Six months after it was shuttered due to flooding from a burst water pipe, the Subway Sandwich Shop at 153 Essex St. is once again open for business.
Back in February, Kevin Mallory told us he was forced to temporarily close the store until his insurance company processed a claim for the damage. Mallory said the culprit was uninsulated pipes in the space above the shop. He spent $40,000 to repair the damage. Mallory is talking about a lawsuit against his landlord.
Even before the closure, this Subway franchise was struggling. Mallory first reached out to us in December of last year to talk about the difficulties running a small business on the Lower East Side. Most of his customers at that time were low and middle income. He saw a large homeless population coming through the store asking for food. Mallory was trying to organize local businesses to contribute to a fund to feed local people in need.
At any rate, the shop is back open from 7 a.m.-midnight daily.
UPDATE 5:26 p.m. Regarding Mallory’s lawsuit, a spokesman for the property owner (Kahan Family Irrevocable Trust), sent us an email statement a short time ago that read simply: “We wish them LOTS OF LUCK.”
