Source: Yelp
Aug. 17, 2017 By Jason Cohen
The owners of Arepa Lady, the popular Jackson Heights restaurant offering Colombian treats, have six months left on 77th Street since the building they are in is slated for demolition.
“The permits to tear down our building were approved,” they wrote in a tweet sent Tuesday evening. “Arepa lady has 6 months left.”
The owners of Arepa Lady, located at 77-02A Roosevelt Ave., have occupied the brick-and-mortar restaurant where they are now for three years. Its founder, Maria Cano, known as the Arepa Lady, had a food cart for decades prior to opening the restaurant.
Cano’s son, Alejandro Osorio, now runs the business and said that when he found out last year that the building’s owner planned to construct a large building on the site he was shocked.
“The day that the owner came and told us my daughter started crying,” he recalled.
In December, the building owner filed for permits seeking to construct a mixed-use development on the site that would consist of 44 apartments, with commercial space and community facilities.
Osorio said he and his family have been looking for a new location, but it has not been easy finding space in Jackson Heights where they want to stay.
“We live in this neighborhood and we would like to stay here,” he stressed.
Eater was first to report the announcement.
The permits to tear down our building were approved. Arepa lady has 6 months left.
The permits to tear down our building were approved. Arepa lady has 6 months left.
— arepalady (@Arepalady) August 15, 2017
