Fortified Trump Tower casts long shadow over city's priciest real estate as traffic near Trump Tower sealed off and access to nearby businesses blocked | Crain's New York Business <noscript><img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1493147397381573&ev=PageView&noscript=1" /> <!-- Facebook Pixel: Begin site img overrides --> <!-- no facebook-pixel-custom.pbo for site CN --> <!-- Facebook Pixel: End site img overrides --></noscript> <noscript><img src="http://b.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=16193073&cv=2.0&cj=1" /></noscript>
White House North casts long shadow over city's high-end retailers
Calling it 'our biggest challenge,' NYPD commish says East 56th Street likely to "remain frozen."
Victor Henao, who works at the Rieu Cafe across the street from Trump Tower, has seen business plunge by almost 60% since Election Day. In a typical week, he and his co-workers used to sell some 6,000 cups of coffee. But since East 56th Street was sealed off by police to protect the president-elect, Henao and crew are now serving fewer than 3,000 cups per week.
"If you need a coffee, there are easier places to get one than here, that's for sure," Henao said with a shrug. "I hope it changes soon."
Unfortunately, it looks like it won't.
Henao's café is located in the public lobby of the Sony Building, one of midtown's premiere skyscrapers on Madison Avenue, between East 55th and East 56th streets, that was acquired earlier this year by a Saudi and British investor group for about $1.5 billion. Yet ever since Donald Trump was elected president, the Sony Building's East 56th Street entrance has been cut off as police have shut down virtually all traffic.
On Wednesday, Police Commissioner James O'Neill said the street won't reopen anytime soon.
"East 56th between Fifth and Madison is probably our biggest challenge. That's probably going to remain frozen," O'Neill said at a forum sponsored by Crain's. "If you have a business or live on that block, it's especially difficult. We're sensitive to that and working with the Secret Service to make sure we have a decent solution."
The affected area is home to the city's priciest retail real estate. Average asking rents are $3,484 per square foot, according to a report last month by the Real Estate Board of New York. A sustained drop in foot traffic could spell big trouble for businesses in the restricted zone, including Armani, Gucci, Oxxford Clothes and Prime Grill, a Kosher steakhouse inside the Sony Building. None of these businesses would comment.
The north side of East 56th Street between Fifth and Madison avenues is home to Trump Tower and the old IBM Building, which houses one of the city's most pleasant public spaces in any office tower. Typically, the atrium is filled with weary midtown shoppers and lounging office workers, but on midmorning Thursday, there were plenty of open tables.
That's common these days, said Dominic Amato, who works inside the plaza at the Obica Mozzarella Bar. He said business has dropped by 30% ever since East 56th Street was sealed off.
"We've seen a big decline in tourist traffic and the business-lunch crowd," he said.
Back inside the Sony Building, a security guard named Muhammed figured foot traffic is down by half. On the bright side, said Muhammed, who declined to give his last name, sparse crowds mean there's plenty of room to sit and enjoy the building's attractive public space, which remains accessible from the East 55th Street entrance. Muhammed, who emmigrated from British Guiana in the mid-1980s and has worked at the Sony Building for 20 years, added that Trump himself used to occasionally stop by and chat with him while out shopping with his wife Melania.
"I think Trump is going to make the economy better," Muhammed said. "But first we've got to get through this."
sorry chief...