Embattled Subway Inn, which has been forced to close after 77 years later this month, isn't gonna let The Man get away with this one if they can help it. The iconic UES dive has begun an aggressive campaign to stop new building owner World-Wide Real Estate Group from demolishing the beloved watering hole to make way for luxury housing. The Salinas family, who have owned the bar for the past 40 years, have launched both a Change.org petition, as well as an Indigogo project in hopes of staying in their 60th Street home.
"We believe that New York City is about more than rich investors gobbling up small family businesses to make a quick buck thereby destroying the integrity of the Upper East Side of Manhattan," the family declares in the petition. They're seeking signatures to send a petition to politicos including Mayor de Blasio, Executive Director of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission Kate Daly, as well as the World-Wide Holdings Corporation. They're also hoping to raise $10,000 by the beginning of September to pay for legal fees associated with fighting the real estate giant.
The recent rash of RIPs for beloved city institutions should be a rallying cry for everyone who's claimed to love these establishments. Keep in mind, it's not just the regulars who are affected when a business shutters; below, a passionate video made about the Salinas family and the business they've cherished and depended on for the last four decades:
