At the start of the year a nasty fire broke out at 1991 Broadway on the Upper West Side, permanently displacing the outpost of Ollie's Noodle Shop in the Lincoln Center-area building. So now the hunt for a new tenant in the potentially quite valuable space is on. Why valuable? There's an Apple Store next door and Lincoln Center blocks away. So, of course the words "Shake" and "Shack" are being bandied about.
The Post today reports that "Star restaurateur [and Shake Shack owner] Danny Meyer has joined the top-flight tenant tasters at the now-shuttered Ollie’s space next door to the Apple store on the Upper West Side," joining potential tenants like "Microsoft, Nike, Anthropologie and Patagonia." But what makes the Shake idea potentially plausible, as opposed to a regular retailer, is the fact that the 1991 Broadway space is located next to an enclosed, tiny public park. Ever since it started in Madison Square Park not so many years ago, the Shake team has tried (not always successfully—*cough* Times Square *cough*) to put its burger outposts near some kind of park area or public space. This would probably meet their specifications.
A Shake Shack rep however, is keeping mum on this rumor. "We look for compelling sites in great neighborhoods," they tell us. " We have decided not to comment on any of these rumors, unless we have something concrete to share."
