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Jersey City’s 90-Year-Old Boulevard Drinks Told to Vacate as Tower Plan Advances

The lease fight highlights redevelopment pressure on small businesses in a fast-changing Journal Square.

Overview

  • Boulevard Drinks says new property owners ordered it to leave despite a lease that runs through 2034.
  • The owner reports a developer told him, “consider this your sixth month,” and he has hired lawyers to contest the ouster.
  • City officials recently approved a roughly 50-story mixed-use tower on Kennedy Boulevard, with a ground-floor Whole Foods reported by a source close to the project.
  • Mayor James Solomon and Councilman Tom Zuppa say keeping the stand in the neighborhood is a priority and they plan to work with the parties on a solution.
  • The hot dog shop has served Journal Square since 1937, and customers fear losing a neighborhood fixture as projects like Journal Squared and the Loew’s Theater renovation reshape the area.