Change is on the menu at Village Green Deli

Denise Macri at Village Green Deli in 2020. Facebook Photo

By JEFF MORRIS

There are changes coming to the Village Green Deli in Bedford Village, though they will not become obvious for several months. It is under new ownership, and has been closed since Jan. 31.

According to new owner James Vellano, it will “remain the same-ish.” He told The Recorder it will no longer be called Village Green Deli, but he has not yet determined what the name will be.

Vellano, who is also the owner of the nearby G.E. Brown Fine Food & Provisions and Bedford Candy Bar, said it is remaining a deli, and that was one of the requests the landlord made in order for him to obtain the lease. It is, however, undergoing a gut renovation, down to the studs. For that reason, he does not expect to open until sometime in mid-May or early June.

The deli is located in the Empire Building, owned by Garson Brothers Asset Management, a Bronxville-based firm whose principals are listed as Jeffrey Garson, Brett Garson and Tosh Garson. According to Vellano, the two Garson sons are customers of his at G.E. Brown, and he had spoken with them years ago about the possibility of buying the deli; he said he had also spoken about that possibility with Denise Macri, the now former owner. In a text to The Recorder, Macri confirmed that Vellano wanted to buy it, “but he couldn’t afford my asking price or even close.”

Vellano also said the landlord was requiring the gut renovation be done by whoever took the space, whether by buying out Macri’s lease or letting the lease run out and taking it over. “Denise was there for 35 years,” he said, “and her father took it over from a previous owner who operated a deli for 10 to 15 years before that. She took over the deli the way you see it. That space had not been renovated since the ‘70s.” He said if you put yourself in the landlord’s shoes, “You have a new person coming in, you’re going to say you want the space to be renovated — you know it needs updating anyway. That was their demand of me or anybody who came in: there had to be a renovation.”

He negotiated with the landlord to obtain a long-term lease, said Vellano, by noting he was going to spend $200,000 to 300,000 renovating the space. “You say, ‘Listen, this space is in ill repair, it hasn’t been repaired in 50 years, I don’t want to open up the walls and find all kinds of problems.’ It’s a negotiation, and they know they’ll have a tenant who is paying them what they want for 20 years.”

As to why they insisted it remain a deli, Vellano said he thinks the owner just “likes a good deli and he wants a place to go when he comes to Bedford. From what I understand, the owner when he was in his 20s owned a deli in New York City,” so he’s just fond of a good deli and wants it to continue. “I think he understands how much Bedford needs it and wants it, and understands how kind of intertwined it is with the town,” said Vellano. “He didn’t want someone to come in and turn it into some kind of fancy store. I think he’s aware of the pulse of the town, and so are his sons.”

Vellano reiterated he will keep “as much as I can the same. It’s going to be a deli that serves Boar’s Head meats and cheeses and things like that; you want turkey, lettuce and tomato on a kaiser roll? Yes. You want bacon, egg and cheese in the morning? Yes.” 

The landlord and Macri put him in touch with the staff, including the two main staffers who have been there for many years. “Listen, I would love to keep everyone there,” he said. “It’s easier for me, and better for the town to have all the same staff, it’s kind of cohesive.” 

According to Vellano, he has a cordial relationship with Macri, and told her the week she was leaving that he was doing his best to take care of her staff. “I’m trying to get the two main guys, I got one a job temporarily working at 234 in the kitchen; I got another guy a job with a friend of mine in Briarcliff. I’m trying to get those people interim jobs; they all want to come back.” He said January and February are very slow months in Bedford, but when March and April kick in, he’ll try to bring some of the staff over to G.E. Brown or the candy shop just to keep them “in the mix.”

There will, however, be changes, Vellano said. “I’m changing the way the kitchen looks; the inside of it’s going to be a little bit smaller; there’s some changes naturally because it’s a gut reno, so it has to change a little bit, but menu-wise kind of keep it similar. I’ll expand some things out: I’ll expand hours, I’ll expand catering; I want to open seven days; I want to open to GrubHub, Uber Eats, all the delivery services, kind of expand that out.”

After the deli closed, there was a lot of speculation on local social media, with many fans of the deli bemoaning its changing hands, implying Macri had been forced out, and anticipating prices would become prohibitive. 

“The reality is the prices have to go up,” said Vellano, “because I’m paying more in rent, and I’m also spending half a million dollars to renovate the space.” 

He said there’s no way he can guarantee the same prices, because, “I don’t even know what her prices were. I was never a customer there, because I was always at work and I could eat my own sandwiches, so I didn’t have any reason to go there — although my son was a big fan and liked it better than G.E. Brown, which is kind of funny.”

Macri herself had tried to stop the online speculation, posting responses that included, “Plain and simple, our lease wasn’t renewed,” and, “Everyone please stop with assumptions. The fact is we are closed, lease not renewed. Jim will do his best to keep things within reason.” 

She did confirm that there had been a parking shortage that worsened after oHHo opened, claiming she was losing money on “really nice days” because of people taking spaces for over the time limit, hurting the post office, the library, and other stores as well as hers. But, she added, “That’s not why we closed.”

“It’s not just the landlord but there is a lot more involved,” Macri posted. “Legally right now I can’t get into all the details.”

In response to queries from The Recorder, Macri confirmed that all she could say is that her lease wasn’t renewed. Implying there is more to the story, she said it is her story and she should be the one to tell it, but “I’m legally not allowed to give anymore information until my lawyer settles with my landlord.” Saying she could speak as soon as her lawyer gives her the thumbs up, she called it an “all around not nice situation.”