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Kosher Deli on West 57th ‘Billionaire’s Row’ Fights Eviction

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By Hellen Zaboulani

A long time leaser at Manhattan’s West 57th Street is seeking the protection of a court against the building’s landlord, who has threatened to evict it. The Kosher deli, Cafe Classico, which has been in the five story building for the past 19 years, says it is the lone holdout against a big Billionaire’s Row demolition project. As reported by the NY Post, Café Classico says the landlord, 35 West Realty Co., has threatened to evacuate the restaurant for insufficient insurance coverage in having a $1 million liability policy instead of a $2 million policy, thereby violating its lease agreement.

The deli owner alleges that the landlord is just looking for an excuse to boot him so as to pursue plans for a “major development project” set for the space, as per the lawsuit. The restaurant is asking the Manhattan Supreme Court justice to stop the landlord’s eviction bid by affirming that Cafe Classico is not in violation of its lease. The Glatt Kosher restaurant owner says that to date he has paid $500,000 over the years for lease of the space inside a 1891 French-style townhouse. The eatery also says that the midtown location is “unique and irreplaceable”, and that it has a “large base of regular customers.”

The eatery’s complaint notes, that adjacent to the restaurant is a gaping hole. Three nearby buildings have already been torn down to prepare for a large development. One of those buildings is the limestone mansion where the famed Rizzoli Bookstore stood for 30 years, before being ousted to make way for a skinny super-tower. The 6-floor building at 31 West 57th Street was razed in 2015 with the two other similar looking buildings, but the site still sits bare, fenced in and inactive. The LeFrak Organization and Vornado Realty have plans to develop a high-rise tower in that empty space which is next to Cafe Classico.

The landlord, has in turn responded to say that the insufficient insurance policy coverage is sufficient reason for eviction and that it has no other underlying motives. The lawyer for the landlords says his client has nothing to do with the Billionaire row construction. “We’re not part of the demolition next door,” said attorney Warren Estis. “That’s separate and distinct from us.”

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