By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-19 17:55:30 | Updated at 2024-11-26 01:59:45
6 days ago
A West Village landlord has launched a schmear campaign against a wildly successful bagel shop, threatening to evict the bakers — because they’re just too popular.
The owner of the Greenwich Avenue site of Apollo Bagels — recently named a top bagelry by the New York Times and Yelp — gripes that the store’s lines are so long, they violate the shop’s lease by blocking the doors of neighboring tenants.
But the bagel store’s owners say the landlord’s argument has bigger holes than their special sourdough New York fare — and just filed suit in Manhattan Supreme Court to try to halt their eviction.
Since opening the bagel hotspot at the corner of Greenwich and West 11th Street in August, Apollo has won over a “cult-like following,” their suit says.
And that’s the problem, says landlord, BLDG Management Co., which is owned by investor Lloyd Goldman.
Hungry bagel fanatics have been blocking the doors of at least two shops next door to Apollo Bagels, according to an eviction warning letter sent to the shop from the landlord — who says it has received numerous complaints from the frustrated other stores.
The building owner said in the notice that if Apollo Bagels fails to direct “the customer line in an unobtrusive direction” by Nov. 30, it will cancel its lease.
Since receiving the notice, the bagel shop has tried to mitigate the problems with its lines by posting stanchion ropes, signs and even a full-time employee tasked as a line monitor, according to its lawsuit.
Despite the efforts, the only solution the landlord says is acceptable would be to divert the line from Greenwich Avenue to West 11th Street, the suit says.
The bagel shop said it has tried to explain that diverting the line down the “significantly narrower” residential street would cause even more problems.
One time, it attempted to implement the landlord’s solution but found the crowds blocked residential buildings and another tenant, a wine bar with outdoor seating, with little room to spare for passing pedestrians, it argues.
“Nonetheless, Landlord has continued to demand that Apollo run the line up 11th Street while still refusing to withdraw the Default Notice,” the suit says.
The shop’s lawyer, Stepven Fox of Wrobel Markham, told The Post that Apollo has been working with its neighbors, who he said appear to understand the viral bagel shop’s growing pains.
“Apollo will continue to mitigate any disruption caused by the customer line,” Fox said. “But finds it odd that their landlord is looking to punish them for being successful.”
BLDG Management Co. did not reply to a Post request for comment.
Apollo Bagels was founded by the owners of Williamsburg pizzeria, Leo, and began as a hugely popular pop-up featuring unique sourdough bagels. It opened its first location in the spring in the East Village, followed by the now-contentious West Village spot this past summer.
A Williamsburg location in Brooklyn is coming soon, according to their Instagram account, and will be followed by a Jersey City, NJ, location in the spring, Eater NY reports.
