A bakery that has been churning out breads, cookies and cakes on the Upper West Side for 25 years is at risk of eviction, court records show.
Silver Moon Bakery, which opened at 2740 Broadway in November 2000, has allegedly overstayed its lease expiration and owes more than $200,000 in rent and other fees after allegedly refusing to vacate the storefront, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Manhattan state Supreme Court.
Landlord Broadside Realty, a Westchester-based real estate firm, claims in court documents that the Upper West Side staple, at the corner of West 105th Street, didn’t budge after its lease expired last spring, nor did it leave after a notice was issued demanding it vacate the property.
According to court documents, Silver Moon Bakery and Broadside Realty had entered into a lease agreement that began in August 2000 and lasted 10 years. It was most recently extended at a monthly rate of $13,261 in 2017 for an additional seven years, expiring May 31, 2024, records show. Now, eight months later, Silver Moon is still occupying the space with no apparent plans to move out.
Workers at the bakery who answered the phone Monday morning were unaware of the lawsuit, and the bakery’s owner, Judith Norell, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
In October the baked goods shop lamented in a sign on its door the loss of its longtime outdoor seating area at the hands of new regulations from the Department of Transportation. It’s unclear, however, if that played a role in the bakery’s alleged rent issues. It’s also unclear why the bakery’s lease wasn’t renewed after it expired in May.
Norell allegedly stopped making payments this past August, documents show, so far accruing an unpaid balance of $194,692 for use and occupancy of the space through the end of last year and $99,227 in debt as of Jan. 3.
Broadside Realty brought the suit to civil court, seeking the bakery’s eviction, where a decision is still pending under Judge Jeffrey Zellan, documents show.
An attorney for the landlord, Andrew Sinzheimer of Long Island-based law firm Horing Welikson Rosen & Digrugilliers, declined to comment.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of a community still reeling from the loss of Absolute Bagels, just blocks away on Broadway and West 108th, which abruptly closed last month. The beloved bagel shop doesn’t appear to have had rent troubles as the artisanal bakery does, but it did have vermin issues, and was shuttered by the city after failing a recent health inspection, Patch reported.
