Now you can sleep with her!

i wonder what she paid for it.

I don't understand. The place has been on the market for almost four months. You're acting as if it's a brand new listing....

I'm acting as if I'm bored to death with the inventory and have little to say of value (where you been?)

you know julia, I would love to know what she paid, just for shitts and giggles.
Although I have no idea, I'd bet she did very little entertaining at her home. If you work in the resturant biz all week your probably not too motivated to feed them in your home but, who knows.

I just read Elaine's is closing down. Couldn't make it without her.

I was surprised she owned the two bldgs. surrounding Elaines..she left $50k to her nephew and everything else to her manager.

Had she not owned the buildings, she would not have lasted that long. Smart woman.

that long in life, or in business?

I know of other businesses here in NYC that if it weren't for them owning the building, they also could not afford to stay in business.

"I know of other businesses here in NYC that if it weren't for them owning the building, they also could not afford to stay in business."

So You're saying it was better for them to BUY than to RENT? Especially over the long term?

Who would have thunk it?

Don't tell anyone in the rent versus buy thread, they don't enjoy logic and real-life examples.

They're just renting to themselves at a loss. BFD.

The takeaway is it's always better to buy at beginning of bubble. The stupid people also subsidize a bad restaurant business by milking the cow that shits gold nuggets.

But who needs advice, not the housesitters JD. It's a new degree from DeVry, and you graduate with a gameboy and a sleeper sofa.

Housesitters and the borkers that we'll them the homes to housesit in...... The new ivy leaguers in nyc! Step aside world reknown pianist, artist, writers, doctors, lawyers, hedge fund guys....... There's a new way to make a living in nyc.

"They're just renting to themselves at a loss"

making their actual venture basically a money losing passion project. it used to make me really sad to walk around and realize that in many ways the only reason some of the "new york" scenery was still around is the owners are either crazy or complacent or just stupid.

it's like, who's the better person? the guy who sells the building grandpa bought from the indians for 3 paperclips and a purple rhinestone and laughs all the way to the bank, heritage and roots be damned. or the stubborn nutcase who turns down perfectly legal, clean millions out of "principle"?

for once, i find myself in agreement with lucille (scary). what is the 'principle' of refusing to sell a property out of nostalgia for an uneconomic old business? if you want to be community minded sell the building and donate some of the proceeds to a worthy cause. better yet, hold onto the building and rent it to viable tenant.

Yes let's comPare today's re mkt with the Native American VS euro trash bead trade, where property rights were non existent, slavery was a form of commerce, and Lucillle forefathers earned their housesitting degrees from Cambridge. FLMAOzzzzz

Housesitters unite!

w67thstreet
2 minutes ago
stop ignoring this person
report abuse Yes let's comPare today's re mkt with the Native American VS euro trash bead trade, where property rights were non existent, slavery was a form of commerce, and Lucillle forefathers earned their housesitting degrees from Cambridge. FLMAOzzzzz

i sense you are trying to communicate some sort of response to my post, but i just don't get it.

for once, i find myself in agreement with lucille (scary).

you agreed when i redesigned you apartment, too. hows the reno going.

Just imagine the shiny condo towers + Duane Reades that could exist on the 79th - 84th stretch of Bway should the Zabars ever sell. Despite selling me whitefish salad at $7+/tub, I doubt that Zabar's would still be there if they didn't own.

I like crazy.

There are other mysterious redevelopment-eligible places around, notably the other side of Bway (79-80). Clearly not owned by its tenants. Not likely an air-rights transfer story. Wazzzzzzupppp?

Or the Sleepy's at 72nd.

A lot of landowners like to leave stuff for their descendants to redevelop. Or are waiting for an adjacent parcel to become available. Or just like running their store or restaurant and don't much care about churning property.

And I guess there are those who get sucked into deals with developers that suffer from bad timing vs. the economic cycle, and they're left with a mess on their hands. And others who prefer to avoid such scenarios.

nyc10023, do the Zabar's own that stretch beyond their store's blockfront?

I meant the Zabar'ses

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/10/realestate/streetscapes-zabar-s-broadway-between-80th-81st-street-its-horizons-widened-it.html?pagewanted=3

This implies that they own the half-timbered bldg + the Filene's bldg + the B&N building.

Based on ACRIS, they own the Laytner's Linen building as well.

Alan: as a life-long New Yorker, if the Zabars sold off all their RE holdings, is something going to be lost (assume they all get turned into mega condo + crapola retail not that I like either Filene's or Laytner's)?

RU KIDDING?
'making their actual venture basically a money losing passion project. it used to make me really sad to walk around and realize that in many ways the only reason some of the "new york" scenery was still around is the owners are either crazy or complacent or just stupid.'

What about dedicated professionals whose life's ambition is to practice their trade of craft, make a living, serve a community, have a place to go every day...this is stupid? stupid to own commercial space, keep it long term and make a living? Do you mean if your business can't pay the max street rent but you bought years ago and comfortably operate you business your stupid?

Life is not business. Having a place to go every day where your customers appreciate you is a joyful life especially if you are engaged in your passion. Elaine was pretty damn lucky!

"making their actual venture basically a money losing passion project. it used to make me really sad to walk around and realize that in many ways the only reason ---SOME---- of the "new york" scenery was still around is the owners are either crazy or complacent or just stupid."

i said SOME! calm down, falco. you're a pillar of your community, a stand up guy, and a credit to your race. i said SOME.

Zabar's hasn't done much for me for quite a few years. Maybe their cheese specials, and fortunately they just started getting good rye bread again (not their store-baked one, which is bad), but not much else. Amazon's better for housewares, and Fairway is better for almost everything else (even though it, too, has gone downhill).

As for being replaced by chain stores, it's really a matter of closing the barn door after yet another cow has wandered off to a crowded field.

Bah humbug.

Where can I get decent whitefish salad and lox? Whitefish & lox & strong coffee get me through rain-sodden weeks.

The house bagels at Fway are tastier than Zabar's. We eat very little bread, a loaf lasts a week - sometimes I'll get one from Soutine.

an everything bagel and herring salad from Fairway 125 St.- watch the garbage move up / down the Hudson.....priceless

lucille
thank you