An online petition has surfaced from local residents who want to see a new kosher restaurant at 399 Grand St. Noah’s Ark Deli, the last full-service kosher restaurant on the Lower East Side, closed before the Jewish holidays last fall and never reopened. Its landlord, the Seward Park Co-op, went to court to evict the restaurant. As we reported last month, several applicants for the space made presentations to the Seward Park board of directors this week, including at least one kosher-oriented operator.
Via the Jewish Press this morning, we noticed the petition, which reads in part:
…we urge the Board of Directors to bring in a Kosher restaurant as a commercial tenant of the Seward Park Co-op. A Kosher meat restaurant is vitally important to observant Jewish communities such as this one since it serves as a place for community to gather and socialize around food, and also acts as a cultural center that needs our support to continue to thrive in a growing neighborhood. A Kosher restaurant will dramatically improve the quality of life for Kosher observing residents, but will also draw patrons from the many diverse populations of the Lower East Side… Further, there are many elderly Seward Park residents who are unable to walk a long distance, having a kosher restaurant will enable them to have a fresh meal every day. Diversity is an important part of why we love the Lower East Side and we encourage the board of Seward Park to help maintain culinary diversity in the neighborhood by bringing a new Kosher restaurant to Seward Park Co-op.
Around 140 people have signed so far. The goal is to gather 1000 online signatures. The board is scheduled to decide which proposal to accept next Tuesday.
