The Eight Top Upstate New York Hotels to Escape to This Summer
Then a few years ago, pioneers like vintage-feeling hotel the Maker arrived in Hudson, followed by Wildflower Farms, Auberge Resorts Collection 's first New York property, in Gardiner. They offered visitors a place for stylish stays at rates often exceeding $1,000 per night—proof that New Yorkers weren't just looking for a relaxed Hamptons alternative. These travelers wanted stylish stays with boutique bath products and serious food and beverage options, and they were willing to pay for it.
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New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
Zohran Mamdani's NYC grocery stores scheme draws fresh scrutiny as video of empty, city-owned Missouri market goes viral
He could be biting off more than he can chew. A viral video showing a desolate publicly-funded grocery store in Missouri has drawn fresh scrutiny on socialist mayoral contender Zohran Mamdani's signature proposal to bring city-owned markets to the Big Apple. The eerie footage showed virtually bare shelves inside the Kansas City, Miss. store, with local outlet KSHB 41 reporting this week that a rancid odor also wafted inside the shop. Advertisement 6 A viral video shows the poor conditions inside the city-owned Sun Fresh Market grocery store in Kansas City. KSHB 6 Empty shelves seen inside Sun Fresh Market. KSHB The lack of produce and other goods came despite the store being in a city-owned building and receiving millions of taxpayer dollars since opening in 2018, the report said. Advertisement 'I can tell you today right now it's damn near dead,' one outraged local told the outlet. Many viewed the video as prophetic for New York City, with one X user posting, 'Watch this, Mamdani supporters.' Mamdani helped clinch the Democratic mayoral nomination by running a campaign focused on affordability, including a promise to create a network of city-owned grocery stores to the Big Apple. 'It's like a public option for produce,' he said in one of his slick TikTok videos. 'We will redirect city funds from corporate supermarkets to city-owned grocery stores whose mission is to lower prices, not price gouging. Advertisement 'These stores will operate without a profit motive, or having to pay property taxes or rent, and will pass on those savings to you. They'll partner with small businesses and nearby farms and sell at wholesale prices.' 6 Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has proposed opening city-owned grocery stores. Zohran Mamdani / TikTok The proposal inspired an explosion of handwringing among some New Yorkers, with some warning of Soviet-style groceries and billionaire John Catsimatidis threatening to close his Gristedes grocery chain. 'We can't compete with Mamdani opening city-run supermarkets for free,' Catsimatidis has told The Post. Advertisement But Mamdani's plan is largely vague on details, such as whether the city itself will actually run the stores or hand off operations to a private or nonprofit partner. He has interchangeably used the terms 'city-owned' and 'city-run' to describe the stores during his campaign. 6 A local TV station also reported a rancid smell in the Kansas City store. KSHB Mamdani said he envisions the initiative as a pilot program that's more of an experiment. 'That would be one store in each borough – five stores across New York City,' he said on 'The Bulwark' podcast. 'It would cost $65 million,' he said before the podcast host Tim Miller interrupted to jokingly call them 'five communist stores.' 'It might be an interesting test case to see how poorly it does compared to its neighbors,' Miller said. 6 Sun Fresh Market has recieved millions of dollars in taxpayer funds since opening in 2018, according to the report. KSHB Advertisement Mamdani contended that he was more interested in testing a potential practical policy than pushing an ideological agenda. 'No matter how you think about the idea, I do think that there should be room for reasonable policy experimentation in our cities and in our country, where we actually test out our ideas,' he said. 'And if they work, they work. And if they don't work, c'est la vie, then the idea was wrong.' The Queens assemblyman has pointed toward the government-owned grocery store in St. Paul, Kansas, a community of roughly 600 people, as a success story. Advertisement Brittain Ladd, a supply chain logistics and retail consultant, said government-run grocery stores in New York City could break even, but they could only offer a limited number of basic products and would need to be operated by grocery 'experts.' 6 The report noted a lack of fresh produce available in the city-owned grocery store. KSHB 'The program will fail if people who don't have expertise set it up,' Ladd said. 'These would be very specialized grocery stores. This would not look like a grocery store. It would be a very bare bones operation,' Ladd said. Advertisement 'It would be to really just provide the things that people need the most.' Nevin Cohen, director for the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, said Mamdani's proposal isn't so far-fetched, noting the city has six public retail markets, such as Jamaica Market, with a history going back to Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in the 1930s. 'They still operate in neighborhoods all across the city, and there, the Economic Development Corporation of New York City owns and manages the building and sets the rents so that there is a mix of neighborhood-serving vendors with rents that are affordable so they can provide low cost food,' Cohen said. Advertisement Cohen envisioned a public-private model would prevail if Mamdani wins in November and moves forward with the experiment, adding he didn't think city-owned grocery stores would impact existing businesses. 'In New York City, with 1,000 supermarkets, I don't think it's likely that the five public markets that Mamdani has been talking about would in any way undermine existing food retailers,' he said.
New York Post
6 hours ago
- New York Post
This is the most expensive cup of coffee in NYC — but many think the price is a sick cup of Joe-k
You must be joe-king. The Big Apple's most expensive cup of coffee is being brewed by a UK company in the heart of Manhattan — but opinions are far from blended on whether the caffeine is worth the pricetag. WatchHouse is hawking its 8-oz cup of La Negrita pourover at a jaw-dropping $28, a figure they justify based on the years-long process it takes to get the beanwater in front of their coffee-obsessed customers. 7 The La Negrita coffee at WatchHouse costs $28, making it the most expensive in the Big Apple. Matthew McDermott Time Out New York called the coffee drink — which comes on a platter alongside a green tea palate cleanser — a '$28 investment poured in a glass vessel.' La Negrita is the priciest cup on the shop's Rarities pourover menu, which includes five others ranging from $14 to $28, and even briefly peddled a $58 limited edition option. At the time, the UK-based shop was hawking as many as 400 cups per month across its two Manhattan locations. At that price, a WatchHouse barista making $18.92 per hour would need to spend 90 minutes crafting La Negritas before they could afford their own — but the intensive labor it takes to make each cup is exactly what makes it close so much. 7 The La Negrita comes on a serving tray with a small green tea palate cleanser. Matthew McDermott 7 It could take as long as five years to grow the rare beans and turn them into beanwater. Matthew McDermott 'This takes quite a bit of equipment and a lot of labor, and also a strong understanding of science and what's happening during fermentation to get the profile that you want,' explained coffee lead Sachi Patel. The La Negrita drink is produced from the 'rare and so difficult to produce' Gesha bean, which takes up to five years before it can be plucked and shipped to a UK roastery. 'After the coffee is roasted, our senior coffee team in the UK will do quite a bit of recipe testing to find out the best water temperature and brewing method to brew the coffee at and then that will be communicated with all of head baristas at each location, who will make sure that the coffee is tasting the way we want it to,' said Patel, adding that the perfected beans are then finally fermented for 36 hours before being bottled for preservation. 7 Harrison Huang said the coffee and experience was well worth the $28 price. Katherine Donlevy/NY Post 7 WatchHouse offers six coffees from is Rarities menu, ranging in price from $14 to $28. Matthew McDermott The lengthy history is communicated to the customer during service, much like at a wine tasting — which could be an integral part of the price. The Post conducted a blind taste test with New Yorkers on the street in which they were asked to guess the price. Most loved the taste, but were appalled to learn the $28 price tag. 'That's pretty heinous,' Graham O'Donnell said, even though he admitted the coffee was delicious. 7 'At $28 I'm going to see my Bodega man, put some weight at the bottom. We'd just be chilling and then I'd buy another cup,' said Jared Hunter. Matthew McDermott Similarly, Jared Hunter gawked at the cost, saying, 'At $28, I'm going to see my Bodega man, put some weight at the bottom. We'd just be chilling and then I'd buy another cup.' Mohammad Ishmail estimates he hawks about 500 cups of $2 coffee at his breakfast cart just around the corner from WatchHouse's 5th Avenue location, describing his clientele as mostly construction and blue-collar workers. 'Coffee is coffee. That's what matters. At 5 o'clock in the morning, I have one and that's good for me,' said Ishmail, who has been running his truck since 2010. 7 The Post conducted a blind taste test with New Yorkers on the street in which they were asked to guess the cost of an 8 oz cup. Matthew McDermott WatchHouse's Rarities line certainly has a loyal cult following; however, with coffee lovers like Sarah Allmon, who emphasized the experience wasn't for the average Dunkin' enthusiast. 'This is their bread and butter. They're willing to go the extra mile to get a really good pour-over. I think if you're someone that's really chasing that specialty coffee or seeing what is the unique option out there, I think that the rarities would definitely pull your interest,' Allmon, 31, of the Upper East Side said, rating WatchHouse as one of the top 5 of the nearly 100 coffee shops she's ever visited in the Big Apple. Harrison Huang — who described himself as a 'really big coffee person' — agreed, telling The Post he stopped by WatchHouse as part of a self-conducted tour of several other high-end coffee shops during his trip to the Big Apple. 'For me, the most interesting part is to try different coffee beans and how the coffee shop is using their technique to kind of display — that's a fun way to look at it, too,' explained Harrison Huang, 31, of Los Angeles, who was sipping on a $14 Pepe Jijon, his second cup of the his trip to WatchHouse after trying a $23 Abu Lot. 'I'm not always looking at the coffee bean, but also the machine they're using and how they are approaching this plane … the whole environment is what I'm looking for.'
New York Post
9 hours ago
- New York Post
Rare Billionaire's Row haven for the middle class faces crushing 450% rent spike: ‘Basically death'
When Richard Hirsch moved into Carnegie House on West 57th Street in the 1990s, the neighborhood was better known for its bargain shops and delis than for the glassy Billionaires' Row supertall towers that would later rise around it. Hirsch, now 61, paid about $400,000 for a two-bedroom co-op with his wife, Jill Strauss, and settled into a solid, if unflashy, brick building that offered middle-class New Yorkers a toehold in Midtown Manhattan. Today, from their apartment window, Hirsch can see the silhouettes of Central Park's sky-piercing condominiums — the homes of the ultrawealthy, many of them empty more often than not. He calls his address 'Thousandaires' Row,' a nod to how dramatically the economic profile of the neighborhood has shifted. But the joke has worn thin. In July, an arbitration panel determined that the annual ground rent for Carnegie House should increase from $4.36 million to roughly $24 million, reports the Wall Street Journal. 9 At Carnegie House, a once-affordable co-op building on Manhattan's now ultra-luxurious Billionaires' Row, longtime residents are facing financial ruin after an arbitration panel ruled to increase their annual ground rent from $4.36 million to roughly $24 million — a 450% spike. Matthew McDermott If upheld by a court, that 450% hike could send monthly costs for residents like Hirsch soaring — from about $5,000 to $13,000, he said. It's 'basically death,' Hirsch, who is also the co-op board president, told the Journal in an interview. Carnegie House, like roughly 100 other co-op buildings across New York City, sits on land the residents don't own, The Post previously reported. 9 The midcentury building sits on leased land, a structure once intended to help middle-class New Yorkers buy homes, but now increasingly weaponized by wealthy landowners amid soaring land values. Matthew McDermott These long-term ground leases, once pitched as a path to homeownership for the city's middle class, have become a liability as land prices skyrocket and lease resets arrive. The Ground Lease Coop Coalition estimates that more than 25,000 New Yorkers live in such buildings, many of which are now approaching lease renegotiation periods — or expiration dates altogether. 'When we signed the ground lease years ago, the land value and the neighborhood were entirely different,' David Jordan, 83, a retired engineer who has lived in Carnegie House for two decades, told the Journal. 'None of us, even the professionals who were advising us, could have foreseen the kind of explosive land inflation that's happened.' 9 Residents like Richard Hirsch and his wife Jill Strauss, who bought their unit for around $400,000 in the 1990s, could see monthly costs jump from $5,000 to $13,000. Matthew McDermott The current lease terms stem from a 2014 deal, when an entity tied to real-estate investors Rubin Schron and David Werner paid $261 million for the land beneath Carnegie House. At the time, brokerage CBRE described the site as offering 'unique future potential to construct a luxury retail, hotel and condominium tower.' The sharp rent increase came after failed negotiations between the co-op and the landowners, who are now represented by a limited liability company. 'We remain open to good-faith discussions with Carnegie House residents should they wish to approach us,' James Yolles, a spokesman for the landowners, told the Journal. Yolles denied any plans to redevelop the site and noted that residents benefited from lower purchase prices because of the lease structure, adding that tenants have been aware of the potential rent increase when they purchased their homes. 9 Bir and Gohli Madan. Matthew McDermott Gohli and Birinder Madan previously told The Post their plans to sue the co-op board of Carnegie House on West 57th Street in an attempt to save their home. But their case was later dismissed, court records obtained by The Post show. Still, many owners say they relied on attorneys and banks, who didn't raise red flags. 'I relied on my lawyers to look at this,' Hirsch said. 'It's not like I had a ton of experience. No bank was saying this was an issue.' The last time the rent reset was in 2004, residents said, and the increase was modest. But the recent arbitration ruling has left longtime owners stunned and panicked. 9 Many owners, especially elderly residents on fixed incomes, fear being forced out or losing their homes entirely if the co-op defaults. Matthew McDermott A one-bedroom apartment that sold for $535,000 in 2015 is now listed for $189,000, according to public records. Sandy Dell, 70, bought her unit in 1998 for about $150,000. Now, she's afraid to invest in basic upkeep. 'I desperately need to paint and replace the carpeting,' she told the Journal. 'But I'm afraid to spend money on anything like that, because I don't know what's going to happen with the apartment.' For Lou and Barb Grumet, the building's accessibility and proximity to hospitals made it an ideal place to grow old. They purchased their apartment in 2011 for roughly $780,000. 9 The land, now controlled by firms linked to developers Rubin Schron and David Werner, was purchased in 2014 for $261 million and marketed as a future luxury development site — leading some residents to suspect an intentional squeeze. Matthew McDermott 'We were going to live here till we die,' Lou said. But their monthly costs are expected to more than double — from $3,700 to $9,000. 'No one dreamed of the craziness that's happened here,' he said. If the co-op defaults, the building could revert to rent-stabilized apartments, and shareholders would lose their equity — though they'd still owe their mortgages. What happens next is murky, as few buildings have undergone such a deconversion. Yolles said the landowners believe they can negotiate new rents directly with tenants. But tenant advocates argue that doing so would breach rent-stabilization rules. 9 Though residents were aware of the lease, they were blindsided by the scale of the increase. Some apartments have plummeted in value, with a one-bedroom now listed for just $189,000 — less than half of what it sold for in 2015. Taidgh Barron/NY Post The co-op board has vowed to challenge the rent increase in court and is working alongside the Ground Lease Coop Coalition to push for legislative relief. A 2024 bill introduced by State Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal proposed caps on rent hikes and expenses when leases expire. The broader bill stalled, and a narrower version — offering fair rent terms but no cap — failed to reach a floor vote this year. The Real Estate Board of New York opposed both versions. 'Unconstitutionally meddling in longstanding contracts for the benefit of a small handful of largely wealthy homeowners and real-estate speculators in Manhattan is bad public policy amid a housing crisis — or anytime,' Zachary Steinberg of REBNY told the Journal in a statement. 9 Legislative efforts to rein in such lease terms have stalled, as powerful industry groups like REBNY argue that changing contracts retroactively is unconstitutional. UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Yolles echoed that point, suggesting that not all residents are financially vulnerable. Some investors, he said, recently bought in at steep discounts betting that lawmakers would intervene and values would rise. Krueger rejected the criticism. 'It hasn't been a problem until now, so now we have to intervene,' she said. 'Losing the equity is the least of my problems,' Dell added. 'It's finding another place that I can afford at this point in my life.' 9 Advocates warn that Carnegie House is just one of thousands of NYC co-ops sitting on similar ticking time bombs, threatening to displace residents and erode affordability in an already strained housing market. Getty Images She has no desire to leave Manhattan. 'I lived here way before this was Billionaires' Row,' she said. 'I hate that it's called that.'
