Morton Williams Store In The Village Set To Be Demolished: Report

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — The Morton Williams grocery store near New York University in the Village is set to be demolished after the School Construction Authority (SCA) exercised an option to tear down the business and replace it with a public school for special-needs students, reported Crain's New York Business.

The longtime grocer has served customers at 130 Bleecker Street for more than 20 years.

The move by the SCA was somewhat unexpected as it waited more than a decade to exercise its option to demolish the store with the deadline to do so at the end of the month, reported Crain's.

With that being said, the School Construction Authority and the Department of Education did include their intention to exercise the option on the 130 Bleecker Street lot as far back as Nov. 2019.

Avi Kaner, who owns the Morton Williams, signed a lease renewal with NYU in May, but told Crain's New York that he would have negotiated to relocate if he knew the School Construction Authority had plans to demolish the building.

“This came as a surprise to both us and NYU because so many years had passed without
the option being exercised,” Kaner told Crain's New York.

The 130 Bleecker Street site is now expected to become a five-story, 100,000 square foot public school.

“The extension was negotiated in good faith over several months, well before SCA provided
notice of their intention to exercise the option,” Lynn Brown, the senior vice president of university relations, told Crain's in response to the school's knowledge of whether or not the SCA would exercise its option to demolish. “NYU did not hear from the SCA until the end of last month that they intended to exercise their option on the site.

You can read the full story on Crain's website.