Verbena and Bar Demi (Closed)

[alacarte]

Nabe gossip: these particular Irving Place landlords have been a problem for some time. The excellent coffee shop that now resides at 52 Irving (I think) used to occupy the space that now is Spinoza, a cut-rate coffee shop.

The old coffee shop was driven out because the landlords didn't want to renew their lease -- they wanted to rent to the restaurant that became Irving on Irving (the same restaurant that closed down about a year ago, and never came back).

So now, 52 Irving is thriving a couple of blocks further north. And the greedy landlords now have a block that's pretty much empty, except for the sub-par Spinoza.

Personally, I'm surprised that the block association isn't up in arms. They are pretty active about what changes to the Irving Place blocks.

[Suzanne F]

alacarte: isn't that the same block with The Inn on Irving, Lady Mendl's, and that ground-floor bar/lounge (whose name escapes me even though I interviewed there)? Same landlord?

[JosephB]

Is Bar Demi also closed then? I believe they shared the kitchen so I'd figure it is, but don't want to assume.

The Times reporeted today that Bar Demi is also gone.

[rozrapp]

Nabe gossip:  these particular Irving Place landlords have been a problem for some time. The excellent coffee shop that now resides at 52 Irving (I think) used to occupy the space that now is Spinoza, a cut-rate coffee shop.

The old coffee shop was driven out because the landlords didn't want to renew their lease -- they wanted to rent to the restaurant that became Irving on Irving (the same restaurant that closed down about a year ago, and never came back).

So now, 52 Irving is thriving a couple of blocks further north. And the greedy landlords now have a block that's pretty much empty, except for the sub-par Spinoza.

Personally, I'm surprised that the block association isn't up in arms. They are pretty active about what changes to the Irving Place blocks.

My "Deep Throat" source (we eGulleteers love our food puns! ) has informed me that the woman who owns the townhouse where Verbena was situated is extremely wealthy and has the reputation of being quite nasty. She, alone, owns a swath of buildings at the end of that block on Irving Place and around the corner onto 17th St. (In answer to Suzanne's query: Yes, that's the same block that houses the Inn on Irving, Lady Mendl's, etc., but I don't know if this woman's ownership extends to those buildings.)

With regard to the coffee house/cafe that you mentioned, that was, I believe, called 52 Irving. The landlord forced them out in order to give the space to her daughter. It became the Spinoza you talked about. The ousted cafe did move a little ways away, as you said, to a much larger space and, as 74 Irving (I think that's the right street number), is more popular than ever.

As for what may become of the Verbena space, in her e-mail to me, Diane said that she thinks the landlord has "other plans." With Bar Demi closed as well, along with the shuttered Irving on Irving at that corner, you are right that there's an awful lot of empty real estate there. To paraphrase an opening line from the golden days of radio: Who knows what evil lurks in the mind of a nasty, greedy landlord? Not even the Shadow could probably figure this one out!

[alacarte]

In answer to Suzanne's query:  Yes, that's the same block that houses the Inn on Irving, Lady Mendl's, etc., but I don't know if this woman's ownership extends to those buildings.

I sure hope not, Lady Mendl's is lovely, if overpriced. Roz, you are a great source of info!

Suzanne -- I think that the ground-floor establishment you're referring to is CiBar (you guessed it, a cigar bar).

I passed through the nabe last night -- Cibar was thriving. And lots of folks clearly had not heard the news about Verbena yet. Lots of confused yuppies standing on the sidewalk outside the closed gate, desperately cell-phoning their dining companions...

It looked also like Spinoza had closed down? At 7PM the place was dark & all the shelves emptied. But if it's the landlord's daughter's establishment, that makes no sense (unless she's planning to move into Verbena's former space? Horrors! )

[reggie_212]

What's with all the landloard bashing?!?!?!?!

I don't think any of us have all the information when it comes to why a property owner and tenant disagree and cannot resolve a lease issue. It is premature then to lay complete blame on the landlord.

Also, even if a particular property owner decides that their available space could rent for a higher amount, who are any of us to judge whether that's good or bad?? If you were to decide to leave one job for another because the new job paid more, are you "greedy" too? Are you also "greedy" if you change your inverstment portfolio from one earning a low return to a higher return?? It's a bit hypocritical to me, considering you had to have some dough in the first place to eat at Verbena, when you denigrate someone who is just trying to earn a higher income, when we've all done the same thing.

If in fact it is the case that the landlord is using ridiculous assumptions concerning market rents and what s/he expects to lease for, well then that person pays a hefty price in lost income from having the place sit unoccupied.

That said, I'll miss the back garden as much as anyone.

[alacarte]

I'm perfectly happy to bash anyone who lets nepotism dictate business decisions.

[dimitri steinberg]

Let me get this right... You are bashing someone for nepotism, which in this case is being done by the owner of the property, who has ABSOLUTELY NO fiduciary obligation to anyone else. To the extent the landlady is accepting a less than market rent from her daughter, she is simply exercising her right to do with her property as she pleases. The landlady could also give the entire building to her daughter. Are we going to argue against that as well? By letting the daughter use (misuse) the space, she is "giving" it away, just on a smaller scale.

As was previously posted, there are real risks involved in kicking out a good existing tenant in the hope of additional economic rewards. That said, it is the landlady's decision to make.

[reggie_212]

I'm perfectly happy to bash anyone who lets nepotism dictate business decisions.

Hey I bet this lady landlord probably shelled out a few bucks to send this spoiled brat to some super expensive northeast liberal college. We should kick the sh*t out of her for that! How dare she pass off her own wealth or give a leg up to her own flesh and blood...

What she should have done with those wasted college funds was subsidize her inexpensively-priced, available to all restaurant tenants. After all, these poor suffering restauranteurs aren't in it for the money, right??

[alacarte]

I'm officially backing off -- this is turning into a non-food-related discussion, and a rather heated one at that!