A poster now hangs next to the wooden French doors at Jake's Dilemma, 430 Amsterdam Avenue. It thanks three decades of regulars for "late nights, gamedays, first dates, bad decisions, lifelong friendships." It also sends them somewhere: The Gin Mill, Jake's sister bar a few doors away, "is waiting with open arms." Jake's closes October 18 after 32 years. Its tab is moving down the block, and the bar crowd isn't leaving the corridor.
That poster sums up what's happening on Amsterdam between West 79th and 87th Streets this fall. A run of long-running businesses is ending, and the coverage reads like a list of losses. Look at each address, though, and a different pattern shows up. The menus, the owners and the foot traffic mostly stay within a few blocks. The spaces that do go empty draw new tenants quickly. According to the people who track storefronts here, the real vacancy problem is one avenue west.
The handoffs keep the same names on the block
Four of this season's biggest changes on this stretch are handoffs rather than exits:
- Good Enough to Eat to Fred's. The brunch spot at 520 Columbus Avenue served its last plates on August 30 after 45 years. Owner Jeremy Wladis moved the breakfast menu to Fred's, his sister restaurant at 476 Amsterdam at West 83rd, where it now runs weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fred's also opens at 9 a.m. on weekends now, instead of 11 a.m.
- Jacob's Pickles to Velvet Cowboy. Jacob's Pickles moved its flagship to 680 Columbus Avenue, between 93rd and 94th, in October 2025. The same owners opened Velvet Cowboy, a Western bar, on September 29 in the old space at 509 Amsterdam, between 84th and 85th.
- Jake's Dilemma to The Gin Mill. Both bars belong to Eat Drink & Be Merry. Michael Staff, managing partner of both, told Gothamist that losing Jake's is "like losing a limb."
- Granola Bar to Friedmans, probably. The owners of Friedmans bought 541–555 Amsterdam Avenue, which includes the former Granola Bar space at 551. A spokesperson said they hadn't settled on a concept but were leaning toward a Friedmans. No timeline has been given.
Wladis was direct about why Good Enough to Eat left Columbus:
"The landlord thinks it's worth a lot more money than I do, and we can't come to a decision. I just think it's time to move from that space."
He also pointed to fewer tourists, since phones have replaced the printed guidebooks that once sent visitors to his door. Still, he kept the food in the neighborhood and dropped only the name. "I confuse people when I do two brands," he told ILTUWS.
Walking it north from 80th
If you walk the corridor from the low 80s north, the pace of turnover is easy to see. Here's the block-by-block picture as of early October:
- 424 Amsterdam, between 80th and 81st. 7th Street Burger has been temporarily closed over a building gas issue. On September 28, management said the gas problem was fixed and the shop was waiting on final approval. West Side Rag still listed it as closed on September 30.
- 430 Amsterdam, same block. Jake's Dilemma throws three farewell parties on October 16, 17 and 18. Staff told Gothamist that the owner of the bar had long owned the building, and once it was sold, the bar got 60 days to close.
- 434 Amsterdam, at 81st. Janie's Life Changing Baked Goods moved here from 212 West 80th Street on June 10 and added seating, cake and coffee.
- 441 Amsterdam, between 81st and 82nd. TALEA Beer Co. opened on September 25 in the old St. James Gate space, empty since the Irish pub closed in 2024. Tara Hankinson and LeAnn Darland founded the brewery in 2019, and this is their seventh New York City location. The menu runs all day, with brunch, evening entrées and food for kids. Hankinson told West Side Rag that she and Darland wanted a room that works for a date night and for a Sunday morning.
- 463 Amsterdam, between 82nd and 83rd. Sweet Peanut Records opened July 18. Owner Hunter Brammer lives on the Upper West Side and used to work in finance. The shop sells new and used vinyl, CDs, cassettes and audio equipment, and Brammer plans album-release events and talks with guest speakers. He has also talked about listening parties and occasional live auction-style shows.
- 476 Amsterdam, at 83rd. Fred's, now serving the Good Enough to Eat breakfast menu.
- 509 Amsterdam, between 84th and 85th. Velvet Cowboy, where the food menu is $5 a dish. The Infatuation's review lists Texas chili, frito pie and a take on the McRib. Resy reservations for the cocktail lounge opened October 1.
Columbus is moving in step one block east. Good Bird Organic Chicken opened August 19 inside Polanco Social at 474 Columbus, at 83rd, for takeout and delivery. The French restaurant group Boucherie is taking 444 and 446 Columbus, between 81st and 82nd, the former Starbucks and The Milling Room spaces. Boucherie's website already lists hours for the Upper West Side restaurant, but no local outlet has reported an opening date.
Count it up and three of the seven Amsterdam addresses above got a new tenant this summer or fall. A fourth changed concept under the same owner, and a fifth took over a menu from a closed sister restaurant.
Why the empty storefronts are on Broadway
Gothamist's September 30 piece on the closings put the corridor in a wider frame. It counted Jake's Dilemma among at least five longtime Upper West Side businesses that had announced closures in recent months. Others named in the coverage include Cheesy Pizza, closed after more than three decades, and Edgar's Cafe, closing after nearly 40 years.
Alex Bell, who chairs Community Board 7, drew the geographic line himself. Columbus and Amsterdam feel much livelier than Broadway, he said, where "you can feel the empty stores." Jessica Walker, president and CEO of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, said nearly 40% of the neighborhood's empty storefronts are on Broadway, based on data from the storefront tracker Live XYZ.
The reason is physical. Broadway's storefronts tend to be bigger and are often built for banks, pharmacies and big retailers. "If you have like a big pharmacy or a large bank, it becomes very hard for another tenant to wanna take that over," Walker said. Broadway's recent closings fit that pattern. Barzini's, a grocery at 2451 Broadway for more than 40 years, closed August 31, and T-Mobile closed its store at 2016 Broadway on August 1.
Amsterdam's spaces are a better fit for the restaurants and bars that keep signing leases. The listing for Jake's Dilemma describes 2,500 square feet on the ground floor plus a 1,900-square-foot lower level, 20 feet of frontage, 12-foot ceilings and a full liquor license already in place. The listing pitches it as "ideal for upscale sit-down dining or premium healthy concepts." A space like that, with a liquor license already attached, doesn't usually sit empty the way a former bank branch does.
A proposal at City Hall bears on this. Council Member Gale Brewer, who represents much of the Upper West Side, sponsors the Storefront Bill of Rights. It would require written leases for storefront tenancies longer than a year, and one provision would let commercial tenants renew for up to a year with increases capped at 10%. The Manhattan Chamber has raised concerns about the renewal provision, and Brewer has said she is open to amending it. For background, the city comptroller's storefront vacancy report puts parts of the Upper West Side among the neighborhoods with the highest shares of long-term, structural vacancies.
Still unsettled
Several addresses on the corridor have no answer yet. No new tenant has been named for 430 Amsterdam once Jake's closes. As of the latest reports, no one has confirmed what comes next at 520 Columbus, where Good Enough to Eat stood. Friedmans hasn't committed to a concept or a date at 551 Amsterdam. Boucherie's opening date and 7th Street Burger's reopening date are both still unconfirmed in local coverage.
October dates near the corridor
- October 16, 17 and 18. Jake's Dilemma's three farewell parties, open to past and present regulars, ending with the October 18 closing.
- October 17, 3 to 8 p.m. A Broadway Open Street between West 73rd and 75th.
- October 25, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. A Columbus Avenue Open Street from West 68th to 77th. The city notes that Trick-or-Streets events can be delayed or canceled, including for weather.
West Side Rag's weekly Openings & Closings column is the most reliable way to follow these addresses. It runs on reader tips.
When a block turns over this fast, the change shows up in daily life before it shows up in market data. If you're weighing a move on or off this stretch of Amsterdam or Columbus, Ava Anz can walk you through what this year's turnover means for the buildings on your block. Schedule a consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
