The closing of Elaine's last week was a prime example of the natural change of New York. It was sad to see it go, but Elaine's was a relic of a past era where it was the owner that was the draw. It really made no sense to continue from a business sense, and they made the right decision.
Elaine's wasn't the victim of a landlord tying to charge obscene amounts of rent. It wasn't shuttered because the building was going to be torn down and an ugly out of place high-rise put in its place. Elaine's, if you'll pardon the expression, died a natural death.
Critics sneer at folks like me and local bloggers who decry the changes happening in NYC and derisively call us nostalgists. What they fail to realize is there is a difference between natural change and forced change.
What is happening to NYC is forced change, on a large scale. It's not allowed to take its natural path. Compare the voluntary closing of Elaine's with the plight of Jerry Delakas, who has been running the Astor Place newsstand since 1987.
The story goes like this. The woman who owned the lease on the newsstand was Katherine Ashley. Delakis paid her $75 a week to run the stand. When Ashley died in 2006, she stipulated in her will that the arrangement continue with the possibility of him taking over the franchise when her husband died.
When her husband died last year, the estate tried to renew the license, but the City turned them down saying that since no family member would be using it as a primary business, they couldn't renew the license.
A lawyer for the estate, who obviously gets it, contacted Jerry and suggested he file the renewal, which he did. He was rebuffed as he wasn't the legal leaseholder and therefore had no legal standing. The City said the deal Delakas and Ashley had for decades was illegal. Delakis appealed the decision and a court sided with the City.
Okay, so maybe technically the law is on their side, but laws are made to be broken and/or, better yet, changed. The City could have looked at the situation and allowed Jerry to assume the lease. But no. Rules are rules, right? Zoning laws are routinely changed to allow big real estate concerns to build the out of place monstrosities in neighborhoods.
Yet, in the case of a neighborhood fixture that adds to the cultural richness of New York they can't make an allowance. Jerry can't line their pockets with cash. That makes him irrelevant.
Christine Quinn and the City Council can and should weigh in on this and issue a waiver to Jerry. They can do it, but will they?
Jerry has started a Facebook fan page where he is asking for support.
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