UES Storefront Vacancies: New Data Shows A Fuller Picture

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Upper East Siders have long known that vacant storefronts were endemic in the neighborhood. Now, data reveals just how severe the trend has become.

The new database shows the lease status of every ground-floor and second-floor commercial space in the five boroughs. It was created as part of a 2019 law that required landlords to register their retail spaces — part of a push by the City Council to get a handle on vacancies.

After being delayed by the pandemic, the long-awaited database was published this month. Though the most recent data is from June 2020, it still provides a snapshot of the city's vacancies.

More than 400 vacancies

On the Upper East Side, 435 storefronts were not leased as of last June. That's about 15 percent of the 2,861 total spaces registered in the neighborhood, the data shows.

It's also a 20 percent increase from December 2019, when the Upper East Side had 363 unleased storefronts, according to the data. Some of that rise can be attributed to the coronavirus pandemic: spots like Café Jax, which closed during the crisis, are listed. (The data appears incomplete, however, with businesses like Beyoglu not listed despite closing last spring.)

Other storefronts appearing in the data reflect older closures, like Pesce Pasta's former home at 1562 Third Ave. or the bygone Hometown Dumpling shop at 1619 York Ave. — both of which have remained empty.

All told, the avenue with the most listed vacancies was Second Avenue, where Patch counted dozens of empty storefronts during a walk-through last fall. It was closely trailed by Madison Avenue, which has struggled to rebound from the pandemic.

Others are in better shape: Fifth Avenue had no vacancies at all, according to the data.

One thing absent from the database: the names of any of the landlords that have kept their properties vacant.

Councilmember Ben Kallos, who cosponsored the 2019 bill that created the registry, told Patch last fall that he blamed the vacancy crisis on landlords "demanding rents that only national chains and banks could pay."

To that end, Kallos introduced a bill in February that would go a step further, forcing building owners to reveal their names rather than hiding behind anonymous LLCs — a move that he said would pressure them into leasing their storefronts. No action has been taken on the bill, which has no cosponsors.

Other proposals have included a "mom-and-pop" rezoning, which limits the size of new storefronts in an effort to protect small shops. Gale Brewer pushed through such a rezoning on the Upper West Side in 2012, while serving on the City Council, and some candidates to succeed her as Borough President proposed expanding it across Manhattan.

Previous coverage:

• Vacancy Crisis: Empty Storefronts Blanket Upper East Side
• Chain Stores Shut Down On Upper East Side In 2020, Report Finds
• UES Lawmaker Proposes Empty Shops, Schools For Child Care: Report