February 20, 2021
By Barrett Seaman
The notice came just two days after New York State’s oft-extended pandemic moratorium on commercial evictions finally lapsed at the end of January. With more than $35,000 in unpaid back rent, Irvington’s popular Main Street café, The Black Cat, was notified by its landlord, KIN Properties of Boca Raton, Florida, that it must vacate the premises by the end of February that is, by the end of next week as of this writing.
The café’s proprietress, Emily Feliciano, who had been trying to negotiate a restructuring of her $3,268.96 per month rent since the pandemic shut down so many businesses last March, resorted to the modern-day version of the tin cup: she launched a GoFundMe fundraising effort on the internet and laid out her financial predicament for all to see on the local Facebook page.
Small businesses and landlords in New York State looking to renegotiate lease terms during the COVID-19 pandemic will now have access to free legal help.