Upper West Siders Mourn Loss Of West Side Judaica

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A small crowd of Upper West Siders gathered outside West Side Judaica Tuesday afternoon to talk mournfully about the store's impending closure and the changing character of the neighborhood.

Richard Oppenheimer didn't shop at the judaica often but told Patch the store was an "important part of his life." The Upper West Side resident said he remembered running into famed Israeli violinist and conductor Itzhak Perlman in the store while shopping for a Passover Haggadah in the early '80s.

Update: The store decided not to close after news of its demise prompted an increase in customers.

"He actually ended up pointing me to the Haggadah I ended up purchasing, and I was in a panik because my Seder was probably the following day," Oppenheimer told Patch. "This store has integrity, this store has personality and like many of the small businesses on the Upper West Side that we have lost or are in danger of losing it is unique."

"There may be judaica stores left throughout the city of New York but there's only one West Side Judaica."

Following years of financial trouble, West Side Judaica will close its doors permanently in the coming months, the West Side Rag first reported. Yaakov Saltzer, the store's owner, told the West Side Rag that the store cannot stay afloat due to rising rents and competition with online retailers.

Susan Gwertzman has lived in a building next to West Side Judaica for 41 years and told Patch the store is "part of her heritage."

"To me it's part of the old-time Upper West Side," Gwertzman said.

Like Oppenheimer, Gwertzman did not patronize West Side Judaica on a regular basis. But she said whenever her brother visited New York City from Israel she would take him to the store. It was an experience they loved, she told Patch.

The crowd gathered outside the store Tuesday because City Council candidate Mel Wymore planned to hold a rally in front of the store to denounce the loss of small businesses in the neighborhood. The rally did not end up happening — store owners did not want to get involved in politics, a Wymore spokesman told Patch — but the candidate did post up in front of a vacant storefront next door to speak with residents.

The block — home to three banks — is a perfect example of the proliferation of big businesses on the Upper West Side, a Wymore spokesman told Patch.