Citarella Opens in Harlem

The Amsterdam News

Citarella Opens in Harlem
by AMANDA CASSANDRA
Special to the AmNews
Originally posted 6/22/2005

Citarella, the well-known purveyor of both truffles and fish to gourmet shoppers, has found another home � in Harlem.

Renowned for its premium selection of seafood, Citarella offers an extensive array of prepared foods, fresh produce, and prime meat products to discerning Harlem customers. After all, one cannot find aged beef in just any store. The store's interior is a testament to Citarella's signature style: rows of color coordinated
pasta sauces line brightly lit shelves; cascading mountains of gourmet cheese-wheels frame columns; neatly piled stacks of colorful, shiny vegetables; and glass cases filled with cakes and tarts made on the premises that look too pretty to eat.

Citarella presents the greatest dilemma for those who want to have their cake and eat it too.

The Harlem Citarella also carries particular food items such as catfish, as well as hard-shelled blue crabs.

�We are also going to serve hot food, something we�ve never done before,� said Joe Gurrera, the CEO of Citarella. �The Harlem store is our prototype.�

Citarella, which operates seven other locations in New York and the Hamptons, bought the former Taystee Cake Bakery facility in 2001 from the city's Economic Development Corporation on W. 125th Street, between Amsterdam and Morningside avenues, for a sum of $850,000. Citarella converted the location with the intention of building both a retail store and a warehouse/packaging facility.

Lured to Harlem because of the renewal taking place in Harlem, most visible in numerous new housing erection projects and storefront renovations, Citarella wanted to be a part of the change.

�There is a demand for businesses to move in,� said Gurrera. �There�s so much growth,� he added.

Kenneth Knuckles, the CEO of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ), said he was pleased that the store has opened in Harlem. UMEZ worked with Citarella to establish its Harlem store.

�Like any good business entity, it will go where there is a market,� said Knuckles.

The reactions to Citarella�s recent move have been just as diverse as the people of Harlem. Lee Pollack, the Harlem�s store manager, said some have made grim predictions about the fate of the store. One man in particular told him he thought it would only survive a year, a claim to which Pollack responded: �People sell
themselves short. I�ve had people tell me that they are so glad Citarella opened a location in Harlem so they didn�t have to travel downtown all the time.�

Others were similarly skeptical. Some Harlem residents expressed concerns about the potential displacement of longtime neighborhood businesses, which have seen Harlem through leaner times.
�I worry about Citarella pricing people out,� said Robbin Franklin, who works in Harlem and came into Citarella for lunch. �It�s a bit expensive.�

Pollack counters the criticism, saying, �If people really look, they�ll see that our pricing is about the same for better quality products.�

Citarella's move to Harlem was initially met with some resistance, as some community members hoped to see housing erected on the site instead. According to Community Board 9 member Jordi Reyes-Montblanc, Citarella has not lived up to the conditions of the sale.

�They haven�t done what they were supposed to do,� Reyes-Montblanc stated. �We approved a warehouse operation, but instead they moved it to the Bronx.� Reyes-Montblanc continued: �We want it developed for the original purpose or we want housing. We need housing.�

He vows that the board will keep up the pressure.

Gurrera says the plans for a warehouse were abandoned when he had the property appraised. The estimate given by auditors to restore the derelict building, abandoned for years, was $8.2 million.
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�No one is going to pay that for a warehouse,� Gurrera says. �It doesn�t make sense.�

Yusi Gurrera, Joe�s wife, said, �Now we have this property and we want to do something that would be good for the community and still profitable for us.�

Both agreed housing is an important need in the community.

Joe Gurrera said that no matter the situation, the store will have staying power: �We built it to last, and we are going to be here for the long haul.�