Counting vacant storefronts on the UWS | Tomorrow's headlines tonight

Gus Saltenstall, did I say your name right? Westside Rag, and he is maybe one of the most popular people on the Upper West Side of New York City, because you have a close relationship. I'm guessing every time you go to get coffee or the grocery store, you either see someone reading one of your columns, or they have a comment, or best, they leave a comment online so you can respond to them. I'm being recognized a little bit more, which is getting taking a second to get used to. But it's very fun. And, you know, Upper West Siders are passionate about their local news. So, Gus, I have to ask you before we get started and dig deep into some of your reporting. You are really like following in your father's footsteps, right? He was a very he was a reporter for The New York Daily News. Exactly. My dad was a reporter for the Daily News for 15 years, and I didn't necessarily grow up thinking I wanted to be a reporter, but I loved writing, and at the end, we do what our parents do a lot of the time, and I'm very proud to follow in my dad's footsteps. And I know you had traditions with your dad because I read your Father's Day article, a happy Father's Day to him, and how, and the thing that stood out to me, and because I used to know how to do this too, I don't know if I can do it with the script here. You know how to fold a newspaper old school, like when you commute on the train, you have to be able to read it a certain way. Can you still do that? I don't know if I can still do it. When I was seven years old, I could do it. And I prided myself very much on that fact. Awesome. Awesome. Well, you, as you said, you didn't always expect to be a reporter, but now you are a lifelong Upper West Sider. You grew up there. Now you're working there and have been for a number of years now. How does it feel to be part of the community like that? Because I, like you, believe all news is local news. It feels incredible. You know, I tell people if I could design a job for myself, it would be what I do for the Westside Rag, where I get to cover the neighborhood that I grew up in and still live in. Um, and I'm just really grateful. And like you said, Upper West Siders care so much about what's going on in their neighborhood and what's going on around them. And I just don't, you know, I don't take it for granted and want to do the best possible job. Awesome. So Gus, uh, one of the stories that's getting a lot of attention has gotten a lot of attention over the years. And I guess you go back and revisit it and update it all. That's, uh, every, every year or so. And this is something I've noticed as well for the West Side Rag. We walk by these storefronts and they're empty and I feel like I really saw a significant increase in empty commercial retail space after the pandemic and it doesn't seem to have really ever filled back up. What's been your experience? First of all, what made you want to even examine how many empty storefronts there were in your neighborhood? Overhead. Yeah, so since 2019, each year in October, I've walked the duration of the Upper West Side from 59th to 110th Street on Broadway and counted all the vacant storefronts. And I think it's just one of those issues that you hear from people all the time, that there are so many vacancies, my favorite store just closed, there's very little that people notice more. Then a beloved store, does any store closing down? And I really think that's part of the heartbeat of local news is covering these openings and closings. And I almost feel like, I don't want to call you like a comedian, but you know, the skill of a comedian is to make something funny that we, as soon as they say it, you instantly say in your head, yeah, I noticed that. And I feel like your stories do a little bit of that as well. I noticed those storefronts. I've noticed them for years and never thought to do a story on them per se. Talk to me a little bit about the. trends that you saw. That's a long, by the way, for those of you watching at home, that's a lot of blocks to walk every day, real shoe leather reporting there. But what trends have you noticed? Because from what I, the little that I read from last year's article, it looks like things get even worse as you go north toward Harlem. First of all, I stop at the same diner every time I do the walk each year and, you know, refuel halfway through it. But you're exactly right that during COVID, you know, things change. And in 2019, there were 64 vacancies in that stretch. And by 2021, there were 92 vacancies. So there was this significant jump that took place and people were right when they noticed more vacancies around them and that number has you The storefronts have filled back up now in 2026 to some extent, and it's exactly what you said as well, where people are very interested in hearing the kind of block-by-block breakdown where it's, you know, how many vacancies are in the 70s, how many are in the 80s, and the 90s and the 100s for years, you know, have had more vacancies than the southern portion of the Upper West Side, and you'll see certain blocks that have three vacancies on one block. Or one large, large storefront that takes up half the block that's been empty for years. And you can really feel it when there are these cluster of vacancies. They change the whole dynamic of that street and that portion of the neighborhood. It's like when you see a whole slew of empty storefronts, whatever block it's in or a couple of blocks, then sometimes trash builds up. Sometimes there's vagrants or homeless people. And it really can make people feel even unsafe as they go home and worry about their real estate values. Right. I mean, it sounds like you've gotten feedback from these articles that you do. Totally. And, you know, we have an active tip line and so many of them have to do with these vacancies and what you're saying, where it's, you know, this store closed and now there's all this graffiti on it or there's trash in front of the store that wasn't there when the Korean grocer was there for years and years. And it just has this it has this large impact. But people are you know, people talk about vacant storefronts in a very macro way a lot. So I think they also really appreciate getting some more detailed numbers that they can actually then, you know, talk about this issue in a more specific way. And tell me this, you talked a little bit about, we talked about the pandemic, but there was also a whole period of time where there was a smoke shop on every corner and then the city cracked down on illegal smoke shops selling marijuana when they shouldn't be and whatever all else. So that impacted the trend of these empty storefronts as well, right? Yeah, it was a bit of a strange period where in 2023, there were 85 vacancies from 59 to 110. And then in 2024, there's 75 vacancies. So there was 10 added storefronts, which, you know, a lot of people applauded and, you know, elected officials pointed to. Um, but a lot of that had to do with these illegal smoke shops that, you know, popped up all over the place for that one year period where it was almost an artificial filling of storefronts and then they were all closed down sort of as quickly as they had sprung up. So the vacancy number then jumped back up. Uh, and also these storefronts got left in a little bit of limbo where you couldn't tell if, you know, the legal smoke shop was coming back or if it had fully closed. And that also definitely had people asking West Side Rag questions. So I am waiting. Here's the obvious, you know. So why is this? I mean, are the rents too high? I mean, why are there so many commercial storefronts that are empty on the Upper West Side? You know, it's a layered topic that, you know, there's many different levels to it. Something, you know, some people say there are certain landlords that have a number in their head for a monthly asking rent and they won't move off that number until they get it. And it's a number that, you know, larger chain places would be able to pay. But, you know, the smaller mom and pop store might not. There's also a thing where, you know, the value of a building gets determined by how much they can charge for the commercial space in part. So if they want to if the space is empty, they could say, you know, I'm going to charge twenty thousand dollars a month. For this space, but if they actually signed the lease and it was $10,000 a month, you know, there's a little bit of valuation difference there So those are some of the reasons why spaces, you know can remain empty for years and years and years Is there anything that can be done about it? Because I don't live on the Upper West Side, but if I do and I'm watching this report and listening to your reporting, I'm wanting something to be done about it. I know you interviewed the staple of the Upper West Side. I'm going to call her the queen of the Upper West Side, City Councilwoman Gail Brewer. She's always got an opinion to share. Does she have any plan to try to do something to... Maybe get rid of it. I know there was a movement to get rid of, say, the scaffolding that were all over the city to take them down before they've been up forever and ever. But this is right in that category. Yeah. So you're absolutely right that Gail Brewer has been focused on this issue. I mean, the one piece of good news I'd share is in my most recent count, there were 74 vacancies, which was an improvement from 2025. But the most kind of common idea right now is something called the Small Business Rent Stabilization Act, which is a bill proposed in the state legislature that would establish a commercial rent guideline board that would vote on commercial rent adjustments Each year. In a similar way that the rent guideline board does for, you know, residential tenants. And with that vote would also come a right for renewal for these businesses that they would have to be given a renewal lease. And, you know, people think that's one way to, you know, help businesses stay in these in these. Spaces. Yeah, that's breaking a little news. That would be something if they would agree to do something like that. The other thing that pops to mind is they're converting all of these empty commercial office spaces in Midtown into apartments. Would that be something? I guess your bedroom would be right there and the glass on the corner wave wave to Sharon as you walk by. She's about to get up. But, you know, is there anything like that converting to any of these commercial spaces into the much needed housing here in New York? I think there's been a little bit less of that on the Upper West Side just because those buildings don't exist as much. But what you do see is something similar where you can convert the space into a pop up or can we allow a business to come in for three months? Or could we allow, you know, something that's more short term that would fill the space and still have the landlord get paid, but is not a longer term solution, which I feel like is a similar thing to what you're talking about there in some ways. Yeah, very interesting. So I know that's one of your more popular articles. It must be keeps you going back. How do you decide to go back? Well, I did that last year. Got a little traction. So go back again. Is this something you're committed to? And what's what's the next thing you're going after? I plan to do this count every year I am able to walk for the rest of my life. And I think consistency is a key. Our readers expect that, and we try to provide that to them. You brought up scaffolding. There's all sorts of similar things you can do with walking around the neighborhood and counting scaffolding, or the fact that West End Avenue has a piece of scaffolding on every single block on the Upper West Side is one subject that comes to mind that also just really gets people worked up about. So when you prepare to do your Broadway walk, right, because it's only on Broadway, right, from south to north? Right. Do you have a special like a lucky pair of sneakers? I know some people, even reporters, can be super suspicious, like baseball players. And you told me, like, what's your take us through the day? How long does it take? You already told us you hinted that you stop at the diner. But take us through the day. Do you pick the right? I don't have a lucky. Yeah, I don't have a lucky pair of shoes, but I can tell you I did buy a new pair of sneakers for this year's walk because I didn't have any good ones. And it's not smart to do it in dress shoes. But what I do each year is I take the train up to 110th Street and work my way down and I'll do one side of the avenue on one day and then the next day I come back and do the other side of the avenue instead of doing both sides the same day. And it takes me, you know, three-ish hours to do the whole thing and take photos of all the storefronts and write down the addresses, which can be kind of tricky to find sometimes. And every time I do it, I stop at the Cafe 82 Diner. Shout out them. Best grilled cheeses on the Upper West Side. That was my next question. What do you get? I get a grilled cheese and a Diet Coke, and then I continue on my way to the rest of the vacant storefront. That fuels your mission. That's great. Oh, I need that. I love it. A real New Yorker. And I know my research tells me you're gluten-free, so you can't stop for bagels, right? You know your stuff, but Cafe 82, it has a gluten-free only menu, so that is part of my love for it, which allows me to... Gus, we are so looking forward to your next reports. I know you have loyal fans out there, and even if they don't recognize your face, I'm sure you see them pouring over the copy either online, on their phone, probably most of the time. Anything you can tease that's coming up next? You know, this vacant storefront count is sort of our big story right now. And then, as always, we do coverage of the Thanksgiving Day Parade comes to mind, you know, because that's on the Upper West Side, and people love the inflation event. And so keep an eye out for those things on West Side Rag. Awesome. And tell folks how they can reach you, or better yet, give one of their New York opinions to you or something that you've written. Email [email protected]. Westside Rag is a website. We send a once-a-morning email newsletter. It's totally free. So if you're interested in hyperlocal news, you know, come on by. Awesome. Gus, thank you for your time tonight. We so appreciate it. And I look forward to reading tomorrow's Westside Rag.