Upper West Side Update: No Walgreens on Broadway

Back in September I wrote a post Say No to DRUGS store chains, after 4 of my long-time neighborhood mom and pop stores and restaurants were forced out of business to make way for a mega-Walgreens store.

I expressed my opinion that another mega drugstore chain was not needed or wanted on the Upper West Side of Manhattan since we already have Duanne Reed on every other block.

Since July this is how my once vibrant block looks like now: Boarded up gutted interior with billboards. This is a familiar look throughout Manhattan. Landlords are not renewing leases from small retailers because they prefer to stay empty until a mega national big box chain comes along willing to pay much more for the space.

All this time, I thought Walgreens was working on the interiors and they would be opening soon. Until I saw this sign the other day: Apparantly the Walgreens deal fell through. Maybe they read my blog. :)

While it's too late for The Malaysia Grill and the Korean grocer and flower shop since the four stores have already been turned into 6,500 square feet of retail space.

I'm really happy we won't be getting a Walgreens ( I hear I'm getting one next to my office a few blocks away on Columbus)

I'm hoping for something good for the neighborhood. We already have plenty of banks and drugstores. It's prime real estate that has been empty for more than six months.