The Park Avenue landlord of iconic wine retailer Sherry Lehman has finally given permission to remove the storied store’s old shelving, fixtures and leftover bottles of wine that have been gathering dust for more than a year since it closed amid scandal. Obtained.
New York Judge Suzanne Adams ruled on March 4 that Hong Kong-based real estate giant Glorious Sun, which owes more than $4.8 million in unpaid rent on a luxury space at 505 Park Avenue, will regain ownership of the property. approved an “eviction order” that would allow the The store is located on the corner of East 59th Street.
The famous vintner, whose decades-long clientele included Henry Kissinger, Greta Garbo, and Andy Warhol, was arrested in 2023 after the New York State Liquor Authority found that it had been selling alcohol with an expired license. It ended its 89-year history on March 10th.
The agency ordered it closed, but it never reopened.
SLA fined the company $5,000 for the license violation, which is still outstanding.
In recent years, the iconic retailer has been plagued by costly and unfortunate moves.
The biggest factor may have been the decision in 2007 to leave its longtime flagship at 679 Madison Ave., where it had owned the property for 60 years, and lease space on Park Street, some officials said. .
Sherry Lehman was paying nearly $2 million a year in rent for the three-story, 9,500-square-foot space under the glass-and-steel tower, people familiar with the business told the Post.
After long delays that some observers blamed in part on COVID-19-related delays at the courthouse, the store finally appeared to be cleared this week.
The store’s glass entrance door is now covered with drop cloth, and the large display window, famous for showcasing rare vintage items in flashy, artistic presentations during the holidays, is now replaced by a white-paneled wall. It has become.
“You can’t take over a space just because a tenant hasn’t paid rent,” the landlord’s attorney Edmund O’Brien told the Post earlier this month, adding at the time that he expected Glorious Sun to own the space. By the end of March, he added.
“We did what we had to do to get the eviction order and we’re going to actually carry out the eviction,” O’Brien added.
If a new tenant becomes available, the site could sell for as much as $250 per square foot, said Jeffrey Roseman, vice chairman of Newmark.
“59th and Park Avenue is a majestic corner that will be highly visible and interesting.” [from tenants] Certainly,” Roseman added.
Last year, Glorious Sun sued Sherry Lehman and her co-owner Fern Gilmer. The pair are accused of taking money in wine futures but failing to deliver the goods to collectors, causing chaos in New York by failing to pay $3.3 million in sales tax and failing to deliver online purchases. Or by phone.
A wine storage company associated with the store, called Wine Cave, has also mysteriously disappeared along with its contents, according to those still trying to retrieve the bottles.
Meanwhile, federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, have been investigating the business, raiding the store last year along with a facility in Pearl River, New York, where the wine storage business reportedly moved from Queens.
A USPIS spokesperson told the Post that a federal investigation is ongoing.
According to court documents, Mr. Gilmer did not respond to any of Glorious Son’s lawsuits, but the former owners of Sherry Lehman, who were also named in the lawsuit, long ago severed ties with the business. He claims he has no conflict of interest.
The retailer hadn’t paid its bills, including those from vendors, before closing, so it’s unlikely there would be any expensive items left in the store. In the end, most of its shelves were empty or filled with lower-priced vintage items, including a $15 bottle of Chateau Franc Couplette Bordeaux purchased by a New York Post reporter on closing day.
Industry experts say the store’s remaining paraphernalia, including a pair of 1940s Austrian wine barrels, historic photographs and a magnum of wine that was still visible this week through a small opening in a corner window, could be auctioned off. That’s what it means. Said.
The New York Sheriff’s Office did not immediately return calls and emails seeking comment.
Founded in 1934 by Sam Aaron and his brother Jack, a reputed bootlegger during Prohibition, Sherry Lehman built a reputation as the gateway to the American market for fine French wineries. Stocking some of the finest Burgundy wines, Don He is credited with introducing Pérignon to the United States in 1946.
