Jeffrey’s Meat Market Receives Post-it Love
Jeffrey’s Meat Market has been on hiatus since early March, when an impasse with the Essex Street Market landlord over the reported 29% rent hike resulted a “temporary” closure. The equipment, famous photos, and meats were quickly cleared from his floor-space.
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But die-hard customers miss their neighborhood icon; serving meats with jokes and a smile. They, too, are suffering. So much so that a new Post-it note campaign is afoot at the old butcher shop. A tipster submitted these photos showing a half-dozen adhesives attached to the empty glass casings. All are in the same vein – we miss you, come back soon, NEED, etc.
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During this mandatory time off, however, proprietor Jeffrey Ruhalter made some promising progress in his negotiations with the NYC Economic Development Corp (EDC), whereby he could maintain the same monthly cost at a smaller retail footprint. Even with rent squared away, financial troubles remain the crux of the issue. Business just isn’t what it once was for the fourth generation butcher of the Lower East Side.
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There is a silver lining in all this somber news. According to the family managers Jeffrey and Danny McNeill, the butcher business could return to the Essex Street Market within a few weeks at the earliest. That, and the EDC still considers Jeffrey the official lease-holder. Nevertheless, team Ruhalter continues to seek investors to back the venture.