Whole Food on East 86th Street!

"The Food Hole ... A Money Pit"

all righty....some people like it...it's much better selection then and $ than the Eli's or Food Emporium....

i was talking a year or so ago to a manager at the Chelsea location. she said that they were very actively seeking an UES site, and that a couple of possibilities had fallen through.

i hadn't heard this rumor, but i certainly wouldn't be surprised if whole foods took advantage of the troubled commercial real estate market to snag themselves an UES spot. now you only need a trader joe's for culinary completeness (to we downtowners, the UWS people will certainly shake their heads sadly that we poor individuals don't have the privilege of having our heels and shins banged into weekly, or even daily, at Fairway).

my local Gristede's is more expensive than Whole Foods. hell, the skanky Associated is more expensive.

ooooh your right..trader joes would be great!

Fairway is the pits - I deal with the 20% surtax and shop at Citarella. I wish there was a Whole Foods closer to me - I think in time they would put Fairway out of business.

Prices at WF are great - my wife gets organic salmon for $9.99/lb at the Union Square location - almost double that uptown. My local Gristede's is way more expensive. Yeah, Fairway has better prices and comparable product, at least on the second floor, but I just can't take it there any more.

They have been talking about a WF on 86th for over 2 years now...

recycled rumor from over a year ago coming back around...

one is coming to 2/57th too -- but the building where is it going (3 year build) remains untouched. i wonder if they are slowing down plans in this market...

manhattanfox, i still think the NYC market is a great one for Whole Foods, if only because it is probably the only market where the store is competitive with current chains. they have massive purchasing power. if they can pick up some cheap location, i don't think they would halt their plans. whether they have the cash to do so, or can obtain reasonable financing in this restrictive credit environment, is another issue.

i agree that the whole foods that are planned in new construction buildings might not be seen anytime soon. but they can probably get out of those deals and start looking for other properties.

mav, last year's rumor had them in the Lucida. this one has them in a building that will have a large vacancy shortly.

whoever thinks WholeFoods will put Fairway out of business is clueless. Fairway just raised $150M from Sterling and opened up a new location in Paramus. Fairway probably makes the most $ per square foot than any food retailer in the city. Although I agree the UWS location is way way too congested and makes for a stressful shopping experience, there are too many Fairway loyalists.

i had heard the whole foods on 86th St. as a possibility from my doorman close by but never heard it confirmed...would love it if so...we order fresh direct all the time, but i miss the in store shopping experience

Check their website. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/newstores.php#NY
Once the store is first announced here it is usually 12-24 months until the store opens. WFMI is reducing store openings drastically this year and getting out of previous leases. So don't get hopes up that it is coming to the UES.

"one is coming to 2/57th too -- but the building where is it going (3 year build) remains untouched. i wonder if they are slowing down plans in this market..."

If what I heard about WF is correct, that site is my alma mater, the H.S. of Art and Design (the former School of Industrial Arts). The brain trust at Tweed decided to tear down a NYC high school so another developer can put up another tower on Second Avenue in the fifties... just what we all need. I was at the school recently. They have already begun destroying it, the kids were trying to play basketball in a tiny, makeshift gym and the auditorium is gone. In the meantime, the economy has slowed down and no one knows what is going to happen on that site.

Which reminds me of the Mayor's latest stealth rule-making at DOB. Bloomberg decided that the pace of construction in NYC is not going fast enough and there are too many obstacles for developers [yes, that's exactly what the press release said]. As I understand it, the proposed new rule provides that, once a project has been permitted at DOB, the developer has to post a sketch of the project on the DOB website for 30 days. If someone in the community has ESP, he or she may discern that the plan is posted. We will all have the opportunity to complain about a possible violation or the scope of the project within those 30 days, via an official DOB form. If DOB rules against the complaint, you can appeal at Board of Standards of Appeals (which has never seen a developer they didn't like). If no one complains within those 30 days, the project is greenlighted forever and DOB will not act on any complaints from the public thereafter.

DOB scheduled one public comment hearing in one borough on this rule change. It was scheduled for Friday March 6th at 3 PM. The Mayor and LiMandri held a press conference on the morning of March 6th and announced that the rule would be implemented as of March 9th; IOW, so much for public comment! Tony Avella and Eva Mendes pressured them into delaying the rule change for a few weeks and it has not yet gone into effect. Many of us testified against the rule on March 6th, but I have no illusions about how much the community's wishes count with this Mayor.

The testimony at the hearing was uniformly against this rule; in fact, not one person spoke in favor of it. To summarize the points that were made by the civic associations in testimony:

- the rule change violates the law because it limits the public's constitutional right to complain about construction violations after the initial 30-day period;

- even if, arguably, limits were allowable, 30 days is much too short a time period;

- the rule puts the burden on the public to continually monitor the DOB website and know and understand what they're seeing;

- putting the plans on the website will notify the public about some, but not all, potential problems or violations;

- oftentimes, the community doesn't know before construction begins that there will be a problem and needs to be able to file complaints as problems arise;

- the rule shifts risk from developers to the public;

- the complaint/appeal process is byzantine and ends at BSA, which is a rubber-stamp for developers;

- the self-certification program is a disaster and is one of the reasons why it is important for the public to be able to complain about a project from beginning to end;

- some groups want notification to go through the community boards or council members' offices;

- DOB needs to hire competent technical people to read the plans and there has to be more and better enforcement;

- some groups will sue DOB and the City if the rule goes into effect.

Wasn't that school involved in the city's deal to get another school built in the Chelsea/Midtown area? What a cluster.

Whoaaaa a Fairway loyalist (of sorts) here. I do my fair share of shopping at the West side Fairway and at the Whole Paycheck at Columbus circle. You cannot beat fairway for their house brand items in terms of price & quality and it does not matter WHAT you do, whole paycheck is always more expensive and in my opinion, just as crazy crowded. I agree, though, fairway on a sunday is absolutely friggin' hell.

"Wasn't that school involved in the city's deal to get another school built in the Chelsea/Midtown area?

That may have been Plan No. 92 from the gang that couldn't shoot straight at the DOE. From what I have been told, their primary concern was to make sure this particular developer got a good deal. The last I heard, the high school on site at 57th and 2nd is going to be moved around the corner to a smaller facility. Your tax dollars at work.

http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/architecture/high_school_of_art_and_design_and_ps_59_to_get_new_200_million_homes_98753.asp

Thanks for posting that plan for the schools. I can send it to some alums who have been concerned. We've heard so much back and forth about it, and so much of it negative. I hope it will work out well.