According to a new CPEX Retail Report and many East Village bodega owners, New York’s beloved bodegas are slowly being priced out of the city. This has been happening for years now, but it shows no signs of slowing down. Former “bodega havens” like the East Village, the Bowery, and Bedford Avenue have been hit the hardest. “Bodegas are a dying breed,” said Lisa Kaplan, chief of staff for City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez. “The fact that chains and pharmacies are carrying products that bodegas used to sell is adding to the pressure.” The report comes on the heels of last year’s NYC Hispanic Business Survey report that 53 percent of Hispanic-owned bodegas are at risk of closing. As Gothamist points out, who will care for all the cute bodega kitties running around the stores like animals and touching the rows of Red Bull? (Or where will hipsters take post-party photos in strangely lit grocery aisles? And where will underage NYU students buy black-market Sparks?) Any way you cut it, this is tragic. [Local/NYT via Gothamist]
