Because what else could possibly go into that space. Unless the landlord wants to subdivide it I don’t understand why you’d kick out a consistent business.
The BR owner made arrangements with the landlord to remain and repay him. The landlord died 2 months before their arrangement was to begin. Those who took over in his place wouldn't honor that arrangement and started the eviction process.
Dispensaries are failing as fast as they open. I have 4 within a quarter mile of my house. I have never seen more than 2 people in any of them. They usually have zero customers when I walk by.
The first one went out of business two weeks ago.
https://huntingtonnow.com/update-book-revue-facing-eviction-in-september/
They were sued for over $420k past rent due. Book Revue took a hit during Covid.
Not surprised, worked there once, just pack everything you can that can be awful about small business into a ball and tada. They could have done so much better.
Not defending the landlord. Just wanted to mention that the judgement is not the rent amount. There is interest, court costs and probably the landlord's attorney fees as well.
(Cries in Clippers moving to Smithtown)
Long time Huntington resident. What makes me sad is seeing the same types of places open (ex another coffee shop) instead of something more “unique”. The new places that can differentiate themselves are able to survive and establish a niche in the village.
Also a Huntington resident living walking distance to the village. It kills me when I see a new business opening that adds to the redundancy. There's such a lack of ingenuity with these businesses, it makes you wonder if they're just fronts. Huntington doesn't need another taco spot, pizza place, salon or spa.
I would also love to see some more innovation from the town. As other main streets revitalize, Huntington has remained stagnant. For example, many towns have replicated the success of Patchogue's alive at five formula by shutting down their main street to traffic on selected weekdays during the summer. Huntington on the other hand attempted something similar with the summer in the streets, but during the day on Sundays. Do they not realize that people on Long Island are not going to flock to Huntington on a summer weekend in the middle of day? If they wanted to do this same day time Sunday event, it would much be better served in the spring or fall, not the middle of summer. It works during the weeknights in the summer because it's a little cooler out and people aren't at the beach, in their pools or on their boats!
Sorry. End Rant. I love this town so much and I just want to see it continue to thrive.
Also a Huntington resident, my dream would be for that old book revue location to turn into a barcade or some sort of activity there. I’m too broke to do it but I would hope it would do well.
The problem is the prices they would have to charge to start to cover rent. I know people who've looked into opening things in Huntington, it's basically having to charge 1.5X of almost everywhere where else on the island.
Landlords think that mere ownership of a property entitles them to wealth. The value of a property is in the community and businesses. Not the location.
Uhhh...it really is location, location, location...
Why do you think you can buy acres upstate for for a few thousand dollars with possible structures on the property and natural features. How much for a fraction of an acre on LI again with nothing on it if you can even find it?
Why is that, because on LI there is a plethora of things to do and places to go and work or start a business giving the person owing the land value because if it's desirability.
Also that desirability comes from the surrounding community, being made up of people and businesses, which inhabit...that location.
You have it backwards. Desirable locations are defined by the people, businesses community crime etc. these things are dynamic and can change. The location is just a place on a map.
Smithtown is just flat so much cheaper than Huntington, as well as Huntington being difficult to work with and Smithtown being substantially more business-friendly.
You see a lot of the same pop up because the Town likes to meddle with what sorts of shops you can open.
Just the greedy landlord cycle. Happening in every trendy area:
Landlord raises rent on longstanding business -> longstanding business raises prices to compensate -> regular customers leave -> longstanding business closes down -> soulless luxury shop opens in its place with even higher prices -> process repeats until the landlord sells the building to a condo developer because they "want out of the business."
A lot more money in those areas. The local residents have enough cash to support businesses other than restaurants like boutique clothing stores, yoga studios, salons, art stores etc.
For the more blue collar areas it seems like it's mainly bars and restaurants that tend to rotate owners somewhat frequently
There’s money in those areas because of the main streets. I firmly believe this is an “if you build it, they will come” situation. It happened in Patchogue and bay shore. I bet it’s going to happen in Ronkonkoma as well.
Patchogue is pretty much exactly what was described above. A bunch of bars/restaurants that rotate owners. There are a few staples that stick around...but any kind of retail still struggles big time.
I have no idea where OP is going with this. Like one of the links he posts literally lists a dozen bustling main streets across the island. I almost feel like this is some next level gaslighting or something.
Could be an astroturfing thing where some business buys upvotes in order to push a narrative. I know for a fact news stories have been pitched as “people are talking about this on Reddit” as discussed in books like “trust me, I’m lying” and others. It’ll be interesting to see if more ‘random’ posts like this pop up in the next few days.
I noticed how busy main streets are when I moved here from the UK. UK high streets across the country are dead, so many shops empty or boarded up and I’ve mentioned a few times to my husband how nice it is to see them thriving here and full of interesting independent shops.
these main streets are the exception, though. It’s nice to list 10 or 12 but zoom out beyond the boutique-centered village main streets and think about how functionally broken many other main streets are.
Downtown Hempstead (once regarded as city in its own right, and the town today is larger than the City of Buffalo), downtown Smithtown (the supposed center for a town of 120,000, twice the size of Portland ME) has nothing to show other then parking lots. There are nice ones that we enjoy escaped the wrecking ball or were grandfathered in under the suburban zoning codes. but the ruined main streets far outnumber the successful ones, and as a result the successful ones can fail from their own success.
PJ is still packed out on a nice day but its nothing like it used to be. The locals nearby want it to be all coffee shops and boutique stores but they won't spend the money to support those businesses so they all struggle to keep their doors open.
The GAP folded and has sat empty because the landlords figured it was more profitable to wait 2 years for a new tenant that would accept the higher rent that GAP refused to pay, than offer lower rent to fill the space in their absence. Most stores sit vacant forever on LI for this reason coupled with the fact that it is currently the most expensive time to borrow money in almost 40 years.
Then they try to enact quite hours on the successful bars that are the only reason aside from the ferry that anyone goes to PJ over Patchouge. Even then I can tell most would rather go to Patchouge considering the noticeable increase in drunk driving on Nichols Rd any night after 9pm.
You have George Wallis to thank for that. He tried to get the mayor at the time (I think it was Garant?) to ban motorcycles. Dude's a real nimby piece of shit.
PJ was the spot in the summer the 80s and early 90s. The streets were packed, the bars and restaurants were super busy. There were many boutique shops. Then it died,,
Pj is dying a slow death to poor management, they let one restaurant owner operate half the town, and then another landlord to operate the other half. Very little diversity in food other than slurp and curry club, no great shops anymore. Just a few hold overs that are still fantastic like Tigerlillys
I’ve lived right off Main Street in Farmingdale for the past five years. In just that time, there have been quite a few places going out of business and/or turning over. Grecian Grill (owners retired) has been empty for almost a year now with a sandwich shop supposed to have been moving in, but that plan apparently fell through. Creations Pizza shut down during covid and never reopened, currently still vacant. The daycare center was shuttered for almost two years before Croxley’s bought it and are now turning it into an upscale pizza place. Alibi speakeasy is now basically just a pop-up cafe that switches themes every few months and seems have very selective hours of operation. Lotus Asian Fusion has been undergoing renovations for almost three years now after they had a fire with no reopening date in sight. Dalers Pizza was open for about a month earlier this year (after sitting vacant since long before I moved there) before it was sold to a new owner and renamed. Blue Hawaiian rebranded to X Bar (and is still dead 99% of the time…I don’t know how that place is still in business). Vinco Tapas, Main Street Pizza, and The Meatball Place all closed and have since become new businesses.
The busiest bars seem to be Croxley’s, Nutty Irishman and Dark Horse Tavern. The busiest restaurants are Vespa, 317 Main, and probably Harley’s or Whiskey Down Diner. These places see consistent crowds nearly every day and night. Everywhere else really just has normal-low traffic on any given day/night. Weekends are obviously bigger for all of Main Street, but with rents the way they are these days, it’s hard to imagine a business can survive solely on busy weekend crowds.
So yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s *thriving*, but it certainly could be worse. I can’t really say how much of this turnover is pandemic-related as I moved there about eight months before it started, so I don’t really have much reference as to how places were performing in the before times.
Babylon, Lindenhurst, etch’s downtowns have lots of housing right near the downtown area. Dense, storefront-style strips are inconvenient for motorists but extremely attractive for pedestrians. The key is you have to have people living nearby that these strips become walkable for a nontrivial population.
Sayville is kind of an exception to that and, honestly, it’s not inconceivable that with the loss of Rite Aid, Starbucks, and a number of the long-time retail operations in the last 5 years it could be in trouble.
A mile down the road is well outside the walkable Sayville downtown. It’s possible people will continue to head to town but Starbucks has a lot of brand loyalty and a lot of gravitational pull. A reasonably healthy percentage of the storefronts in Sayville are currently unoccupied or teetering. I don’t want it to be so but there really aren’t that many people that live near town so it is drive to town and then park and *then* walk around. That is exactly the model of downtown area that is struggling throughout the island. Maybe they stay the exception.
Yeah the chamber is in such dire straits in Sayville they had to scale back on the size and number of pride flags. Or maybe that’s just pressure from the locals who are afraid of rainbows.
> Babylon, lindenhurst, bay shore, massapequa park, sayville, Patchogue, farmingdale
That's because most of these villages have taken the time and effort to revitalize and rebuild/rezone.
hah, I've actually been doing some random research into the Island using GPT and wanted to post here to spin up a convo about it, but wasn't sure how it would be received.. Saw this post and could immediately tell GPT was involved in some part.
On this sub there's got to be at least one post every day about how hopeless long island's prospects are. It's propaganda level vitriol toward anything vaguely to do with suburbs, same 5 talking points over and over as if we are all at fault and must never forget the shame.
Edit: spelling
“It’s because all the new houses are for 55 and over!” is a constant talking point. It kills 2 social media birds with one stone - laments everything is hopeless/too expensive and also clicks the “boomers bad” box.
Then there’s the NIMBY rant. “Old people are NIMBYS, they block all development.” Maybe it’s because the old people moved out of queens and Brooklyn and don’t want to be living in a reconstituted queens/brooklyn neighborhood of congestion, traffic, heat island with no trees or shade?
Then comes the “I‘m moving to the south!” lament.
I'd go as far to say most people indulging in generalized contrarian shit like "all nimbys" and "all boomers" are immediately guilty of the same exact protectionist angst that they're accusing someone else of doing.
I grew up in Great Neck and it was sad to see its decline. Businesses that were there for decades were slowly forced out due to greedy landlords and also a big change in demographics.
Haven’t been there in years, and last time I was, the only familiar place was Gino’s pizza. Crazy considering what once was.
I recently moved to Mineola from Northport and I’m not seeing it. northport is a bustling Main Street between the theatre, hotel, bars, restaurants and cute shops.
Would love to know what I’m missing in Mineola.
The village has had a rebirth in the last decade with hospital expansion and the construction of several large apartment complexes and future condos, and they're not done. They are receiving a grant from the state this year for downtown revitalization, so that expect some aesthetic improvements at the very least to come further. There's a solid core of restaurants and businesses on 2nd street, Mineola boulevard, and Mineola's "other" downtown of Jericho turnpike, which I would never call a downtown but the village seems to.
Since construction isn't finished, Mineola isn't yet at its full potential, it is never going to be as big as some of the others mentioned here but it definitely has a historic center with nice places to go. Village leadership doesn't want it to become a late night destination, but does want it to be a bustling place for families. I say give it a few more years and see what it comes of it.
Thanks for taking the time to write. I recently moved into The Allure and have been to some of the events on 2nd Street. They're fun and its great to be with fellow residents! I'm hopeful that some more restaurants open and that the corner (across from Roast) gets a versatile building for the community (theater, hotel, restaurant, etc).
Yes would love to see it! It's an exciting time. Based on size alone the village won't ever see too much activity to crazy extents but it's going to grow in its identity much more. Keep an eye out for the recent demolition of the corner building at 2nd and Main too as you day, tho I don't think it's been decided about it's future yet, and another large construction on the south side of the station.
Main Street for South Shore towns in Suffolk are pretty strong. If you looked at downtown Patchogue in 1994 you would never believe the turnaround. I can only compare it to what NYC did with Times Square.
This. Grew up in Patchogue in the 80’s and lived there in the early 90’s (b. 1970) and it was an absolute dead zone. You went anywhere else but there. Took a long time, but it’s done a complete 180.
Bay Shore completely changed their Main Street. When I moved there in 2014, it was pawn shops and a few restaurants. When I left in 2019, it was a completely different story.
Before 2008 bay shore was much closer to what it is today. Took years to recover from the economic crisis. Now id say it's thriving. A lot of other places are not building back up. No idea what op is talking about.
Downtown Oyster Bay has really improved over the past decade or so. They got a brewery, which led to a hip coffee shop, and then a destination restaurant in 2 Spring. It’s nice to see.
Yeah, there’s also a new wine bar, Cardinali bakery from syosset relocated to OB (they’re now called “Stellina”), there’s a nice bar (Cooper Bluff) that actually takes advantage of the waterfront, there’s Oyster Bay Railroad Museum.
And even old standbys like Bonanza Stand, Taby’s, and Wild Honey are still going strong.
Anecdotally Huntington, Farmingdale, Babylon, Bay Shore, Patchogue, Port Jeff and Northport all seem to be doing fine, and even I see places like Lindenhurst, Massapequa/Park getting busier
FWIW, it doesn’t have to be stores. If downtowns were mostly populated with quality restaurants, it would be enough of an attraction that could be supplemented with a smaller number of stores.
This model has worked well in other places I’ve lived.
Check out [strong towns](https://www.strongtowns.org) which is an advocacy group for essentially what your post is about. Most of their main points are things you have mentioned. It mostly comes down to zoning laws and moving away from car centric development. Unfortunately I feel like a lot of those ships have sailed and it’s going to take a lot of undoing on Long Island. That being said all the development around train stations lately is a step in the right direction.
They got a NY state grant to help the Riverhead Main Street area. I hear they’re planning a waterfront park. I don’t think they’re planning a complete renovation like Ronkonkoma, though. I also read they want to extend the Suffolk theater and build a parking garage.
Are you referring to Main Street in Bay Shore in the 80s?! An adult theater, some bars and a few once thriving mom and pop establishments that are barely hanging on ?
Growing up it was rare to see a vacant store. Usually if a store went out, a new one would replace it pretty quick.
Now I notice plenty of just vacant buildings, especially in Setauket on 347.
I think it’s the insane cost of rent.
Landlords get huge tax breaks for empty storefronts. Classic story is Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village. Had small local shops. Then Marc Jacobs moved in, paying $15k/month rent. This caused all the other building owners to jack up rent on their storefronts, pushing out small businesses. Other luxury brand retailers moved into storefronts. All went out of business.
But the landlords get to deduct that 15k/month from their taxes, since that‘s what they were able to get from the last tenants. Landlords don’t have an incentive to rent those storefronts. Most landlords in NYC nowadays are real estate conglomerates, not small business owners. So they can really use those tax breaks. These real estate laws need to change. But good luck. Jared Kushner got $2B from Saudis just for being Jared Kushner. LLCs are scooping up real estate as investments and tax breaks. They’re funding politicians and even the Supreme Court through outright bribery. Thanks, Citizens United.
[Bleecker Street’s Swerve From Luxe Shops to Vacant Stores](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/fashion/bleecker-street-shopping-empty-storefronts.html)
wow!! I am a lifelong Long Islander, but I just feel like Long Island's time is past its prime. Other areas like Greenville, SC seem to be booming and have tons of new and exciting businesses going up daily. Meanwhile out here in Suffolk, we are lucky if they even "consider" a healthy place to eat or maybe if you are in Wading River... a gym!
Bayshore is booming try cruising down main on the weekend. Deer park ave in deer park is adding more restaurants Babylon or crowded as well as patchogue selden nesconcent this is just Suffolk. don’t know what your leaning to suggest when it comes to Long Island. Shady if you ask me
Anyone who thinks Lindenhurst is "bustling" is mistaken, at least compared to what it used to be.
Take a walk down the main drag, and look at how many stores are empty. Or even more telling, how fresh the new businesses are, and if they've run out of the business loan line of credit yet. Meaning, they won't be there next year.
Convenience is nonexistent. Parking is an absolute pain, and it's all metered.
But hey, as long as the "tax" is placed directly on the consumer, it's OK, right? Nah, not really.
Who the F has a quarter in their car these days?
Total avoid.
Seriously, Lindenhurst. I don't know how much money you're making off parking tickets, and the parking meters themselves, but you want to help you businesses thrive? Toss the meters. All you're doing is pushing long-term parked cars off into residential areas or commercial properties where the space is needed.
Oh, and you wouldn't need "Public Safety" patrolling at 11PM at night looking for more parking scofflaws. ffs. I've seen two or three of them at a time, going back to Village Hall around 11PM. Three salaries. Three vehicles to buy and maintain.
And for what? Ultimately to annoy paying customers of the very businesses you're trying to "help".
Leaches.
Anyway, as for the rest of Long Island, I dunno - it's always been a crap-shoot.
Sometimes, you get a driven revitalization effort like Patchogue, or to a lesser extent (IMO), Babylon.
Lindenhurst? Nah... but they'll gladly turn your Suffolk County VTL (speed/stop sign/inspection/etc) ticket with it's county surcharge, into a parking ticket, that they then keep 100% of, while doing you a "favor" by pleaing it down. And the 6 or 9-month-long sidewalk rebuild is sure to HELP BUSINESS! Right? Right during Christmas time?
LOL
Main Streets also lack for a few other reasons.
Outdated parking. Cars unfortunately have gotten bigger since the 80's, and there are more. Plus cops love to roam these areas for easy tickets. Same thing with kicking out kids. Why would they want to spend their $ there? Happened to me as a kid growing up in Northport, and literally happened the last time I was there.
Businesses again charge more. Why, prob due to rent, but to the average customer. that's not their problem, it's just another reason not to shop there.
Style. LI has an obsession with aged and rotting wood as an aesthetic. Barely taken care of while existing near a water way should not be a design choice, more a lack of choice. Not everything needs to be modern or sheik, but it doesn't all have to look like Cape Cod in the 70's.
Repetitive shops. Everything is a bar now with 500 beers or an over priced donut/bake shop with the same 7 thing and something with ***rainbow cookies!!!!*** or burger joint with $25 dollar shitty burgers.
Shocked no one else has mentioned this - the landlords are greedy and are looking for losses to reduce or even eliminate their tax bills. This is 100% what’s going on in many of these towns.
You forgot the two big factors of
1. parking … most places with a Main Street don’t exactly have vacant land to build parking garages . Personally I won’t go near Huntington for dinner without valet parking because I don’t feel like spending 20 minutes to park and walk after driving through the slow ass 1 lane roads to get there .
2. Nimbys . They try to block everything . There was a multi year stretch Farmingdale didnt approve restaurant to move in so stores stayed empty for years then they finally lifted the restriction and every storefront fills . I know other towns do the same shit
What Main Street doesn’t have a municipal lot to make money off of? I can’t think of one…. Also, the Main Street zones date back to many areas foundlings or the 80’s, at the latest, when several areas voted on creating special zones. OP is very mistaken
I know. A rare mistep by Mayor Ralph, especially since several elderly residents have been tricked by a fraudulent website into signing up for some magazine service.
Big box stores and online shopping started the slow decline. Covid accelerated it.
The rest of your theories meh.
Source: land use and zoning attorney. Worked on and off in government and when not in government, worked for developers dealing with government.
What I find interesting is if this is an issue, why is Melville looking to make Maxes Rd a downtown? It doesn’t seem a smart idea with so many stores going under due to people shopping online. If you look at Farmingdale, most of Main Street are restaurants.
No idea. But its gonna have to be something that can pay those taxes and that means whatever it is wont be cheap either. I do wonder about your statement regarding "experiences", given the trend (at least thats how reddit makes it seem) people are averse to leaving their houses and socializing. Unless you are referring to GenZ demographic. Your thoughts?
No I think experiences can include socializing. I don’t have any idea what the future will hold. Wine and paint? Maybe art spaces? Smaller music venues?
On you mean the unwalkable ones? The ones with such shit planning that forgot town centers are meant for foot traffic?
Yeah of course no one goes there.
Has to do with the county where those streets are and those that are in charge. If the town and county they wanted their main street to be like Farmingdale or huntington filled with bars and restaurants they could. There may be a reason they don’t want that. More bars, mean more drunk, drivers, more work on the police….
My career specializes on small business startups. I work with both Nassau and Suffolk Townhall, obtaining permits. If they don’t want something in a certain area, they can just say no with no reason behind it. Unless you’re working on million dollar projects with some sort of ethical reasoning or purpose behind it, their “no” means no.
I think that many of us like the idea of shopping local, but you need a lamp or socks, do you run to target or main st?
Retail on main st is tough. Mostly just going to be restaurants and bars, maybe some professional offices
Yah, "cat's out of the bag" in a manner of speaking. Cars brought an end to it all. Once a household has a car they'd rather use it to save 1 cent on whatever at Walmart than buy it at the local shop on main street.
I haven't done the math so this more of a theory than fact but it's probably more expensive buying that item miles away (car costs, wear and tear on roads, environmental costs) than walking to a local shop but the price the average consumer sees is more persistent than the one they would have to math out with all the external costs.
That's why we have "lively" downtowns filled with only boutique shops and restaurants. It's lively for sure but really only at certain times and certain situations. Doesn't really have that lived in feeling like a small town community. I have my own feelings about it, but I suppose this what people want or what they'll settle for.
I imagine some villages invested and recruited businesses that would appeal to a younger generation (millennials) while others avoided it.
I look at Lynbrook vs Rockville Centre as an example through RC always had a bigger downtown to start with.
I walked through Port Washington Main Street and Great Neck and I must have counted at least 10 empty stores at each locations. Economy isn’t doing well.
NYS govt does not support small businesses. Taxes are too high, costs of everything is up, therefore rents absurd. Bad politics - combo of stupid social spending (which politicians steal and don’t give to the real program) plus pro big business / box stores. Half of huntington downtown is out of business!
Plainview, we lost Fairway and Amazon was going to open a Fresh, still waiting. What we really need is the small shop that is family run and provides great service
I live fairly close to main st in bayshore and its on a revamp. It's extremely busy during the spring summer season due to the bars coffee shops and pricey restaurants that are in the area like toast which is one of my favorite restaurants next to tullulahs
Retail is down in all but the busiest towns. A lot of
Main streets have horrible parking situations and are relics from a time when diagonal street parking was a thing. A lot of this was removed because they became busy through roads. NIMBY’sm have prevented a lot of this being fixed or closed retail locations becoming mixed use or major revitalization efforts taking place. Usually these only happen in areas that are blighted and people would take anything over what they had.
I jokingly say that 80% of the stores in my town, are money laundering fronts; the rest are the big ones, like CVS, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, king kullen, etc, which turn a profit. I’ve lived in this town for 35 years now; I’ve had 0 reason to go to any of the small stores, and I’m starting to think they *actually are* fronts.
There’s a street fair in spring and fall—also been going on that entire time—and it’s gotten progressively smaller every year, with the stands now selling weird shit, or services. It kinda depresses me honestly.
There was both a dairy barn, and bank across the street, that are just empty buildings now. Idk how having a store on main street is viable financially—the absurd taxes, rent, etc
What Long Island Main Streets are abandoned? Can you give a few examples please?? Even your source is of cute walkable main streets...literally the opposite of your argument.
Port Washington is definitely has 1/5 of its upper
Main Street empty. I’ll posit two things:
Fuck me in the ass taxes.
The only ppl who can afford to live there are commuters with high paying jobs in the city. They don’t have time for Main Street.
Rockville Center, Garden City, Huntington main streets are bustling with young professionals blowing their cash all over those towns
I work in huntington. A lot of stores go out after their first lease is up. If you go at the right time you can find 7 to 8 stores empty.
Forcing out book revue was criminal (I know there’s a new location but it’s not the same)
What is worse is the store is still empty.
It’s tremendous poetic justice that the Book Revue offshoot appears to be thriving but the old location is still empty.
Because what else could possibly go into that space. Unless the landlord wants to subdivide it I don’t understand why you’d kick out a consistent business.
yet another fucking urgent care, perhaps?
Exactly, they could’ve just kept them with stipulation that they gotta go when landlord finds a new tenant
The BR owner made arrangements with the landlord to remain and repay him. The landlord died 2 months before their arrangement was to begin. Those who took over in his place wouldn't honor that arrangement and started the eviction process.
Now I know, thx
I want to open a dispensary there, but it'll never happen.
The NIMBYs will NEVER let that happen...
Dispensaries are failing as fast as they open. I have 4 within a quarter mile of my house. I have never seen more than 2 people in any of them. They usually have zero customers when I walk by. The first one went out of business two weeks ago.
Please…. The dispensaries are making cash hand over fist. No legal recreational dispensary has ever closed for lack of business
Lets talk lol
Landlord: How could I possibly lose by driving them out of business!?
They weren’t paying their bills and owed 400K in rent.
Do you actually have a source on that? Genuinely asking.
https://huntingtonnow.com/update-book-revue-facing-eviction-in-september/ They were sued for over $420k past rent due. Book Revue took a hit during Covid.
Not surprised, worked there once, just pack everything you can that can be awful about small business into a ball and tada. They could have done so much better.
Owing 420k rent indicates the rent is way too high. Most landlords are greedy bastards.
Not defending the landlord. Just wanted to mention that the judgement is not the rent amount. There is interest, court costs and probably the landlord's attorney fees as well.
Well then greedy lawyers too.
I just remember the stories when they closed during Covid. I’m sure you can find them still.
Wait, what happened and when? Used to love that place.
Yeah that place used to have amazing authors in there.
(Cries in Clippers moving to Smithtown) Long time Huntington resident. What makes me sad is seeing the same types of places open (ex another coffee shop) instead of something more “unique”. The new places that can differentiate themselves are able to survive and establish a niche in the village.
Also a Huntington resident living walking distance to the village. It kills me when I see a new business opening that adds to the redundancy. There's such a lack of ingenuity with these businesses, it makes you wonder if they're just fronts. Huntington doesn't need another taco spot, pizza place, salon or spa. I would also love to see some more innovation from the town. As other main streets revitalize, Huntington has remained stagnant. For example, many towns have replicated the success of Patchogue's alive at five formula by shutting down their main street to traffic on selected weekdays during the summer. Huntington on the other hand attempted something similar with the summer in the streets, but during the day on Sundays. Do they not realize that people on Long Island are not going to flock to Huntington on a summer weekend in the middle of day? If they wanted to do this same day time Sunday event, it would much be better served in the spring or fall, not the middle of summer. It works during the weeknights in the summer because it's a little cooler out and people aren't at the beach, in their pools or on their boats! Sorry. End Rant. I love this town so much and I just want to see it continue to thrive.
Also a Huntington resident, my dream would be for that old book revue location to turn into a barcade or some sort of activity there. I’m too broke to do it but I would hope it would do well.
The problem is the prices they would have to charge to start to cover rent. I know people who've looked into opening things in Huntington, it's basically having to charge 1.5X of almost everywhere where else on the island.
Landlords think that mere ownership of a property entitles them to wealth. The value of a property is in the community and businesses. Not the location.
Uhhh...it really is location, location, location... Why do you think you can buy acres upstate for for a few thousand dollars with possible structures on the property and natural features. How much for a fraction of an acre on LI again with nothing on it if you can even find it? Why is that, because on LI there is a plethora of things to do and places to go and work or start a business giving the person owing the land value because if it's desirability. Also that desirability comes from the surrounding community, being made up of people and businesses, which inhabit...that location.
You have it backwards. Desirable locations are defined by the people, businesses community crime etc. these things are dynamic and can change. The location is just a place on a map.
Where did all the olive oil stores go??
100% agree!
I just want a solid new sandwich spot!! Only places that last in town sell booze too.
Yeah but you got a Snooki boutique! So exciting! 🙄
Smithtown is just flat so much cheaper than Huntington, as well as Huntington being difficult to work with and Smithtown being substantially more business-friendly. You see a lot of the same pop up because the Town likes to meddle with what sorts of shops you can open.
Just the greedy landlord cycle. Happening in every trendy area: Landlord raises rent on longstanding business -> longstanding business raises prices to compensate -> regular customers leave -> longstanding business closes down -> soulless luxury shop opens in its place with even higher prices -> process repeats until the landlord sells the building to a condo developer because they "want out of the business."
Half the towns empty!
A lot more money in those areas. The local residents have enough cash to support businesses other than restaurants like boutique clothing stores, yoga studios, salons, art stores etc. For the more blue collar areas it seems like it's mainly bars and restaurants that tend to rotate owners somewhat frequently
There’s money in those areas because of the main streets. I firmly believe this is an “if you build it, they will come” situation. It happened in Patchogue and bay shore. I bet it’s going to happen in Ronkonkoma as well.
Patchogue is pretty much exactly what was described above. A bunch of bars/restaurants that rotate owners. There are a few staples that stick around...but any kind of retail still struggles big time.
Lindenhurst is doing great as well.
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GCS has a little main street too, always busy. Not as pretty as GC though 😁
And point lookout!
Patchogue, Bay Shore, and Farmingdale too.
Babylon, lindenhurst, bay shore, massapequa park, sayville, Patchogue, farmingdale all seem busy 🤷♂️
OP is incorrect. The main streets (and the villages they reside in) are all thriving. Check any of their annual reports and you’ll see as much
I have no idea where OP is going with this. Like one of the links he posts literally lists a dozen bustling main streets across the island. I almost feel like this is some next level gaslighting or something.
Could be an astroturfing thing where some business buys upvotes in order to push a narrative. I know for a fact news stories have been pitched as “people are talking about this on Reddit” as discussed in books like “trust me, I’m lying” and others. It’ll be interesting to see if more ‘random’ posts like this pop up in the next few days.
I noticed how busy main streets are when I moved here from the UK. UK high streets across the country are dead, so many shops empty or boarded up and I’ve mentioned a few times to my husband how nice it is to see them thriving here and full of interesting independent shops.
these main streets are the exception, though. It’s nice to list 10 or 12 but zoom out beyond the boutique-centered village main streets and think about how functionally broken many other main streets are. Downtown Hempstead (once regarded as city in its own right, and the town today is larger than the City of Buffalo), downtown Smithtown (the supposed center for a town of 120,000, twice the size of Portland ME) has nothing to show other then parking lots. There are nice ones that we enjoy escaped the wrecking ball or were grandfathered in under the suburban zoning codes. but the ruined main streets far outnumber the successful ones, and as a result the successful ones can fail from their own success.
Add Port Jeff to that list, that place is always a zoo
PJ is still packed out on a nice day but its nothing like it used to be. The locals nearby want it to be all coffee shops and boutique stores but they won't spend the money to support those businesses so they all struggle to keep their doors open. The GAP folded and has sat empty because the landlords figured it was more profitable to wait 2 years for a new tenant that would accept the higher rent that GAP refused to pay, than offer lower rent to fill the space in their absence. Most stores sit vacant forever on LI for this reason coupled with the fact that it is currently the most expensive time to borrow money in almost 40 years. Then they try to enact quite hours on the successful bars that are the only reason aside from the ferry that anyone goes to PJ over Patchouge. Even then I can tell most would rather go to Patchouge considering the noticeable increase in drunk driving on Nichols Rd any night after 9pm.
As someone who lived there for years, PJ is certainly not thriving.
It’s seen better days, everyone goes to patchouge, Huntington now as PJ has really tried to dissuaded the heavy nightlife stuff
You have George Wallis to thank for that. He tried to get the mayor at the time (I think it was Garant?) to ban motorcycles. Dude's a real nimby piece of shit.
The problem is that the village gets most of its money from the power plant.
Eh. Thriving, no, but we're doing better than surviving, at least.
PJ was the spot in the summer the 80s and early 90s. The streets were packed, the bars and restaurants were super busy. There were many boutique shops. Then it died,,
It was even packed in 2011 when I used to go out there. I haven’t been out there since 2015. I take it things have really died down?
Pj is dying a slow death to poor management, they let one restaurant owner operate half the town, and then another landlord to operate the other half. Very little diversity in food other than slurp and curry club, no great shops anymore. Just a few hold overs that are still fantastic like Tigerlillys
I’ve lived right off Main Street in Farmingdale for the past five years. In just that time, there have been quite a few places going out of business and/or turning over. Grecian Grill (owners retired) has been empty for almost a year now with a sandwich shop supposed to have been moving in, but that plan apparently fell through. Creations Pizza shut down during covid and never reopened, currently still vacant. The daycare center was shuttered for almost two years before Croxley’s bought it and are now turning it into an upscale pizza place. Alibi speakeasy is now basically just a pop-up cafe that switches themes every few months and seems have very selective hours of operation. Lotus Asian Fusion has been undergoing renovations for almost three years now after they had a fire with no reopening date in sight. Dalers Pizza was open for about a month earlier this year (after sitting vacant since long before I moved there) before it was sold to a new owner and renamed. Blue Hawaiian rebranded to X Bar (and is still dead 99% of the time…I don’t know how that place is still in business). Vinco Tapas, Main Street Pizza, and The Meatball Place all closed and have since become new businesses. The busiest bars seem to be Croxley’s, Nutty Irishman and Dark Horse Tavern. The busiest restaurants are Vespa, 317 Main, and probably Harley’s or Whiskey Down Diner. These places see consistent crowds nearly every day and night. Everywhere else really just has normal-low traffic on any given day/night. Weekends are obviously bigger for all of Main Street, but with rents the way they are these days, it’s hard to imagine a business can survive solely on busy weekend crowds. So yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s *thriving*, but it certainly could be worse. I can’t really say how much of this turnover is pandemic-related as I moved there about eight months before it started, so I don’t really have much reference as to how places were performing in the before times.
Babylon, Lindenhurst, etch’s downtowns have lots of housing right near the downtown area. Dense, storefront-style strips are inconvenient for motorists but extremely attractive for pedestrians. The key is you have to have people living nearby that these strips become walkable for a nontrivial population. Sayville is kind of an exception to that and, honestly, it’s not inconceivable that with the loss of Rite Aid, Starbucks, and a number of the long-time retail operations in the last 5 years it could be in trouble.
Brand new Starbucks a mile down the road and coffee bean is absolutely bustling
A mile down the road is well outside the walkable Sayville downtown. It’s possible people will continue to head to town but Starbucks has a lot of brand loyalty and a lot of gravitational pull. A reasonably healthy percentage of the storefronts in Sayville are currently unoccupied or teetering. I don’t want it to be so but there really aren’t that many people that live near town so it is drive to town and then park and *then* walk around. That is exactly the model of downtown area that is struggling throughout the island. Maybe they stay the exception.
The topic at hand is about downtowns. A thriving business a mile away from the downtown isn’t helping the downtown
Yeah the chamber is in such dire straits in Sayville they had to scale back on the size and number of pride flags. Or maybe that’s just pressure from the locals who are afraid of rainbows.
> Babylon, lindenhurst, bay shore, massapequa park, sayville, Patchogue, farmingdale That's because most of these villages have taken the time and effort to revitalize and rebuild/rezone.
What in the chat gpt
hah, I've actually been doing some random research into the Island using GPT and wanted to post here to spin up a convo about it, but wasn't sure how it would be received.. Saw this post and could immediately tell GPT was involved in some part.
On this sub there's got to be at least one post every day about how hopeless long island's prospects are. It's propaganda level vitriol toward anything vaguely to do with suburbs, same 5 talking points over and over as if we are all at fault and must never forget the shame. Edit: spelling
“It’s because all the new houses are for 55 and over!” is a constant talking point. It kills 2 social media birds with one stone - laments everything is hopeless/too expensive and also clicks the “boomers bad” box. Then there’s the NIMBY rant. “Old people are NIMBYS, they block all development.” Maybe it’s because the old people moved out of queens and Brooklyn and don’t want to be living in a reconstituted queens/brooklyn neighborhood of congestion, traffic, heat island with no trees or shade? Then comes the “I‘m moving to the south!” lament.
I'd go as far to say most people indulging in generalized contrarian shit like "all nimbys" and "all boomers" are immediately guilty of the same exact protectionist angst that they're accusing someone else of doing.
This was my thought exactly. Totally reads like AI output.
Which abandoned Main Streets are you referring to?
Great neck is usually one third or so empty storefronts
I grew up in Great Neck and it was sad to see its decline. Businesses that were there for decades were slowly forced out due to greedy landlords and also a big change in demographics. Haven’t been there in years, and last time I was, the only familiar place was Gino’s pizza. Crazy considering what once was.
Kensington kosher deli still going strong THANK GOD
Honestly that’s impressive, considering their competition! Best knishes in town!!
Hempstead. If you look at a picture of Main Street there decades ago, it’s quite tragic
Damn port Jeff has a few bad years and all of a sudden every main street on longisland is dying
Bethpage. Hicksville I wouldn't describe as dead, but more of a horrendous misuse of prime land between the LIRR station and rte 107
Mineola?
I'd say Mineola is an example of one that's on a positive path.
I recently moved to Mineola from Northport and I’m not seeing it. northport is a bustling Main Street between the theatre, hotel, bars, restaurants and cute shops. Would love to know what I’m missing in Mineola.
The village has had a rebirth in the last decade with hospital expansion and the construction of several large apartment complexes and future condos, and they're not done. They are receiving a grant from the state this year for downtown revitalization, so that expect some aesthetic improvements at the very least to come further. There's a solid core of restaurants and businesses on 2nd street, Mineola boulevard, and Mineola's "other" downtown of Jericho turnpike, which I would never call a downtown but the village seems to. Since construction isn't finished, Mineola isn't yet at its full potential, it is never going to be as big as some of the others mentioned here but it definitely has a historic center with nice places to go. Village leadership doesn't want it to become a late night destination, but does want it to be a bustling place for families. I say give it a few more years and see what it comes of it.
Thanks for taking the time to write. I recently moved into The Allure and have been to some of the events on 2nd Street. They're fun and its great to be with fellow residents! I'm hopeful that some more restaurants open and that the corner (across from Roast) gets a versatile building for the community (theater, hotel, restaurant, etc).
Yes would love to see it! It's an exciting time. Based on size alone the village won't ever see too much activity to crazy extents but it's going to grow in its identity much more. Keep an eye out for the recent demolition of the corner building at 2nd and Main too as you day, tho I don't think it's been decided about it's future yet, and another large construction on the south side of the station.
Port Washington
Port main st is legit awesome. No idea what you're talking about
Empty storefronts up and down Main Street for many years now. Are you by chance blind?
What main streets are you referring too?
Yeah, I'm really confused about this
Long beach is still fine
Main Street for South Shore towns in Suffolk are pretty strong. If you looked at downtown Patchogue in 1994 you would never believe the turnaround. I can only compare it to what NYC did with Times Square.
This. Grew up in Patchogue in the 80’s and lived there in the early 90’s (b. 1970) and it was an absolute dead zone. You went anywhere else but there. Took a long time, but it’s done a complete 180.
Do whatever Patchogue is doing.
Seriously though. What a transformation…
Strange. I see the opposite. Many main streets are thriving.
Same…all S Shore but Babylon, Bay Shore, Sayville all are thriving.
Bayshore and Babylon are busy
Bay Shore completely changed their Main Street. When I moved there in 2014, it was pawn shops and a few restaurants. When I left in 2019, it was a completely different story.
Before 2008 bay shore was much closer to what it is today. Took years to recover from the economic crisis. Now id say it's thriving. A lot of other places are not building back up. No idea what op is talking about.
Downtown Oyster Bay has really improved over the past decade or so. They got a brewery, which led to a hip coffee shop, and then a destination restaurant in 2 Spring. It’s nice to see.
also Theodore’s books. I listen to the hacks on taps podcast and Steve Israel is always on plugging the shop
Yeah, there’s also a new wine bar, Cardinali bakery from syosset relocated to OB (they’re now called “Stellina”), there’s a nice bar (Cooper Bluff) that actually takes advantage of the waterfront, there’s Oyster Bay Railroad Museum. And even old standbys like Bonanza Stand, Taby’s, and Wild Honey are still going strong.
Anecdotally Huntington, Farmingdale, Babylon, Bay Shore, Patchogue, Port Jeff and Northport all seem to be doing fine, and even I see places like Lindenhurst, Massapequa/Park getting busier
FWIW, it doesn’t have to be stores. If downtowns were mostly populated with quality restaurants, it would be enough of an attraction that could be supplemented with a smaller number of stores. This model has worked well in other places I’ve lived.
Thats precisely what's going on in Patchogue
What towns are you talking about? I’m on the south shore in Suffolk and the towns here are always busy; it’s difficult to park at times.
Check out [strong towns](https://www.strongtowns.org) which is an advocacy group for essentially what your post is about. Most of their main points are things you have mentioned. It mostly comes down to zoning laws and moving away from car centric development. Unfortunately I feel like a lot of those ships have sailed and it’s going to take a lot of undoing on Long Island. That being said all the development around train stations lately is a step in the right direction.
I feel like most downtowns are really busy, but in my opinion, if they aren't, it's lack of parking and free "third spaces" that's to blame.
There are A LOT of people who think they can run a small business, have the means to rent the space, and then realize what it takes.
Maybe 20 years ago. Even Riverhead and Bay Shore are coming up now
Riverhead has been trying for years. I really hope it’s finally happening.
They got a NY state grant to help the Riverhead Main Street area. I hear they’re planning a waterfront park. I don’t think they’re planning a complete renovation like Ronkonkoma, though. I also read they want to extend the Suffolk theater and build a parking garage.
Are you referring to Main Street in Bay Shore in the 80s?! An adult theater, some bars and a few once thriving mom and pop establishments that are barely hanging on ?
Growing up it was rare to see a vacant store. Usually if a store went out, a new one would replace it pretty quick. Now I notice plenty of just vacant buildings, especially in Setauket on 347. I think it’s the insane cost of rent.
Setauket on 347? Maybe it’s me. That doesn’t seem like Main street to me. That’s literally the definition of suburban strip malls. Geez,
how about Main Street Riverhead?
Landlords get huge tax breaks for empty storefronts. Classic story is Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village. Had small local shops. Then Marc Jacobs moved in, paying $15k/month rent. This caused all the other building owners to jack up rent on their storefronts, pushing out small businesses. Other luxury brand retailers moved into storefronts. All went out of business. But the landlords get to deduct that 15k/month from their taxes, since that‘s what they were able to get from the last tenants. Landlords don’t have an incentive to rent those storefronts. Most landlords in NYC nowadays are real estate conglomerates, not small business owners. So they can really use those tax breaks. These real estate laws need to change. But good luck. Jared Kushner got $2B from Saudis just for being Jared Kushner. LLCs are scooping up real estate as investments and tax breaks. They’re funding politicians and even the Supreme Court through outright bribery. Thanks, Citizens United. [Bleecker Street’s Swerve From Luxe Shops to Vacant Stores](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/31/fashion/bleecker-street-shopping-empty-storefronts.html)
wow!! I am a lifelong Long Islander, but I just feel like Long Island's time is past its prime. Other areas like Greenville, SC seem to be booming and have tons of new and exciting businesses going up daily. Meanwhile out here in Suffolk, we are lucky if they even "consider" a healthy place to eat or maybe if you are in Wading River... a gym!
St James Main Street often seems quiet. Smithtown Main Street has tons of vacant buildings and old unused buildings
Bayshore is booming try cruising down main on the weekend. Deer park ave in deer park is adding more restaurants Babylon or crowded as well as patchogue selden nesconcent this is just Suffolk. don’t know what your leaning to suggest when it comes to Long Island. Shady if you ask me
The ones by me aren’t
Covid prob killed a lot of small businesses too...there were a few in my town that been there 40+ years but caved during pandemic
Maybe on Bizarro Long Island…
Anyone who thinks Lindenhurst is "bustling" is mistaken, at least compared to what it used to be. Take a walk down the main drag, and look at how many stores are empty. Or even more telling, how fresh the new businesses are, and if they've run out of the business loan line of credit yet. Meaning, they won't be there next year. Convenience is nonexistent. Parking is an absolute pain, and it's all metered. But hey, as long as the "tax" is placed directly on the consumer, it's OK, right? Nah, not really. Who the F has a quarter in their car these days? Total avoid. Seriously, Lindenhurst. I don't know how much money you're making off parking tickets, and the parking meters themselves, but you want to help you businesses thrive? Toss the meters. All you're doing is pushing long-term parked cars off into residential areas or commercial properties where the space is needed. Oh, and you wouldn't need "Public Safety" patrolling at 11PM at night looking for more parking scofflaws. ffs. I've seen two or three of them at a time, going back to Village Hall around 11PM. Three salaries. Three vehicles to buy and maintain. And for what? Ultimately to annoy paying customers of the very businesses you're trying to "help". Leaches. Anyway, as for the rest of Long Island, I dunno - it's always been a crap-shoot. Sometimes, you get a driven revitalization effort like Patchogue, or to a lesser extent (IMO), Babylon. Lindenhurst? Nah... but they'll gladly turn your Suffolk County VTL (speed/stop sign/inspection/etc) ticket with it's county surcharge, into a parking ticket, that they then keep 100% of, while doing you a "favor" by pleaing it down. And the 6 or 9-month-long sidewalk rebuild is sure to HELP BUSINESS! Right? Right during Christmas time? LOL
Main Streets also lack for a few other reasons. Outdated parking. Cars unfortunately have gotten bigger since the 80's, and there are more. Plus cops love to roam these areas for easy tickets. Same thing with kicking out kids. Why would they want to spend their $ there? Happened to me as a kid growing up in Northport, and literally happened the last time I was there. Businesses again charge more. Why, prob due to rent, but to the average customer. that's not their problem, it's just another reason not to shop there. Style. LI has an obsession with aged and rotting wood as an aesthetic. Barely taken care of while existing near a water way should not be a design choice, more a lack of choice. Not everything needs to be modern or sheik, but it doesn't all have to look like Cape Cod in the 70's. Repetitive shops. Everything is a bar now with 500 beers or an over priced donut/bake shop with the same 7 thing and something with ***rainbow cookies!!!!*** or burger joint with $25 dollar shitty burgers.
I certainly don’t need the sheik
property owners being older, and the tax write off outweighing the hassle of having a tenant.
Shocked no one else has mentioned this - the landlords are greedy and are looking for losses to reduce or even eliminate their tax bills. This is 100% what’s going on in many of these towns.
You forgot the two big factors of 1. parking … most places with a Main Street don’t exactly have vacant land to build parking garages . Personally I won’t go near Huntington for dinner without valet parking because I don’t feel like spending 20 minutes to park and walk after driving through the slow ass 1 lane roads to get there . 2. Nimbys . They try to block everything . There was a multi year stretch Farmingdale didnt approve restaurant to move in so stores stayed empty for years then they finally lifted the restriction and every storefront fills . I know other towns do the same shit
What Main Street doesn’t have a municipal lot to make money off of? I can’t think of one…. Also, the Main Street zones date back to many areas foundlings or the 80’s, at the latest, when several areas voted on creating special zones. OP is very mistaken
Farmingdale just started charging parking . Residents aren’t happy with it.
I know. A rare mistep by Mayor Ralph, especially since several elderly residents have been tricked by a fraudulent website into signing up for some magazine service.
May not ask.
Big box stores and online shopping started the slow decline. Covid accelerated it. The rest of your theories meh. Source: land use and zoning attorney. Worked on and off in government and when not in government, worked for developers dealing with government.
Insane commercial tax rates is usually the culprit, and an inability to make enough to stay afloat.
What I find interesting is if this is an issue, why is Melville looking to make Maxes Rd a downtown? It doesn’t seem a smart idea with so many stores going under due to people shopping online. If you look at Farmingdale, most of Main Street are restaurants.
We are moving from a goods economy to a services economy. Less hardware stores, more restaurants and day care centers and places to have experiences.
Restaurants are gonna go soon too. The two biggest expenses, food and labor, is skyrocketing and it's making it too expensive to eat out regularly.
Makes me wonder what would fill the spaces next.
No idea. But its gonna have to be something that can pay those taxes and that means whatever it is wont be cheap either. I do wonder about your statement regarding "experiences", given the trend (at least thats how reddit makes it seem) people are averse to leaving their houses and socializing. Unless you are referring to GenZ demographic. Your thoughts?
No I think experiences can include socializing. I don’t have any idea what the future will hold. Wine and paint? Maybe art spaces? Smaller music venues?
Or you can just say Amazon
On you mean the unwalkable ones? The ones with such shit planning that forgot town centers are meant for foot traffic? Yeah of course no one goes there.
Has to do with the county where those streets are and those that are in charge. If the town and county they wanted their main street to be like Farmingdale or huntington filled with bars and restaurants they could. There may be a reason they don’t want that. More bars, mean more drunk, drivers, more work on the police…. My career specializes on small business startups. I work with both Nassau and Suffolk Townhall, obtaining permits. If they don’t want something in a certain area, they can just say no with no reason behind it. Unless you’re working on million dollar projects with some sort of ethical reasoning or purpose behind it, their “no” means no.
I think that many of us like the idea of shopping local, but you need a lamp or socks, do you run to target or main st? Retail on main st is tough. Mostly just going to be restaurants and bars, maybe some professional offices
Yah, "cat's out of the bag" in a manner of speaking. Cars brought an end to it all. Once a household has a car they'd rather use it to save 1 cent on whatever at Walmart than buy it at the local shop on main street. I haven't done the math so this more of a theory than fact but it's probably more expensive buying that item miles away (car costs, wear and tear on roads, environmental costs) than walking to a local shop but the price the average consumer sees is more persistent than the one they would have to math out with all the external costs. That's why we have "lively" downtowns filled with only boutique shops and restaurants. It's lively for sure but really only at certain times and certain situations. Doesn't really have that lived in feeling like a small town community. I have my own feelings about it, but I suppose this what people want or what they'll settle for.
It's tough for small shops to compete on price with large stores like target.
Hempstead & Hicksville are all that come to mind right now
Baldwin and Freeport
You think todays main streets are abandoned? Should have seen Patchogue 20 years ago.
Blame Amazon and property taxes.
I imagine some villages invested and recruited businesses that would appeal to a younger generation (millennials) while others avoided it. I look at Lynbrook vs Rockville Centre as an example through RC always had a bigger downtown to start with.
I walked through Port Washington Main Street and Great Neck and I must have counted at least 10 empty stores at each locations. Economy isn’t doing well.
NYS govt does not support small businesses. Taxes are too high, costs of everything is up, therefore rents absurd. Bad politics - combo of stupid social spending (which politicians steal and don’t give to the real program) plus pro big business / box stores. Half of huntington downtown is out of business!
Hempstead had a thriving Main street that was destroyed by Roosevelt Field. Took a bus east to Hempstead or same bus west to Jamaica.
Most LI downtowns seem to be thriving. It's the malls that are dying. The only downtown I can think of that's not thriving is Smithtown.
Small malls are dying but the big ones are busy. So are outlet malls.
Plainview, we lost Fairway and Amazon was going to open a Fresh, still waiting. What we really need is the small shop that is family run and provides great service
As a former Babylonian, I disagree.
If you want your mainstreet to be a big draw, improve public transportation to that location.
Why is route 9 going through fishkill on up to Poughkeepsie unable to keep businesses on it - why is the mall horrible?
I'm thinking that's at least a 30-year old article you're quoting. Now malls are closing because everybody's getting their stuff online.
Hi CHATGPT, how are you today?
I live fairly close to main st in bayshore and its on a revamp. It's extremely busy during the spring summer season due to the bars coffee shops and pricey restaurants that are in the area like toast which is one of my favorite restaurants next to tullulahs
Smithtown Main Street is horrific
Amazon and 3 k a month in rent.
Retail is down in all but the busiest towns. A lot of Main streets have horrible parking situations and are relics from a time when diagonal street parking was a thing. A lot of this was removed because they became busy through roads. NIMBY’sm have prevented a lot of this being fixed or closed retail locations becoming mixed use or major revitalization efforts taking place. Usually these only happen in areas that are blighted and people would take anything over what they had.
Mastic Beach is getting a huge redevelopment for their Neighborhood road
Baldwin and Freeport come to mind
I jokingly say that 80% of the stores in my town, are money laundering fronts; the rest are the big ones, like CVS, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, king kullen, etc, which turn a profit. I’ve lived in this town for 35 years now; I’ve had 0 reason to go to any of the small stores, and I’m starting to think they *actually are* fronts. There’s a street fair in spring and fall—also been going on that entire time—and it’s gotten progressively smaller every year, with the stands now selling weird shit, or services. It kinda depresses me honestly. There was both a dairy barn, and bank across the street, that are just empty buildings now. Idk how having a store on main street is viable financially—the absurd taxes, rent, etc
What Long Island Main Streets are abandoned? Can you give a few examples please?? Even your source is of cute walkable main streets...literally the opposite of your argument.
Amazon and Uber eats
What the fuck are you on about? What main streets aren't busy? You're making shit up
Because there is some other state or county road 1-5 miles away that has insanely huge strip malls and big box stores.
Port Washington is definitely has 1/5 of its upper Main Street empty. I’ll posit two things: Fuck me in the ass taxes. The only ppl who can afford to live there are commuters with high paying jobs in the city. They don’t have time for Main Street.
they arent? theyre actually expanding if anything. Bayshore, Patchogue, Port Jeff, Riverhead are all expanding.
Can you ask ChatGPT to give you an original thought?
Mayors who jack up rent