There is no point resisting restaurant impresario Danny Meyer and his ever-expanding Shake Shack empire, as one small-time Brooklyn businessman is finding out. In November, it was announced with great fanfare that Meyer would be opening the first Brooklyn Shake Shack location, at the foot of the Fulton Mall in downtown Brooklyn. Borough President Marty Markowitz praised Meyer for "beefing up the Fulton Mall," and you could almost see the line of Shacknatics, as they're known, lining up already. But lost amid all the hoopla were the six businesses that had to find new homes to make room for Shake Shack. One of those merchants, Roma Shoe Repair & Shine, has now filed a lawsuit.
Roman, who would only give his first name to the Brooklyn Eagle, tells the paper his landlord, Allied Property Group, agreed to pay for him $25,000 to cover his first six months of rent at his new location on Court Street, where he says, "People don’t know me." The money was also supposed to cover the moving and repair fees necessary to relocate. But Roma says he's received just $4,700 from the landlord and business is bad, so he's suing in Brooklyn Housing Court.
"It’s very likely that he’ll be forced out of business,” Roman's lawyer tells the Eagle. "[In the new location], it’s difficult to get signage outside. It doesn’t really have an outside presence, and he’s lost his walk-in business as well." And yet, Roman doesn't blame his landlord ("He’s a good guy!")—he seems more miffed with Shake Shack. "Everybody moves. The pizza guy too, for Shake Shack,” Roman says. "These people never thinks about the small businessman... They close like five businesses just to open one business." Get used to it, Roman. It's Meyer's line, we're just standing on it.
