Mott Haven merchants are singing the blues

A look into stores along 138th Street reveals the impact of the recession

By Carla Candia
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Rosemary Ortiz was her own customer, the only customer on a recent morning at Genesis, the beauty salon she opened 12 years ago on East 138 Street in Mott Haven. With no other patrons to take care of, one of Ortiz’s employees was giving her boss a pedicure.

“I have lost 50 percent of my clients. It’s hard to pay the rent on time,” Ortiz said.

Alberto Martinez, owner of the nearby restaurant Rinconcito Mexicano, understands Ortiz’s predicament. He opened his eatery on the same block as Genesis, between Alexander and Willis avenues, six years ago.

His customers, too, are spending less. “Now, I have more employees than costumers,” he said.

The recession is hurting business everywhere, but small businesses in Mott Haven have been especially hard hit. All along East 138 Street from the Grand Concourse to the Bruckner Expressway they are struggling to stay open.

In the 20 years she has owned Camaguey restaurant between Brook and St. Anns avenues, Janet Greenberg has never seen an economic crisis like the current one. Everything she needs to run her restaurant costs more, she says, and she can’t keep up.

“My electricity bill is too high,” said Greenberg. “I’m paying $2,300 per month.”

Herminda Acevedo, owner of Cuchifrito, a restaurant between Willis and Brook avenues, said she is getting tired of struggling without seeing any improvement in sales.

“The taxes are too high. I can’t reduce the prices any more because I need to buy merchandise,” she said. So she’s ready to give up.

“The place is already on the market,” she said sadly of the restaurant she has run for more than four years.

Others restaurant owners are adapting to the economic downturn by making small changes in their menus.

Rafael Rozon, owner of Kanela Restaurant Bar on Third Avenue, modified the beer specials he used to offer every night. Now his specials include domestic beers instead of more expensive international brands.

“Food sales have gone down approximately 30 percent,” he said.

However Rozon is determined to survive. “I’m doing some marketing, handing out promotional fliers among the people in the area,” he said.

Jamila Diaz, the program coordinator at the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, a non-profit organization also known as SoBro, worries that residents around East 138th Street are going elsewhere to pick up their necessities. Her organization helps owners create plans to strengthen business and she is in the process of approaching local business owners to start a “buy local campaign.”

“They feel that on 149th Street there are more stores, more variety, when they actually have the potential of having it all at 138th Street,” said Diaz.

SoBro is planning a Team up/Clean Up next spring to make the area more appealing.

Not every merchant in the area is convinced a marketing campaign will bring in new customers.

“That doesn’t work for small businesses,” said Felix Guzman of Guzman Grocery, located between Willis and Brook avenues. “We would all have to agree on the subject, and here no one ever agrees, that’s the problem.”

Customers are pessimistic too. Jose Santana, who has lived on East 138th Street for more than 50 years, believes the economic situation is so bad that nothing will help.

“La piña está agria,” he said, which literally translates to “the pineapple is sour,” meaning things are not looking good.

A version of this article appeared in the Fall 2009 issue of the Mott Haven Herald.

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Joe Hirsch

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