Herald Square’s Food Vendors Are Battling With a Street Developer for Space

Food vendors battle developer for Herald Square sidewalk space

Vendors at 34th Street and Broadway in Herald Square are in a heated battle with a nonprofit group for sidewalk space. Halal, fruit, and coffee cart owners tell the Wall Street Journal that new benches, bicycle racks, potted plants, and trash cans are boxing them out of areas they’ve parked at for a long time. Nonprofit group the 34th Street Partnership isn’t hiding its plans, with president Daniel Biederman calling the vendors “a nuisance and an eyesore,” and saying they’ve gotten in the way of construction in the adjacent building.

Luxury dine-in movie theater files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Leadership at IPIC Entertainment — the luxury dine-in movie theater chain with a location at South Street Seaport — has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with hopes of selling the company. The company is known for offering the highest end experience among dine-in movie theater restaurants; for premium seats, moviegoers get blankets and private pods. Financial issues are due to increased competition in the space, according to the CEO and founder. Despite the problems, all locations of the theater will continue to operate.

Midtown West Kosher deli fights eviction from Billionaire’s Row

Nineteen-year-old Kosher deli Cafe Classico has reportedly taken its landlord to court, claiming the company is trying to kick the restaurant out in order to continue development on “Billionaire’s Row,” the stretch of Midtown West with several luxury skyscrapers. Cafe Classico claims that the its landlord 35 West Realty Co. is using a technicality — the fact that the restaurant has a $1 million insurance liability policy instead of a $2 million policy — to force it out so the company can build another new development, the Post reports. A lawyer for the landlord “insisted” that’s not the case.

Openings, closings, and coming attractions

An Upper West Side location of ice cream chain Van Leeuwen opens today at 253 Columbus Ave. with $1 scoops from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., while gluten-free bakery Le Gourmand has opened at 104 West 70th St. French cream puff specialist Barachou will open at 449 Amsterdam Ave., but nearby Kosher restaurant Boru Boru has closed. Further downtown, longtime Midtown West Italian restaurant Bricco has also closed, as has the Union Square location of bakery chain Maison Kayser. In the East Village, Medina’s Turkish Kitchen is open at 166 Second Ave., while Mediterranean Cafe Petisco has reopened on the Lower East Side as an all-day vegan restaurant called Petisco Vegan at 189 East Broadway.

A Nigerian standout in Crown Heights serves ultra-spicy suya

A Crown Heights Nigerian pop-up has turned into a standout Nigerian restaurant in Crown Heights, Ligaya Mishan writes in the latest Times Hungry City dispatch. Brooklyn Suya focuses on its namesake dish, a traditional street food of thinly cut, spiced grilled meat, that here is served in bowl form with rice, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, raw kale, and other sides. Mishan likes the steak version best — there’s also chicken, shrimp, eggplant, and tofu — for “showing off the full power of the spice.” Sixteen spices go into the rub, and the meat is made further hot with various housemade sauces.