Commercial tenants at a building complex on Greenpoint Avenue and West Street received last-minute lease terminations this week, requiring them to vacate by the end of November.
ZDS Creative and Flintts Mints confirmed they were among those affected. The building complex also houses Ilegal Mezcal, Lucky Honey, Pink Sparrow, and Stuart Cinema and Cafe, among others. We have not yet received confirmation if those businesses will have to vacate.
91 West LLC, operated by Jack Guttman of Pearl Realty NY, owns the building complex at 36-44 Greenpoint Avenue and 79-91 West Street.
In the world of New York City real estate, Pearl Realty has garnered a notorious reputation, especially in Greenpoint (Pearl is owned by Guttman’s father, Joshua). There have been at least five documented cases of arson at Guttman properties, including at the former Greenpoint Terminal Market in 2006. Pearl Realty owns 42 and 67 West Street in their own name. The Guttmans’ ownership of the rest of West Street is through a series of LLCs, a classic landlord tactic of obfuscating information.
Several tenants at the neighboring 67 West Street building shared their experiences with Greenpointers in 2020, citing maintenance concerns, dubious extra fees, and a general sense of inflexibility as businesses struggled with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When they want to collect money, you’ll hear from them a lot, but when there’s something wrong, they’re nowhere to be found,” one tenant told us at the time.
It would appear that little has changed in the five years since we last spoke to Guttman tenants.
“They’ve always been weird landlords, but in exchange, we got relatively okay rents,” said Russell Adler, who owns Flintts Mints.
Adler tells Greenpointers that he always appreciated the community feel of this particular pocket of Greenpoint, with its Restaurant Row, park space, and a plethora of independent shops and artist studios. He fears that such a drastic move will damage the ethos of what makes Greenpoint great.
“To essentially just uproot a community and kind of just throw it away, that to me felt like it had a different character,” he said.
The rapid-fire terminations caused some speculation about whether a sale might be imminent. The developer TF Cornerstone purchased nearby lots at 57 West Street and 24 Oak Street from Jack Guttman’s LLCs last year; they plan to turn the lots into condos. There are no current sales listed in city property records; however, 91 West LLC entered into an agreement with TF Cornerstone last year, which grants the developer the right to make a first offer if 91 West does list the property for sale.
One former tenant felt like they saw writing on the wall and vacated their storefront after months of issues with 91 West LLC, whom they referred to as “super sketchy.”
“I was there all day working, so I could see all these guys, groups of ten guys, with measuring shit and everything,” said the tenant, who was granted anonymity to speak freely. “Like, that’s zoning, that’s how you check for a skyscraper.”
They found it particularly cruel that 91 West LLC not only gave such short notice, but it means stores must vacate right before they can enjoy the benefits of the busy holiday season.
“As a store, you worked all year for that one month. They should be giving the renters there until February. You’re gonna kick them out in November? That’s insane.”
Both tenants we spoke to said that 91 West LLC only allowed month-to-month rental agreements. Under New York City law, landlords must provide month-to-month commercial tenants with at least 60 days’ notice if they have occupied the space for more than a year, and 90 days’ notice for those who have been there longer than two years. Several tenants, such as Ilegal Mezcal, have been there for years, calling into question the legality of these tactics.
We reached out to Pearl Realty and Jack Guttman for comment.
“At Pearl Realty, the privacy of our tenants is of utmost importance to us. As such, it is our policy not to disclose or discuss the specifics of their current tenancies with any media outlets,” a Pearl Realty representative told us.
They did not respond to our follow up asking to confirm which businesses will be affected. Guttman also did not respond.
I’m sure the answer is nothing, but what can we do about this? I’m all for more housing, but not at the expense of the businesses that make Greenpoint great. Guttman sounds like he just wants a soulless neighborhood full of high rises.
Such a coincidence they’ve had as many arson fires as they’ve had….
I don’t know how they are not in jail at this point. That’s a beautiful building too, so many lovely businesses… it would be a terrible loss for this neighborhood if they were to raze it.
Typo corrected if you choose to pub;osh:
It would appear that the gentrifiers are now being gentrified. This from the perspective of an old time Greenpoint resident who has witnessed the very same insatiable greed displayed by far too many building owners over the years ..-with profit above people & money over morals, crushing any concern for the community, its residents or its businesses. It’s not just a question of unaffordability. Left unchecked, it’s a grinding greed that destroys lives, livelihoods & neighborhoods and treats people like disposable pawns to be put out with the trash. instead of treating people with the dignity & respect that they deserve it’s destructive of basic human needs & social values. Left unchecked, it’s a shameless ethos of squeezing the blood out of people until they’re literally at their breaking point ..and then squeezing them even more, more, more. Left unchecked, this unholy pursuit of the almighty dollar devours decency. It’s no way to live. It has to change.
As an Original Greenpointer all I can say is KARMA BABY
Good reporting. Where there is smoke there is fire. Looks like the
owner is up to something legal or not that will screw the tenants.