A battle of the bougie is underway in New York City, after upmarket grocery store Whole Foods has filed a lawsuit against a hotel owned by the founder of the infamous Studio 54 club.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan’s Supreme Court, alleges that lines of people waiting for access to The Roof – an exclusive rooftop bar at Public Hotel in the Lower East Side – are blocking delivery access for the store.
The suit, obtained by The Independent, requests that a judge order the hotel to reroute the queueing of their patrons “in some other direction.” The suit also asks that The Roof be closed until the hotel addresses the problem, and that “daily escalating fines” be issued if it doesn't.
Public Hotel is owned by Ian Schrager, an American entrepreneur, hotelier and real estate developer, who gained fame as co-owner and co-founder of Studio 54 – one of the city’s most exclusive clubs in the 1970s.
Public was developed by Schrager and fellow real estate magnate Steve Witkoff, who currently serves as Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East.
Whole Foods’ lawsuit contains a number of pictures showing the chaos outside the hotel, noting that often there was “simply a mass of people completely obstructing the sidewalk and driveway.”
“This obstructs not only Whole Foods from utilizing its driveway and hence having deliveries made to and from its loading dock, but also completely obstructs regular pedestrians who seek to walk on this sidewalk,” it states.
The suit describes the situation as “an accident waiting to happen” due to the combination of large delivery trucks trying to access the area. The drivers are “constantly complaining” to Whole Foods about the congestion, the suit claims.
There have also been several “near misses [sic] accidents.”
It also notes that deliveries that used to take 30 minutes to complete, now takes two hours – risking perishable products.
Whole Foods workers who spoke to The New York Post also reported how club-goers often became aggressive towards them when drunk.
“They don’t understand. Sometimes they start fights with us. They push us. They start cursing… They tell us: ‘who the hell do you think you are?’” one worker told the outlet.
The lawsuit demands a payment of no less than $400,000 in damages.
However, in a letter to the court, attorneys for Public Hotel claimed that there were other reasons for large crowds, including food trucks, or customers picking up their Amazon packages from Whole Foods. They also argued that crowds are not waiting for The Roof, but for a different Public Hotel club called ARTSPACE.
The attorneys argue that shutting The Roof would cause its business “devastating and irreparable harm” and cost the city $8 million in sales tax.
