More people, means less business for Nassau Street shops

BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC  |  Sept. 11. Constant construction. The financial crisis of 2008. Rising rents. The small businesses on Nassau St. between John and Beekman Sts. have survived many setbacks — but the greatest challenge yet may be the neighborhood’s transition from business to residential.

“People shop where they work, not where they live,” said Rafael Pinkhasov, owner of Omega Jewelers at 132 Nassau St.

As the neighborhood becomes more residential, it is not good for business, he said in an interview at his store last week.

The shop was located at the Smith Haven Mall in Long Island, but Pinkhasov decided to “give the city another shot” and opened on Nassau near Beekman St. in 2009.

Since then, business has been on a “down slope,” he said.

Foot traffic on the street has been deterred, first by the tearing up of the road and now by construction at 5 Beekman St. — right across from Pinkhasov’s store.

Work began on what will be a hotel and condos a few years ago and it is reportedly slated to finish this year. GFI Development, the developer, declined to comment.

To bring in equipment and supplies, workers routinely stop pedestrians — and once they are released, people often impatiently walk past the stores.

Keith Lee opened The Silk Shop also at 132 Nassau St. in 1981, and noted that construction hurts business as pedestrians are stopped several times on the street.

“Maybe it’s good for the developers but not for the retail,” said Lee.

He said once construction is finished, business might improve, but he still has reason to worry.

Lee said the neighborhood’s changes mean there are not enough customers for his store, which sells mostly women’s clothing offering many discounts. As the Financial District has became more residential, people with higher incomes have moved in — in 2011, average household income was $203,930, according to the Downtown Alliance.

Lee is now faced with trying to serve three clienteles at once — the upper income residents, tourists and middle-class city workers. Time will tell which direction he will ultimately move in, but for now, he said he hasn’t seen residents from 8 Spruce St. — where monthly rent for a studio is over $3,000 and a three-bedroom is almost $13,000 — shopping at his store.

He remembers when Nassau St. was closed to cars from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. There also used to be a Nassau Street Mall Association. That was dissolved in the late ‘90s and now the stores are part of the Downtown Alliance.

The Alliance, which runs the local business improvement district, declined to answer questions about the old mall or measures they have in place for small businesses.

At one time in the ‘80s, there were around 100,000 pedestrians who came daily to the Nassau Street Mall, according to a 1995 New York Daily News article.  Small retailers did well, “just from people working in the neighborhood,” the News reported then.

After Sept. 11, Lee said the city started letting cars through. Business the first year after the attacks was good as “a lot of people came to support this neighborhood,” Lee recalled, as he waved bye to a customer he has known for decades.

Business declined after that, but things really started getting bad when the recession hit in 2008.

“It has been worse every year after that,” he said. “We’re losing a lot of business. It’s kind of a tough time.”

Rent has gone up while sales have gone down, said Lee.

That was also Ali Mavruk’s lament, the owner of the H&M Art Gallery, also once known as the African American Art Gallery, at 105 Nassau St.

Amid sample frames and art that has been marked down, Mavruk said that after 15 years on Nassau, his monthly rent was increasing from $6,000 to $10,000 and he was looking for another spot. He said he had paid rent to his landlord right after Sept. 11 and Hurricane Sandy.

Construction has also affected his business as no one can walk on his store’s side of the street.

A sandwich board announcing a sale stood in front of the gallery. Across from him, a store was empty, but Mavruk remembers a different time. His gallery was once located on Wall St., but he moved to Nassau in 1999 because it “look[ed] like a dream here — business was very good.”

Lee said the empty storefront on his block has been vacant for at least 15 years. It was once Herman’s Sporting Goods, he said, a store that started in Lower Manhattan around 1916, but went out of business in the ‘90s. Seven storefronts are empty on Nassau between John and Beekman Sts.

Only one store out of seven interviewed by Downtown Express said that business was great — Pisillo Italian Panini at 97 Nassau St. Opened almost two years, Kathleen Tolentino, manager, said the sandwich shop was doing well. Mayor Bill de Blasio likes its paninis, the News reported.

Tansey Tang opened her eponymous store at 93 Nassau St. in March of 2002. She owns the jewelry store with her husband, Eric Huss, who has worked in the area since the ‘90s.

It was a struggle when it first opened, but eventually Tang built up a clientele with her jewelry, said Huss.

Business was okay until the crisis in 2008, when it started declining and several corporations and companies moved away, he said. The influx of residents, he said, means that the store has to open earlier, close later and stay open on weekends.

“It’s become more difficult,” said Huss, who noted that upscale retail has moved into the neighborhood. “It’s driving out small business owners.”

The street’s new developments

A stone’s throw away from the Fulton Center and 1 World Trade Center, several mixed-use buildings are sprouting up near or on Nassau St. between John and Beekman Sts.

At landmarked 5 Beekman St., a 287-room hotel will be attached to a 68-unit condo tower, with prices varying from $1.6 million to $15.3 million, according to news reports. Apartments are to offer “unparalleled” 360 views of the city, according to its website. Construction began in 2013 and is slated to be completed this year.

Guests staying at the Beekman Hotel will have their room service catered by Tom Colicchio’s restaurant. Colicchio, a James Beard award winner and “Top Chef” judge, as well as restaurateur powerhouse Keith McNally will both have “signature” restaurants, according to its website. Those living at the Beekman Residences are not to be left out — they will be able to order from the restaurants and will be given priority reservations.

A Colicchio rep told Downtown Express his restaurant and hotel are likely to open in early 2016.

At 75-83 Nassau St., according to reports, a 40-story, 498-foot tower is rising out of what once was a New York and Company, The Diner, a jewelry store, a Vietnamese sandwich and noodle shop and De Janeiro, a bargain women’s clothing store. Fred Mann, the general manager, told Downtown Express that the store was at this location for 15 years and will close at the end of the month. He said business has been good and they are moving across the street.

The building will have four floors of retail and above it, 197 residences, according to reports.

Also reportedly in the works is a 59-story mixed-use tower at 112-118 Fulton St.