Longtime UES Newsstand Being Forced Out By Landlord, Lawsuit Alleges

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An Upper East Side landlord is trying to evict a longtime bodega from its East 86th Street storefront based on bogus claims that it violated its lease, the shop owner alleges in a new lawsuit.

For well over a decade, International News & Magazine has occupied the modest storefront at 300 East 86th St., just east of Second Avenue. In that time, its owner has invested " hundreds of thousands of dollars on upgrades and repairs" to the business and built up a "loyal client base," it attorneys say.

Late in 2020, however, the shop's four-story building was purchased for $3.5 million from its longtime owner, by an entity listed only as "300 East 86th Street LP."

Since then, the new owners have "engaged in an aggressive campaign of harassment" to drive the newsstand out of business, as well as its adjoining gift shop known as M&Z Convenience, the businesses allege in their lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in state supreme court.

Recently, the building's new owners began rejecting rent payments from International News & Magazine despite the shop's consistent record of on-time payments, store owner Zafar Ahmed attested in an affidavit. (Ahmed conceded that M&Z, the adjoining business which he also owns, "has been struggling of late" and had asked for leniency in its rent dues.)

Things escalated in May, when the landlord served notices to both businesses claiming that they had run afoul of their leases by failing to share copies of their insurance policies. Ahmed rejects those claims, saying he had already sent his insurance policy to the previous building owner.

Both businesses signed leases in 2010 and renewed them in 2016, leaving both with more than three years to remain in the space.

Now, Ahmed is asking a judge to bar the landlord from evicting either business, saying he needs more time to resolve any potential problems with its lease.

Attorneys for both the businesses and the landlord did not respond to requests for comment.