Higher rent may force legendary Sparks Steak House out of its historic location
Sparks Steak House could get an unwelcome 50th birthday present.
The legendary red meat joint may have to pull up stakes at its East 46th Street location if it can’t reach a deal with its landlord, the Durst Organization, the company said in a New York Labor Department filing posted on Wednesday.
Durst is asking for a 100 percent increase in rent when the lease runs out on Aug. 31, owner and co-founder Michael Cetta told The Post.
Cetta is preparing to lay off 87 servers, busboys, runners, dishwashers and chefs, according to the filing.
In 1985, Gambino crime family boss Paul Castellano was rubbed out on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, pushing Cetta’s eatery into the headlines. Sparks has enjoyed a parade of curiosity-seeking customers over the years.
“It’s still part of the restaurant’s mystique,” Cetta said of the shooting, which also killed mob underboss Thomas Bilotti.
Over the past couple of months, Cetta has been negotiating a new lease for the 26,000- square-foot eatery and he says that if the eatery has to close at its location for the past 39 years, he will reopen it elsewhere in the city.
The clubby restaurant, where diners cough up around $100 per person, doesn’t even include menu prices on its Web site.
“The price of beef changes all the time, so if customers call us about the prices, we tell them over the phone,” Cetta said.
Sparks was also hurt by a sharp rise in the number of steak houses in the city, Cetta said. When it opened in 1966, there were roughly 10 Gotham City rivals. Today there are scores of rivals, he said.
http://nypost.com/2017/05/31/rent-hikes-could-force-sparks-steak-house-to-new-location/
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