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February 6 - February 19, 2013
Pier 17 shops fight for summer season Continued from page 1
dispute that,” said Robert LaValva, founder of the New Amsterdam Market on South Street. “But damage to Pier 17 and the Fulton Market (Bridgewaters) building was minimal. If Howard Hughes Corp. were truly committed to ‘continuously, uninterruptedly, actively, and diligently’ operating the South Street Seaport as their lease requires, they would have jumped right onto opening Pier 17 and the Fulton Market building as soon as possible, rather than dragging their feet.” Sal Himani, whose family owns six restaurants on Pier 17, said that after reopening, it took Howard Hughes two weeks to turn on external lighting on the pier. Even with a smattering of light, few customers made their way past the boarded-up stores of the South Street Seaport’s Fulton St. corridor and through the forbidding darkness to shop or dine on Pier 17. Now Howard Hughes Corp. is finishing what Sandy started. It is requiring all tenants to vacate their stores by the end of April. Howard Hughes has a contractual agreement with New York City’s Economic Development Corp. (E.D.C.), owner of the pier, stipulating that construction of a new mall on Pier 17 must
Downtown Express photo by Terese Loeb Kreuzer
Sal Himani, whose family owns six restaurants on Pier 17 in the South Street Seaport, sat in the nearly empty Pacific Grill on Jan. 23, vowing to fight a notice from landlord Howard Hughes Corp. to close by April 30.
begin by July 1. The tenants have been pleading with Howard Hughes for more time, but so far, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. “Every tenant in the mall, including
myself, is losing money every single day until April 15th. That’s when the weather gets warmer and our business picks up,” Himani said. “Every winter, it’s tough, but in summer, the crowds come, and you
make it back.” The tenants ideally would like to remain on the pier until the end of September so they could recoup their losses. But even a stay of eviction until the end of June would be helpful, Himani said. “Everyone lost everything they had,” he said. “Everyone is in such a state of depression. Their hearts are broken.” In order for Howard Hughes to proceed with tearing down the existing structure on Pier 17 and replacing it with a glass-enclosed mall, it still has two hurdles to clear. Some elements of the design must still be approved by the City Planning Commission, which will vote on them on Feb. 6 and then the plan must be approved by the City Council. At a City Planning Commission meeting on Feb. 4, commissioners noted that the Landmarks Preservation Commission rejected Howard Hughes’ plan to put a large “Seaport” sign on the pier and had reiterated that opposition despite a new request made by the firm. Himani and some of the other tenants had hoped that City Planning or City Council could or would intervene on their behalf. But Michael Levine, director of planning and land use for Community Board 1, said that placing any hope in City Continued on page 13
NOW: K-8TH GRADE
Junior Division: K-3RD GRADE
21
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