The Wild (272 Driggs Ave.) appears to have permanently closed its Greenpoint storefront.
The store, with another location in Williamsburg (105 Grand St.), had been cleared out of its contents when Greenpointers recently walked by. The security gate had also been pulled down.
The Wild did not share news of any closure on its website or social media, but the space is currently listed on a commercial real estate site. A source shared with us that issues with the building’s new owner, who refused to complete urgent repairs, prompted the store to vacate.
And considering the landlord’s history of forcing out tenants through neglect, it sadly comes as no surprise that The Wild left so suddenly. Eden Ashourzadeh purchased 272 Driggs Avenue earlier this year. New York Attorney General Letitia James brought a case against Ashourzadeh and his previous property management group (Ink Property Group) in 2022, citing that they “bought dozens of rent-stabilized buildings in low-income communities of color with the intention of illegally deregulating affordable housing for profit.”
“The company implemented a strategy of purchasing small- to medium-sized apartment buildings with units that were primarily rent-stabilized,” a press release from the Attorney General’s office reads. “Ink would then engage in a campaign to force out all the rent-stabilized tenants — first illegally approaching tenants with buyouts, then repeatedly and persistently subjecting tenants to harassment, and in some cases, creating hazardous conditions so tenants were forced to leave because their apartments were no longer habitable.”
Ink was forced to pay $1.75 million to the Attorney General’s Affordable Housing Fund and $400,000 in restitution to previous tenants.
The building also contains four vacant apartments. The 2,400-square-foot retail space is now listed with an asking price of $15,000 per month.
The Wild served as a local hub for Greenpoint families, with products and workshops for every stage of childhood development. They regularly hosted classes designed to inform and empower new parents, such as childbirth workshops, lactation support groups, and prenatal yoga. Their music classes and sing-alongs were popular with kids.
We reached out for comment, but had not received a response as of publication.
So it was wildly expensive and they were benefiting from public subsidy of their rent?
I went to law school and I still can’t figure out how those actions are civil offenses, not criminal. Fraud, harassment and forcing people to live in dangerous conditions. Why not put some teeth into the prosecutions and maybe these bad acting owners will at the least do their business elsewhere?