The Bedford Ave curse has claimed stalwarts like Spike Hill, Verb Cafe, Kings Pharmacy, and Supercore of late, and it looks like it's striking again. Vegan restaurant Wild Ginger, which has resided between North 5th and 6th Streets since 2006, is heading off Williamsburg's main strip next month, all thanks to a rent increase, obviously.
Bedford + Bowery reports that the pan-Asian chain, which has locations in Manhattan and elsewhere in Brooklyn, got slapped with a rent spike on Bedford. When we contacted the manager earlier today, he told us he was too busy to speak with us, but he confirmed the increase with Bedford + Bowery. "Ten years ago, it used to be $5,000, now they’re asking for at least $17,000, $20,000. That’s too crazy," he said. "People don’t let people survive. They increased it by a lot."
The good news is, it looks like Wild Ginger's sticking around the neighborhood—they'll be opening a new, bigger space on North 10th Street between Bedford and Driggs. It's unclear what will end up on Bedford in its stead, but the way things are going over there, our money's on a TD Bank.
