Hot Dog Vu: Papaya King Sued for Millions, Evicted Again

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Third time's the dog. Or maybe the papaya?

In a seeming repeat of events from two years ago, the current operators of the iconic 90-plus year beef-and-fruit stand, Papaya King, is once again on the hunt for a new home following a lawsuit and eviction.

And according to one report, that new home — which would be the third since April 2023 to bear the King's name — is somewhere on East 86th Street.

While the new location is uncertain, what is known is that the landlord of the location across the street from their longtime home is suing them for millions.

A lawsuit filed in November reveals that, in addition to the more than $370,000 owed in unpaid rent, the landlord is also suing Papaya King and its current owner f0r $4 million in damages for the remaining amount due in the lease.

Back in April, an attorney for Cash & Go told Patch that the city's top dog stand would be reopening imminently across the street, at 1535 Third Ave., just 300 feet up the street from their home of 90 years.

Despite the site having signs of Papaya King on the windows — and even an interior filled with equipment and decor — the address is now listed as available and "vacant," as first noted by the Daily News.

A manager claims that the landlord of the Third Avenue location apparently refused to allow them to install a kitchen hood, according to the Daily News.

“Without the hood we cannot cook the hot dog[s],” manager Mohammad Alam told the Daily News.

Alam teased that the Papaya King equipment has been relocated to an undisclosed third location on East 86th Street, with more promises of opening in late January or February, writes the Daily News.

According to the suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Papaya King owes the landlord rent from their entire tenancy at 1535 Third Avenue, totaling $372,093 from March until November 2023.

In addition, the landlord says that the lease agreement left Papaya King on the hook for the future amount due for the length of the entire lease, or roughly $4 million in damages, according to the suit, which was first reported by Upper East Site.

An attorney for Papaya King was not available for comment.

This isn't the first time that the famous hot dog spot has landed in hot water over rent.

At the original circa-1932 Papaya King location on the corner in 2020, then-landlord Imperial Sterling sued Papaya King's current owners, alleging they had taken over the shop without permission after the original Papaya King's lease was canceled due to unpaid rent totaling roughly $120,000.

After Extell bought the corner for $21 million — and later filed demolition plans, first reported on by Patch — their attorneys requested to take over as plaintiff in the case, court records show.

Papaya King got the boot, but settled the draw-out suit and announced their plans to open across the avenue in April 2023.

Months later in October, eviction notices were first noticed on the still-shuttered glass doors of the supposed future hot dog home.

That same month, Extell off loaded the premium corner spot to a Long Island-based developer for $24.5 million.

Founded by Gus Poulos in 1932, Papaya King was owned and operated by the Poulos family for 68 years.

Papaya King became an icon of the Upper East Side, spawned imitations like Gray's Papaya on the Upper West Side, and expanded to the East Village, Brooklyn and even Las Vegas — though all of those outposts have since closed.