Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Columbia shuts down restaurant it promised to relocate

From the NY Times:

The ghost town of empty buildings and fenced-in lots dotting Columbia University’s proposed Manhattanville campus was joined by one more specter on Tuesday — Floridita Restaurant, shuttered.

The Cuban food mecca on Broadway and 129th Street closed Tuesday amid confusion over its future, the latest twist in a saga involving a buckled kitchen floor and an unfinished relocation deal. The landlord — Columbia University — says the restaurant must stay closed for six weeks to repair the floor. But Ramon Diaz, the owner and nephew of Floridita’s founder, insisted that the university refused to consider options that would have allowed him to stay open while he leased and renovated a new location nearby.

As a result, the restaurant’s 36-member staff, some of whom have been there for decades, are out of work and wonder whether they, like the restaurant, can survive an unwanted six-week hiatus.


I'm sure this has absolutely nothing to do with it.

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