The prisoners of 2nd ave
January 11, 2008
YORKVILLE. Giuseppe Pecora decided to follow his customers here 20 years ago, when he opened Delizia pizzeria on the corner of 92nd Street and Second Avenue.
“We had a location on 73rd Street, and people used to take cabs down,” Pecora said.
The surrounding mom-and-pop shops were thriving, and Pecora’s business grew so much he built an enclosed café to accommodate another 45 diners. Then construction started last spring on the $3.8 billion Second Avenue Subway.
Concrete barriers, heavy equipment and chain-link fences now claim what used to be sidewalks on the west side of Second Avenue between 91st and 95th streets. Next month, construction will move to the east side.
“Foot traffic’s gone way down,” complained Pecora, who’s had to demolish his café and layoff 2 of his 17 employees.
Since April, revenues have dropped by $3 million from a year ago, according to 29 shop owners. Pecora conducted that survey in November by going door-to-door; losses of 20 percent were typical.
“Everybody said the same thing,” he recalled. “They were down 60, 70, 100 thousand dollars. Three places have closed.”
Yesterday the remaining small businesses appealed to their fellow New Yorkers to help out, as politicians unveiled a “Shop Second Avenue” campaign to lure people to the area.
“We need the Second Avenue Subway, but these businesses are taking a hit for all of us,” said the area’s City Councilman, Dan Garodnick. “We have to help them get through this difficult time.”
The MTA is pitching in with a marketing campaign, designing a logo and posting information on its Web site about the affected businesses. It’s promised to host weekly meetings and to develop better signage that will improve store visibility and help shoppers navigate the way to front doors.
Assemblymen Jonathan Bing and Micah Kellner are introducing legislation to offer tax credits and rebates to business owners as well as grants to tide them over. Bing said the area could become a tax-free zone for shoppers.
“The businesses farther down the avenue will face the same challenges,” Garodnick said. “This is our opportunity to create an effective strategy — a long-term strategy — to protect them as well.”
More to come
The first phase of the Second Avenue Subway project will extend the Q from 63rd to 96th streets. While Yorkville businesses will see construction subside in roughly three years, the project won’t be complete until 2014.
Via the NY METRO
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