Eli Zabar Sues Landlord To Keep UES Market

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Restaurateur and food retailer Eli Zabar is suing his landlord to prevent one of his Upper East Side businesses from being displaced after 45 years in the same location, according to a lawsuit filed in state supreme court.

Zabar is demanding $5 million from his landlords for trying to displace one of his businesses — E.A.T. at 1064 Madison Ave. between East 80th and 81st streets — nearly five years before his lease is set to expire, according to a lawsuit. Zabar claims that the landlords are trying to "bully" him out of the building in order to redevelop the property.

After exercising a five-year lease extenstion in 2017, Zabar has the right to keep E.A.T in the building until May 2022, the retailer claims. Zabar even has the right to extend the lease another five years should he want to, according to the lawsuit.

But the landlords don't want Zabar to stick around.

"Landlord is attempting to bully Zabar from the building by, [among other things], refusing to negotiate in good faith the base rent for Zabar's first renewal term, making unauthorized entries into the premises, and issuing repeated threats of litigation," Zabar's lawsuit reads.

The building's current owners — listed as two entities named B&J 609 LLC and WB 1064 Madison LLC — bought it in 2014 for $26 million, according to public real estate records. Zabar claims the building was purchased with the intention of redeveloping the property. E.A.T is the last remaining tenant in the building and must move out before the property can be redeveloped, according to the lawsuit.

Check out the full lawsuit below:

Photo by Google Maps street view