Stick a fork in it? A rent hike may force the storied Sparks steakhouse to close at its home of 39 years.
The restaurant said in a New York Labor Department filing that it is getting ready to lay off 87 employees after its landlord at 210 East 46th Street, the Durst Organization, doubled the rent. Its current lease expires at the end of August.
Owner Michael Cetta said it would reopen at a new location if forced out.
Sparks rose to fame when mobsters assassinated mafia crime boss Paul Castellano outside its doors in 1985. “It’s still part of the restaurant’s mystique,” Cetta told the New York Post.
He added that rising competition among the city’s steakhouses hurt the eatery in recent years.
Retail vacancies are on the rise across the city as shops and restaurants struggle to keep up with rising rents. [NYP] — Konrad Putzier