In June, when the High Line's part two opened, I worried that the Firestone Bear auto shop would soon shutter. In July we first heard that the business had been given three months to live, but was fighting in court. Now, right on schedule, the shop has been emptied and surrounded by plywood. As Curbed reports, "the wrecked cars are gone, the tools cleared out and the 1-story garage is coming down."
That's how fast it happens.
Curbed: Bear Auto today--empty
One auto-related business or another has been on this corner lot for the past 70 years, but then the High Line arrived. And, as our local tipster told us in July, "The very expensive private school that is being built between 25th and 26th, a significant contributor to the High Line" might be interested in the space.
Bear Auto this summer--thriving
The closure of an auto-body shop may not break every heart, but it's another sign of how quickly and completely the High Line is destroying local, long-time, non-luxury businesses along its celebrated length. As AM New York recently wrote, "The lush green artery is killing off a chunk of New York’s entrepreneurial and gritty industrial past." Alan Brownfeld's third-generation auto business is fighting for its life. Even La Lunchonette--a French bistro on 18th and 10th since 1988--is under threat.
Who will be next?
Eagle Under Siege
Folsom Under High Line
Goodbye Poppy's
The Upper High Line
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