact whatsoever on the "food desert phenomenon" If you are going to use a comment to wave your Faux News flag, at least, try to make it relevent to the story in some small way.
6
I read the article. I agree that Duane Reade and Walgreen's don't solve the food desert problem. But the Times' editors included the photo of Key Food and the caption "Chain grocery stores like Key Food are helping to push bodegas out of business." I've not been in a Key Food, but is it safe to presume they stock more fresh food than a pharmacy?
One of the attractive aspects of NYC to those of us who only visit there is the diversity - the people, the stores, the entertainments, the transportation, everything. The City should take care that it doesn't lose that city flavor. If you offer the same thing I can get in my hometown, I'll stay home. Maybe it would be good to offer some type of incentive to family-owned stores? Or whatever is the type of store that can't compete against the big guys. Just a thought.
25
So New Yorkers in low income communities should suffer from a lack of quality, healthy grocery options so that you can enjoy "diversity" and "grittiness" when you visit?
3
There are many fast fades to lament in New York, Bodegas aren't one on my list. They were and are mostly dirty, coats of dust on products never rotated, under stocked or not stocked with the right stuff. I never understood why someone would pay high rent and have three shelves when they could build floor to ceiling and stock well the products people really need or want. Bodegas contributed to their own demise. By contrast, Korean Delis are micro stocked with absolutely anything you need, well lighted, and yes perhaps over priced a bit and not as friendly, but one doesn't go there for cheer. I wish Whole Foods opened micro grocery shops, that would be great!
64
Whole foods is simply an upscale version of the other chain grocery stores. They do have very nice EXPENSIVE things they sell. My coffee, bagel and good conversation with my friends cost a whopping $1.50. In Whole Foods you have $3+ coffee which you serve yourself (talk about unsanitary, oy!); also people in their own little worlds; tapping away on their laptops and iPads, buying overpriced meals (again, very unsanitary "buffett style" serve yourself meals} and their sometimes strange employees. I'll take my chances in my bodega. It happens to have no cats, is extremely clean and freshly stocked. Best of all, it's a friendly place, with nice people; both the two or three employees and most customers, MCS.
They will shortly and it will be great for you and those of your ilk; wealthy enough even live in the city anymore and even think about shopping at whole foods.
It wouldn't hurt to have a little cheer when perusing a Korean Deli...
To all those who could care less about the demise of the bodega: try getting a good bacon egg and cheese on a roll at your local Duane Reade. Oy vey!
130
I can get a salad or yogurt at the local Korean market -- healthier. Try oatmeal.
I wouldn't! But thankfully you can still get great egg sandwiches from street vendors, along with $1 coffee! And these folks are the friendliest of all.
1
If you say "Oy vey" you should skip the bacon on your sandwich.
I am truly sad this is happening. One of my favorite things about Manhattan (and help define it) are bodegas. Just 20 minutes ago I went to the bodega across the street from my apartment. I bought a bagel and coffee, spoke with 2 or 3 friends about a book I love, and listened to one friend talk about a situation he had (which we offered him help to resolve). I left after a few minutes. I had shared something, learned something and felt much better about my day. Try doing all this in a Shop-rite or Duane Reade.
70
this is what I am talking about,you won't be getting this at the big box store..we moved to AZ & I hate it...no one talks to you & you have to drive everywhere not like when I grew up in the city..you went to the mom & pop stores mingle with people from all walks of life,never a boring day out here it is like you see no one & they don't see you.....very lonely way of life.
It isn't just the bodegas, it's all the small shops of all different kinds which are disappearing from the landscape. I grew up in the East Village, gone are most of the butchers, bakers, fishmongers, delicatessens and specialty shops which represented the ethnic mosaic of the community, and with them most of the bodegas. In their place are Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, Duane-Reade, CVS - literally next door to each other - nail salons and banks.
The flavor of the City is being diluted, welcome to the Malling of New York!
The flavor of the City is being diluted, welcome to the Malling of New York!
173
Is it the Landlords or the Building Management companies that are causing the trouble with the seemingly reckless and lawless practices with this overwhelming problem in New York City? Thank God I don't have a Commercial business with no limit on rent increases but the Brownton Management company told my superintendent that there would be no major repairs made in my apartment because I've lived here too long and don't pay enough rent.
5
NY Times should do a little research. Just look at developers/management companies like Donald Capoccia & L&M Development. The landlord, L&M Development Partners, recently kicked out of one of their buildings Esse bagel. When the local blogger and reporters reached out to Ron Moelis (note: he created his own affordable housing school at NYU) there was no return phone calls from L&M and the only response was from their retail LLC. Now, if you look at L&M and that they are a large donor to Cuomo, and see they have recently donated money to the state assembly's housing chair for his run for Congress. Also, look at L&M's portfolio and you will see no local businesses, but they seem to be trying to get their hand in everything and placing employees on local business improvement boards and merchant associations. You will find banks and chain stores. As L&M gobbles up for retail space this will continue to be a problem. The other real issue if you ask any staffers at NYCEDC, or NYC Small Business services when it comes to their outreach to helping small businesses (yes this includes Bodegas) the staffers have no clue and are none responsive.
1
This has been going on in suburbia for decades. It's only more recently I've seen it hitting the urban centers, really.
1
Manhattan is going the way of San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Malibu and Aspen, Colorado. The cost of living inflates because small retail businesses must pass their operational costs -- rent and insurance being the largest -- to customers or go out of business while regressive taxes grow apace to make up for the reduction in revenue caused by sales volume contraction. We're starting to see that vicious cycle in Chicago, bankrupt in all but name. Cook County retail sales tax rates that are already the highest in the United States are about to be raised again, even as retail businesses flee. The city's answer to the inevitable budget shortfall? Raise taxes further.
Ultimately, Manhattan will lose its unique cosmopolitan character, the very thing that makes it attractive, while it becomes even more unaffordable with every passing day for everyone but the very rich, like Aspen, Beverly Hills, Malibu, and San Francisco.
Ultimately, Manhattan will lose its unique cosmopolitan character, the very thing that makes it attractive, while it becomes even more unaffordable with every passing day for everyone but the very rich, like Aspen, Beverly Hills, Malibu, and San Francisco.
8
you mention malibu. it is a circus up the coast from where i live. i mecca of overpriced clothing, jewelry and lifestyle stores whose only customers are the very wealthy locals who live on or near the beach. the old time-y malibu denizens have to all the way to the valley to shop for reasonably priced items.
1
I live at 173rd and Audubon, and my street has many excellent small bodegas: I can get a non-commercial grade chicken "pollo vivero" for $6.25 which downtown they call "organic free range chicken" and charge $14! Many vegetables and fruits, such as root vegetables like name and yucca, are grown without pesticides, or minimal spraying, and the fruits are extraordinary: avocados, guava, papaya, pineapple that is extraordinarily flavorful. Summertime in this neighborhood is a Caribbean delight, with the fruit and juice vendors lining the streets. Because it is an island culture summer is a particularly festive time here.
I shudder to think what they are going to do to this final outpost of reality in the coming years.
I shudder to think what they are going to do to this final outpost of reality in the coming years.
9
The new NYTimes, all touchy-feely, with few facts. How about some price comparisons, Ms. Reporter, and doing a bit of research, such as about the anti-chain store movement of the 1920's and 1930's?
On other pages of the Times are articles hailing the rise of private enterprise stores and other businesses in Cuba. If that's a good thing for Havana, why not also in New York?
My daughter would just to have an evil big chain grocery tore in her neighborhood in Brooklyn.
On other pages of the Times are articles hailing the rise of private enterprise stores and other businesses in Cuba. If that's a good thing for Havana, why not also in New York?
My daughter would just to have an evil big chain grocery tore in her neighborhood in Brooklyn.
6
The city needs half as many anyway! They sell 95% junk at truly disgusting markups, yet claim to be providing a 'badly needed service.' Nuts! Take a bus or a cab or even WALK to a real store, pay a fair price and walk/wheel you haul it home. The idea that one must 'shop,' daily is nuts, even in The City. Why not 'shop' ONE day per week, Cook At Home and stop buying Deli foods. I think most NYC residents ARE Nuts!
7
You show Keyfoods as being a culprit in driving out Bodegas. I say welcome to the nab because if you attract a Keyfood, you will now have fresh meats, fish and vegetables in addition to all the basics not available in Bodegas. Look Bodegas in their purest forms were a small corner store off the avenue to serve the immediate population with milk, juice breads and cigarettes - a combination candy store and convenience store usually owned by Hispanics serving Hispanics. However many if not most Bodegas become a social meeting place for the unemployed, drug dealers and gangs outside the stores. The stores typically became fronts for unsavory individuals, sold milk and other staples are much high prices and frequently see plenty of violence. There is no notion of anything romantic about Bodegas, their time has come to disappear for good from the main avenues and streets of the poor for whom they gouge.
14
I have a Bodega in my building and I WISH it would close. Drugs dealt in front in plain sight, disrespectful men and over priced items. Since when is it smart to lament the loss of a place that price-gouged it's customer base? Maybe a little less convenience and those decent customers will learn how to manage their money and pay for items at better prices? So long lousy Bodegas and Deli's.
3
I have to agree, I'm shocked Key Food is mentioned as if they are some kind of interloper, they have been a NYC Supermarket as long as I can remember, going back to the 1960s.
In the East Village it was not uncommon to have two, or three supermarkets in the vicinity of several different delis and bodegas. I remember when there was a Key Food and Red Apple supermarkets on 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B and a Pioneer Supermarket on 13th Street and Avenue B, and scattered between them was a Jewish Deli, an Irish Deli and 2 bodegas. Furthermore, a Supermarket is truly needed in every neighborhood for the vast amount of food bodegas and delis don't carry, specifically fresh produce.
The niche' of the deli/bodega was traditionally for the ready to eat food, freshly made sandwiches etc. and "after-hours" purchases when the supermarket was closed.
In the East Village it was not uncommon to have two, or three supermarkets in the vicinity of several different delis and bodegas. I remember when there was a Key Food and Red Apple supermarkets on 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B and a Pioneer Supermarket on 13th Street and Avenue B, and scattered between them was a Jewish Deli, an Irish Deli and 2 bodegas. Furthermore, a Supermarket is truly needed in every neighborhood for the vast amount of food bodegas and delis don't carry, specifically fresh produce.
The niche' of the deli/bodega was traditionally for the ready to eat food, freshly made sandwiches etc. and "after-hours" purchases when the supermarket was closed.
The neighborhood is changing. The new people are moving in. Business is too slow for the bodegas to make a go of it. Those of a certain age will remember when the tide moved the other way...when peaceful lower middle class neighborhoods changed into crime-ridden slums and what local business remained was protected with iron gates.
11
A transplant to Hamilton Heights nearly ten years ago from the upper west side--which became 'anytown' with the ubiquity of Starbucks and banks--I felt at home amongst its corner markets and independently owned restaurants. It's with sadness that I watch what seems to have become the inevitable 'manhattanification' of this neighborhood, announced by a sprouting of banks on every corner. Next up: Starbucks, and the closing of the small businesses that brought this neighborhood the warmth and humanity missing from so many other Manhattan enclaves.
14
As a native New Yorker I really have no nostalgic tie to the Bodegas. Back in the day they served a need. Back in the day when big chains avoided these neighborhoods like the plague the bodegas was the neighborhood's Stop and Shop. Living in the city most people were forced to shop locally for most people didn't own a car. If you were one of the lucky ones who owned a car you would lose your parking spot if you made a milk run to the not so local supermarket. You understood that the owner of the Bodegas had to charge more for his goods just to stay above water. When big chains made attempts to open up in these areas the Bodegas owners fought them tooth and nail. Now that the demographics have changed and the new people in the neighborhood require you to sell fresh food and not overcharge them you have to close shop? To the good owners who didn’t sell old meat, beer and cigarettes to minors and did their best to serve the neighborhood I wish you the best of luck. To the stiffs who exploited the poor people who couldn’t afford to go anywhere else I say Que Sera, Sera.
97
Just try to buy a quart of milk or a loaf of bread after 11 pm from one of your beloved 'big chain' stores! Or a light on on a dark street in the middle of the night...
1
I really don't think I said I love the big chain stores. Your point is well taken but maybe you could try shopping a little earlier. Some of the stores were beneficial to the community and some were not. Does being the last gas station open give the owner the right exploit people needing gas? I have been to some where the date stamps on the meat was removed. I have been to some where it wasn’t.
2
So many Duane Reads etc are open 24 hours. What are you talking about?
2
NY's sentimentality over bodegas disturbs this 15-year resident. Bodegas don't pay good wages, are frequently filthy and expensive, and some are probably drug fronts. If they were more concerned with their neighborhood, they would not sell lottery tickets or sour milk. What's wrong with an efficient chain store that is clean and stocks a variety of items, that are not past expiration date? Cities are supposed to be exciting places with the best retail experience and greatest variety of goods, but shopping in NY is inferior to suburban malls and supermarkets. Food shopping in NY is a miserable experience for the average worker. I miss Safeway and Wegmans.
97
I partially agree with your statements, but it's hard to make generalizations about anything in New York. ON the one hand, I remember buying some beverage at a midtown deli that turned out to have mold. But on the other hand, I have shopped at a couple of wonderful natural food stores in Greenwich Village (one on West 13 St., the other on 6th Ave.). I was just lucky enough to be in the neighborhood.
Dear Landless,
I bet the Safeways and Wegman's miss you too. Maybe you should consider returning to them and the flavorless suburb whence you came.
I bet the Safeways and Wegman's miss you too. Maybe you should consider returning to them and the flavorless suburb whence you came.
17
Hear, hear! Totally agree.
I'm not a native New Yorker, but I've sought to integrate into the community where I live, and I'm sad to see everything that makes this city the amazing place it is paved over and erased to make way for mostly wealthy, WASPy transplanted yuppies and hipsters. It's little wonder that Taylor Swift - a rich girl from Pennsylvania who barged in, bought an expensive apartment and wrote an anthem as authentically New York as "Sex in the City" - was chosen to represent this place.
62
Awful! from a man with a u-haul who came to the City yesterday from the Hudson Valley. He did not know New York had changed so much since his last visit.
A contractor, he is having a hard time making ends meet, and although his work is professional and responsible, he is facing an increasingly competitive job market. He has always liked to explore the streets on visits with his young family, and what he saw mid-town Manhattan gave him an unpleasant jolt.
'Crumbling infrastructure' was one comment here, adding 'wait until you see from the roof-top of this small building, the extraordinary amount of sky-scrapers that are being built, the cranes on Second Avenue, the traffic, a booming population', one small tremor from Mother Nature, and my voice trailed off.
In moving to East mid-town in the 90s, there were shops and sites that gave character and flavor to each and every neighborhood. Nevermore, these merchants have closed their business, and the huge empty banks, the large convenience stores have long taken over. Walking through Central Park recently, this New York born native saw a vision of our City in 2020.
Hard on those who knew it as a community, turn into Gotham out of 'Superman', let dwellers of all ages learn to treat each other with more respect, while accepting that it remains a wonder for some of our young ones, and a large commercial convenience living place for those who can still afford it.
A contractor, he is having a hard time making ends meet, and although his work is professional and responsible, he is facing an increasingly competitive job market. He has always liked to explore the streets on visits with his young family, and what he saw mid-town Manhattan gave him an unpleasant jolt.
'Crumbling infrastructure' was one comment here, adding 'wait until you see from the roof-top of this small building, the extraordinary amount of sky-scrapers that are being built, the cranes on Second Avenue, the traffic, a booming population', one small tremor from Mother Nature, and my voice trailed off.
In moving to East mid-town in the 90s, there were shops and sites that gave character and flavor to each and every neighborhood. Nevermore, these merchants have closed their business, and the huge empty banks, the large convenience stores have long taken over. Walking through Central Park recently, this New York born native saw a vision of our City in 2020.
Hard on those who knew it as a community, turn into Gotham out of 'Superman', let dwellers of all ages learn to treat each other with more respect, while accepting that it remains a wonder for some of our young ones, and a large commercial convenience living place for those who can still afford it.
1
@AD: Thank you for saying this; I am a New York Jew, born and raised in Brooklyn (living elsewhere for many years), and I could not say it. (I did not know about Taylor Swift OMG!)
1
So now Taylor Swift is the problem. You 'barged in' before her. My grandparents 'barged in' to NYC in the 1890s.
2
New Yorkers will regret allowing greed to kill these small businesses.
32
Will? Are! What's interesting is people blame rich people moving into high rises. That's not the problem. They too are cmplaining that there's no where to buy groceries without booking a flight uptown. The problem is tourism. It's drove up commercial real estate. Greedy landlords want their dollars, so they wait with an empty space for some lousy quality expensive place that tourists love. Kills the neighborhood. I know, mine is dead.
3
Bodega owners are the last real Americans. This is troubling.
5
To me, the big loss as we switch from bodegas to chain drug stores and 7-11s is the lack of the deli. None of the chain drug stores or 7-11 will make you a sandwich. They have gross pre-packaged sandwiches that have been sitting there all day wrapped in plastic, and grosser hot prepared foods under heat lamps and rollers. My deli guy knows what I like and makes it for me fresh!
59
and the age of the meat in the Deli case?
1
Nostalgia gone awry. If bodegas are being replaced with "big bad" chains such as Key Food, etc, then good riddance to these small, smelly, cramped, rat-infested, potato chip and cigarette selling havens. Most residents will welcome stores with fresh food and maybe some healthy alternatives to the stuff sold in most bodegas.
45
Because Duane Reed and other ubiquitous chain stores do NOT sell potato chips? are you kidding me?
This kinda falls under the heading of "you don't know what you lost till it's gone" (re: Joni Mitchell).
People have plenty of options in NYC for "healthy organic" ($$$$) foods. What they won't have is CHEAP inexpensive simple options, if places like bodegas are run out of town.
This kinda falls under the heading of "you don't know what you lost till it's gone" (re: Joni Mitchell).
People have plenty of options in NYC for "healthy organic" ($$$$) foods. What they won't have is CHEAP inexpensive simple options, if places like bodegas are run out of town.
2
I don't care about the bodegas, but I am worried about what will happen to their cats.
41
@Impedimentus , Nuuk
Often, you can't have one without the other....You might want to study food chain dynamics...And somehow remember to keep humans somewhere on your scale.
Often, you can't have one without the other....You might want to study food chain dynamics...And somehow remember to keep humans somewhere on your scale.
3
Impedimentus
Having seen one cat let out of a local shop in search of a box in the street, another grow fat with treats from the patrons, perhaps we should have faith their carers will take them home, or place an ad on their door for adoption.
Two furry friends of mine, Faith and Hope, found a new place with a heart and tuna they liked, and while they are missed, they are safe from the hazards of wandering out from their shelter.
Did you ever hear the story of a trained mouser at a large convenience store at Rock Plaza leap onto the head of a shopper with a small dog under her arm? It caused quite an uproar at the time and I have never seen a Purr again work at one of these large stores.
Having seen one cat let out of a local shop in search of a box in the street, another grow fat with treats from the patrons, perhaps we should have faith their carers will take them home, or place an ad on their door for adoption.
Two furry friends of mine, Faith and Hope, found a new place with a heart and tuna they liked, and while they are missed, they are safe from the hazards of wandering out from their shelter.
Did you ever hear the story of a trained mouser at a large convenience store at Rock Plaza leap onto the head of a shopper with a small dog under her arm? It caused quite an uproar at the time and I have never seen a Purr again work at one of these large stores.
1
@N. Smith, New York City
I stand corrected, I do care about the humans. Thank you for making the point. I don't care about heartless, profit-crazed corporations that are bleeding the 99% dry.
I stand corrected, I do care about the humans. Thank you for making the point. I don't care about heartless, profit-crazed corporations that are bleeding the 99% dry.
6
The reason bodegas and all sorts of mom-and-pop stores matter is that they know their customers and will go out of their way for them. I know that if I am hassled, hurt, or in need of help, the people at my local mom-and-pop stores will recognize me & help me.
Try going into Duane Reade and not having enough $$ for your purchase - they aren't going to say "hey, it's OK, just pay me the rest tomorrow" that's for sure.
Try going into Duane Reade and not having enough $$ for your purchase - they aren't going to say "hey, it's OK, just pay me the rest tomorrow" that's for sure.
64
exactly - or when your local UPS store can't spare a bit of tape (they're happy to sell you an overpriced roll of course) the bodega guys across 181st helped me without hesitation. I suppose the UPS employees were simply following corporate instructions: don't give away anything and don't let customers wrap their packages inside the store. I walked out of there feeling a little annoyed but I left the bodega with a smile.
7
@L. Not only will your Duane Reade et al retailers not give you a break if you are a few pennies short of the purchase price, the clerks treat you as if your presence is a premiere source of annoyance to them even if you have a basket full of merchandise and the wherewithal to pay for it.
4
Fair enough, @L - but why should they tell you to pay them back tomorrow when there's a Chase Bank ATM in each of these stores?
As neighborhoods change, the stores change.I don't see this as any kind of crisis.
14
@sweinst254 nyc
That is probably because you are not a native New Yorker. And you don't recognize the importance of having stores in the community, that are actually part of the community. A pity you don't recognize the loss...but hardly surprising.
That is probably because you are not a native New Yorker. And you don't recognize the importance of having stores in the community, that are actually part of the community. A pity you don't recognize the loss...but hardly surprising.
68
I've lived in the city since 1976, but you're right, I wasn't born here. My bad.
6
It is a severe crisis for those who have been running a family business in NYC for over a decade and more, and this article by Tatiana Schlossberg is not only about bodegas, but the bodies who run them. The local green grocers is disappearing, and only the ones considered 'the best neighborhood shops' by those with rich pockets, will continue to flourish.
6
A Duane Reade, with 5,000 sqf of space employs 4 people, two of whom are usually invisible and the other two would rather be anywhere else on Earth. Each of the thousands of bodegas employ at least 2 people and the owners have a stake in the community. They might even say hello, instead of acting as if they'd never seen you before, although they've rung you up every day straight for a year.
150
You're absolutely right. Many Rite Aids and Duane Reades don't even employ cashiers; instead they use self-checkout machines. Not only are these machines inconvenient, in my opinion, but more importantly they take away a potential source of jobs. Sad.
7
EXACTLY!
2
This is why they are unprofitable and have to close up shop.
2
Sorry - the closing of a run-of-the-mill bodega is hardly a loss to any neighborhood. There are too many, all undifferentiated, and frankly many of them are dirty, disgusting, and definitely unkempt contributing to a continued sense of blight on neighborhoods! Maybe those that change with the times, modernize into clean stores that offer things not found down the block or even right next door and for the current residents, and show respect to the neighbors and neighborhood by maintaining their premises will survive - and they should. Add to this that many bodegas break the law by selling single cigarettes, and some are even fronts for drugs and money laundering - I will gladly stand across the street with a wide smile waving them all goodbye.
42
Please don't come to my neighborhood!
40
Yes - Hispanic owners. Surely evidence that drugs and other nefarious activities are going on. But don't worry - a nice lily-white corporate owned chain store will be coming soon so you can feel like you're back at home from whatever suburbia you came from.
4
The truth is bodegas are being out-competed by higher quality and lower prices at grocery stores and, yes, Duane Reade. The larger companies can invest in better inventory management and bulk purchasing, which brings cheaper, fresher foods.
Corner delis are increasingly focusing on liquor and junk food. And this lifetime New Yorker can only have his heart strings tugged so far for stores that charge high prices for bad food in predominantly poor neighborhoods.
Even less-perishables cost more at bodegas. My corner deli charges $1.00 more than at a Duane Reade for a can of soup. And $1.75 more than at the grocery store. These numbers matter, and this trend has little to do with rent (unless you want to get into the onerous commercial rent tax in Manhattan).
Corner delis are increasingly focusing on liquor and junk food. And this lifetime New Yorker can only have his heart strings tugged so far for stores that charge high prices for bad food in predominantly poor neighborhoods.
Even less-perishables cost more at bodegas. My corner deli charges $1.00 more than at a Duane Reade for a can of soup. And $1.75 more than at the grocery store. These numbers matter, and this trend has little to do with rent (unless you want to get into the onerous commercial rent tax in Manhattan).
38
@SS: It will be a cold day in hell before I purchase & consume a pre-made sandwich at Duane Reade.
71
Fresh food at Duane Reade????
4
It is not only NYC or other urban areas.
Here in semi-rural Maine the local corner store (bodega) is also disappearing.
Want a six-pack? Loaf of bread? Weekly newspaper? A chat with the owner-neighbor? Local gossip? A good sandwich made with local produce and meats? A decent pizza (not NY style!)? Stop by.
But every year there are few and fewer and a little of the quality of life disappears with them.
Here in semi-rural Maine the local corner store (bodega) is also disappearing.
Want a six-pack? Loaf of bread? Weekly newspaper? A chat with the owner-neighbor? Local gossip? A good sandwich made with local produce and meats? A decent pizza (not NY style!)? Stop by.
But every year there are few and fewer and a little of the quality of life disappears with them.
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Fred, the little delis in Maine that are disappearing are nothing like bodegas. I've gone to your delis in Maine, and I know.
In Brooklyn we have delis too -- but we also have more twenty-four hour bodegas than we can handle, sometimes one on every block. At least some of them are drug hangouts and others launder money. You never see plain old people going in. Once in a while they're legitimate -- Pakistani cab drivers go in at 2AM for sandwiches, no doubt.
On occasion, these bodegas have murders right outside their doors. Sometimes twice in one month.
In Brooklyn we have delis too -- but we also have more twenty-four hour bodegas than we can handle, sometimes one on every block. At least some of them are drug hangouts and others launder money. You never see plain old people going in. Once in a while they're legitimate -- Pakistani cab drivers go in at 2AM for sandwiches, no doubt.
On occasion, these bodegas have murders right outside their doors. Sometimes twice in one month.
15
My comment in reply to yours has disappeared. Could someone have taken offense to my saying that your delis in rural Maine are nothing like a bodega?
Perhaps someone did not like my suggestion that when you have a 24-hour bodega every one or two blocks in Brooklyn, at least a few of them can't be legitimate. How many cabdrivers can be stopping by for a sandwich at 2AM? And since I have never seen anyone go into the bodega two corners away from where I live except the guys who hang out there all day, and not many of those actually go in, I don't see how they survive.
What I do know is that we've had two murders in front of the same bodega in the space of one month. Someone knows something.
Perhaps someone did not like my suggestion that when you have a 24-hour bodega every one or two blocks in Brooklyn, at least a few of them can't be legitimate. How many cabdrivers can be stopping by for a sandwich at 2AM? And since I have never seen anyone go into the bodega two corners away from where I live except the guys who hang out there all day, and not many of those actually go in, I don't see how they survive.
What I do know is that we've had two murders in front of the same bodega in the space of one month. Someone knows something.
2
The small businesses have disappeared from the suburbs too. The chain stores push them out, landlords raise the rent too high, people find that the big box stores are cheaper on many items. What they don't always realize is that the small businesses, if they are well run, offer some nice personal touches the big box stores don't. When I walk into this small shop in my village that sells what we used to call "curiosities" I'm welcomed. I'm asked if there's anything specific I'm interested in. If I say no, I'm left alone to look. There's another small corner deli that I like. It's like a bodega. The staff is very nice. They try to keep the prices low. Unfortunately the rent keeps increasing. We're becoming a homogenization nation: no more small stores with surprise treasures or personalities. It's too bad especially since these stores are quieter and more personable than the malls.
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New York is losing all of its small businesses due to greedy landlords. Pretty soon it will be no different from the suburbs and there will be little reason to live here
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Hi Kevin,
Landlords? greedy? I'm a landlord & have a bodega as a tenant. I have been offered more $ for his space & went against it because of he's a familiar site for 20yrs & does little favors for me when needed. Because the Mayor decided to give my residential tenants a 0% increase on rent but no 0% increase on property taxes & water, I can't renew his lease when it comes up again. So who is greedy?
Landlords? greedy? I'm a landlord & have a bodega as a tenant. I have been offered more $ for his space & went against it because of he's a familiar site for 20yrs & does little favors for me when needed. Because the Mayor decided to give my residential tenants a 0% increase on rent but no 0% increase on property taxes & water, I can't renew his lease when it comes up again. So who is greedy?
1
the bodegas, family-owned pharmacies, and small goods shops have all disappeared from my brooklyn neighborhood... but never fear, there are plenty of new tenants already lined up: cvs/duane reade/bank of america/citibank...
the mallification of new york city marches on...
the mallification of new york city marches on...
78
Do you have any Chuck E. Cheese franchises in your neighborhood.
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Tim, say 'Cheese' from a New Yorker who just had a plastic slice for breakfast and now considers this a luxury item. A crumpled face that can only be redressed with whiskey is to be seen at your local supermarket.
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@Tim. One sincerely hopes not.
2