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Seen & Heard: Dean & Deluca Is Closer to Being a Deli
••• From a reader involved in community issues: “Regarding Warren Street and other late-night construction without permits: If it was Con Ed, nothing can be done, as we found out on Chambers and Worth St. They will claim emergency, or that they had to do it at night so as not to close the street down during the day. But in other cases the way to complain that might actually get results that night: Make that ‘useless’ 311 call and get the case number for your complaint. Then put in a complaint with that number directly to the Department of Transportation. I have done that and gotten inspectors over in a couple of hours. Or go to the Community Board 1 website, click ‘About CB1’ at the top; in left column, click on ‘Downtown Construction,’ which brings up “Write to Manhattan Borough Commissioner Luis Sanchez about a specific construction issue.” There you can click on various choices, such as Construction or Permits, describe the problem and address, and be sure to include the 311 case number. (And you can be anonymous.) Then be sure to forward 311 case number and description to CB1. At worst, the DOT will send someone out the next night, and will also investigate who was working the night you complained.”
••• Speaking of construction, or lack thereof, at the stalled hotel at 456 Greenwich. James relayed that this from Councilperson Chin’s office: “Department of Transportation inspectors have issued stip violations and will be revisiting the site. Their legal department is also looking into it. As of now DOT suspended their permits until they meet to address the issues.” And I heard from the Department of Buildings that on October 25, it issued 456 Greenwich two violations for blocking the sidewalk without a proper DOT permit.
••• A search for quality beef stock led me to Dean & Deluca, which had it, but I was surprised how much of what used to be grocery store is now prepared food and seating. (And the shelves looked full, until you realized there was little behind the front row of product.)
••• Press release: “The Hudson Square Connection announced today it will host two public meetings on Tuesday, November 28, to present plans for a proposed expansion of the current BID district lines in Hudson Square. HSC and its BID Expansion Steering Committee, a group of community stakeholders, are proposing to expand the Hudson Square BID boundaries to enable HSC to provide services and improvements to the additional areas in the neighborhood. […] The meetings will be held at 9:00 a.m. at HSC’s office in Hudson Square on 180 Varick, and at 6:00 p.m. at Getting Hungry, located in the expansion area, on 225 Varick.” Below: A map showing, in blue, the proposed expansion.
••• Up now at One Art Space: Works by Nancy B. Pantirer, who has her studio on Leonard.
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What a fantastic painting! That made my morning.
A dose of beauty is more important than the dose of espresso.
Thank you.
Dean & Deluca’s change of mix makes sense ISTM. Grocery is typically a low profit business that relies on large sales volume. That area has far more opportunity for more sales at higher margins with deli/ prepared foods/lunch given all the transient shoppers on Broadway. Soho is not a high volume residential, grocery consuming area.
Sure, but in doing so, what made it special is diminished, and over time, it’ll be indistinguishable from similar establishments, all competing on price.
I agree that this diminishes what made it special. However, without changing it could have been just another relic, a special place in this city that closes because they did not do enough (grocery) business to cover their rising fixed expenses. Tourists on Broadway are not buying specialty groceries and perishables or packaged goods to consume or take home.
With respect to “similar establishments”, and leaving aside the side streets, most of the delis and lunch places between Houston and Canal on Broadway have either closed or been displaced or will face enormous rent pressure on lease expiration. (Cafe Bari, Cafe Duke @ 545 Broadway, the Caribbean and subsequent deli food places at the NW corner of Broadway and Broome, Miro Cafe locations at 474 and 594 Broadway.) Even Gourmet Garage moved west from Broome and Mercer towards West Broadway. There is Starbucks and one other deli remaining on this stretch.
D&D may soon be the only food place on the stretch.
Agree with all the observations about D&D; I was taken aback when I went there last week. The changes they made obviously were sensible, given the long lines for soups and prepared foods in the past. At least they kept the seafood and butcher, but the other departments (cheese, produce, salumeria, etc.) are scaled back, and makeover did strike me as a glorified deli. So good luck to them and serving their perceived clientele, but as a Tribeca resident I have less motivation to go there.