The New York Times' Jennifer 8 Lee reports the State Supreme Court has ordered that Citarella, the gourmet supermarket, vacate the 125th St. retail space they acquired at a discounted rate from the government. The reason: Citarella did not fulfill its contract to develop the derelict warehouses on 126th Street into working facilities that would create jobs for the community. Citarella has not made any comments at this time, but in the recent past they had indicated that they were considering condo conversions for at least part of the area designated for rehab. In our opinion, Citarella had developed their retail business on 125th St. quickly and efficiently, so they have been showing an effort to make things happen in the neighborhood.
Usually when the government sells properties to local developers, there is a three-year timeline to get things done. Considering that P.S. 186 has been sitting around in ruins for 20 years with a similar deal, it does not seem like the government has merit to be selective about Citarella since they at least have made part of the transaction happen in a relatively short amount of time. To read more, see the NY Times article: LINK. Located at 461 West 125h street, between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Avenue. tel: (212)474-0383. Take the 1 or A,B,C,D train to 125th Street.
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