Original West Side Market Closed!

[slkinsey]

My friends report that the 110th Street West Side Market is boarded up. The scuttlebut is that Columbia is knocking down the building for housing of some kind.

[Pumpkin Lover]

Right now, all we (the students) know is that the building is undergoing "renovations," and that West Side and Columbia Hot Bagels will be coming back once the "renovations" are done. Who knows, though. Ho Bags isn't closed yet; I think their closing date was pushed back. I'm not quite sure if the building is or is not owned by CU. Let's see what the landlord does, though--I don't know if the renovations are bogus or for real. It's really disheartening to see what's happening in this area, with West Side and University Food Market both riding off into the sunset.

You can do a search on the Columbia Spectator website for more info on this stuff.

[bergerka]

Right now, all we (the students) know is that the building is undergoing "renovations," and that West Side and Columbia Hot Bagels will be coming back once the "renovations" are done. Who knows, though. Ho Bags isn't closed yet; I think their closing date was pushed back. I'm not quite sure if the building is or is not owned by CU. Let's see what the landlord does, though--I don't know if the renovations are bogus or for real. It's really disheartening to see what's happening in this area, with West Side and University Food Market both riding off into the sunset.

You can do a search on the Columbia Spectator website for more info on this stuff.

Wait...didn't University Food Market just reopen after extensive renovations that made the lanes even MORE narrow? I swear I just walked past it on Saturday and it looked all new & shiny...

K

[Pumpkin Lover]

UFM is now a Morton Williams Associated supermarket. Prices have jumped considerably.

[alacarte]

Ho Bags

[Eric_Malson]

UFM is now a Morton Williams Associated supermarket. Prices have jumped considerably.

Aha! That explains it! It seemed like a different store entirely from what it used to be when I was in there the other night

By the time I had waited 20 minutes in a check-out line (at 11:30 p.m.), I had resolved never to set foot in the store again.

[Thomas Secor]

They are building new coops where Dynasty, West Side and the bagel place are currently. Much more significant than "renovations" as they are due to add several floors (should be in the low tens). Havent been able to get straight whether they are keeping the original structures or tearing them down.

But Koronet was spared. wha-hay.

[Eric_Malson]

They are building new coops where Dynasty, West Side and the bagel place are currently.

Oh, and Dynasty! For me, that's as big a loss as the West Side Market... it's the only decent Chinese restaurant within delivery range of my apartment.

[SarahD]

The poop that I have from concerned citizens who live across the street is: Columbia is building yet another highrise apartment building, but perserving the facade of the building and setting the upper floors back a little in exchange for being able to exceed the 10 floor limit (I think 12 are planned). I don't know anything about whether West Side Market will rise from the ashes.

... in related news the discount store next to the Metro movie theater seems to be selling off it's goods. Maybe the Metro's time has come too.

[cdh]

AAArghhhhhhhh!

This is awful news... Now I'm feeling oooooooold, and I've not been out of Columbia 10 years yet. With Mama Joy's sad departure a couple of years ago (I'm still mourning the loss of their brisket heros), the death of UFM and now West Side too, I'd have no idea where to shop in that neighborhood.

I really credit the cheese sections at UFM and Mama Joys with broadening my palate, and much of my early culinary experimentation (after getting off the CU's meal plan the second semester of freshman year) was significantly influenced by the broad selection and good prices at UFM, West Side and Mama Joys. Do culinarily adventurous kids at CU still have any options in the neighborhood, or would they be forced to walk a mile down to the Gourmet Garage at 96th to get some interesting ingredients?

Truly disheartening... I still remember West Side's prepared entrees fondly... mmmm... spanikopita...

[Pumpkin Lover]

But Koronet was spared.  wha-hay.

DUDE. What would we do without the jumbo slices?!

Do culinarily adventurous kids at CU still have any options in the neighborhood, or would they be forced to walk a mile down to the Gourmet Garage at 96th to get some interesting ingredients?

I'll go to D'agostino's or Fairway now. Probably Fairway, actually. And whenever I'm in the area, I'll do some shopping at the 24th St. Whole Foods--in the past few weeks, their mixed greens and baby spinach have been on sale.

[cdh]

You mean to say that egregious D'ag is still there just below 110th St? The injustice of truly worthwhile stores going under while the worst supermarket in the area keeps plodding along... (OK, it is not the worst supermarket ever, but is significantly below the level of everything else that was in the neighborhood.)

Edited April 28, 2004 by cdh (log)

[bergerka]

You mean to say that egregious D'ag is still there just below 110th St? The injustice of truly worthwhile stores going under while the worst supermarket in the area keeps plodding along... (OK, it is not the worst supermarket ever, but is significantly below the level of everything else that was in the neighborhood.)

Actually I think they closed and redid the D'Ag and then re-opened it. It didn't improve anything, just made it more expensive. I've only set foot in there once and exited about forty seconds later in utter disgust. and I am SO PISSED OFF about West Side...where the hell am I supposed to walk to get decent cheese??????

K

[Pumpkin Lover]

The D'agostino's is a "D'Ag Fresh" market now. It's vewy, vewy tiny. Crappy cheese selection. But, ya know... when it first opened, I'd go there just to buy bananas, and I still do. West Side and UFM had terrible bananas. I must give credit to D'Ag Fresh--their bananas last me all week.

As far as cheese: Morton Williams expanded the paltry cheese selection that UFM had. The last time I went, they had full wheels of Pierre Robert, which usually sells out fast at Fairway. That impressed me a lot, but overall, prices have gone up.

The problem with Morton Williams, at least for folks in the neighborhood, is that when the new ownership took over, they dumped a lot of folks who worked at UFM, and cut the salaries of anyone who wanted to stay. When this first occurred, students and residents were pushed to boycott the store. How the employees are actually treated, I'm not quite sure. The big stir in the neighborhood, though, was that many employees from UFM were getting cheated, and why? Morton Williams is a pretty big name with, I assume, pretty big money behind them.

Here's further reading on the situation if you're inclined. Also, for anyone interested in the Morningside Heights neighborhood, there's a Yahoo mailing list called MHNET that you can subscribe to.

Columbia Spectator Editorial

News Article From February

Another Editorial

Another News Article

Yet Another Editorial

BTW, I don't mean to pimp Spectator out of favoritism--I think that they've had the most coverage about this specific news item, and a lot of talk on the MHNET has centered around Spectator coverage. And, I don't know the writers, they're all uncool sophomores.

Edited for spelling

Edited April 29, 2004 by Pumpkin Lover (log)

[Fat Guy]

This summer, after being closed for about three years, the West Side Market reopened at the corner of 110th and Broadway. I stuck my head in this morning and the new digs look great.