Last week word started to spread that Jeffrey Ruhalter, proprietor of Jeffrey's Meat Market, the oldest tenant in the famed Essex Street Market, was having a rough go of it financially (despite a glowing Times profile last December). Today the Lo-Down pushed the story further, saying that Jeffrey's was closing. After a few phone calls and a quick trip to the Market, we found the answer wasn't quite so simple.
Nobody is answering the phone at Jeffrey's, but Danny McNeill, Jeffrey's business manager, tells us that after a talk this morning with the New York City Economic Development Corporation (the market's landlord), they really aren't sure of the fate of the butcher shop and won't know more until Monday. The NYCEDC meanwhile is not commenting until there is an official decision. And Jeffrey's employees, well, they seem as unsure about the fate of the place as we are.
One employee this afternoon told us "One moment [Jeffrey] says he wants to close, the next moment he says no. He says he wants to close for a month and then come back but I don't know the truth." Another told us that the store is "going to close tomorrow and they don't know when they are going to open again."
The same employee emphasized to us what a good guy Jeffrey is—"but good is not enough, you've got to be better"—and blamed the current crisis on major financial issues at the Meat Market. Last week it was revealed that the NYCEDC, which recently started opening the Essex Market on Sundays, was in the process of raising the rent on tenants by 29%, or roughly an extra $10 per square foot of retail.
One possibility being thrown around to save Jeffrey's would be to move the Meat Market to a smaller stall which would allow it to maintain a rent similar to the one it pays now.
In the meantime, just in case, you might want to head down there this weekend for one last steak.
