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Dyckman Seaman Grocery to Close After 26 Years

 Owner Manuel Diaz said the cost for the space has doubled in the past five years.
Dyckman Seaman Grocery to Close After 26 Years
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INWOOD — A Dyckman Street deli that has been part of the neighborhood for more than a quarter of a century will close its doors next week due to an increase in the cost of its space, the owner said.

The Dyckman Seaman Grocery, located at the intersection of Dyckman Street and Seaman Avenue, will close on July 31 after more than 26 years in business, owner Manuel Diaz said.

He explained that he can no longer afford to keep the store open due to the sharp increase in property taxes passed on to him by his landlord. 

“The rent is high, but we could make a living with it," Diaz said. “But not with the real estate taxes. I’m paying almost the same for the taxes as I do for rent.”

Diaz said he pays about $5,000 per month in rent and that his lease with the Parkoff Organization stipulates he pay 25 percent of the real estate taxes on the space each year. The cost of his taxes has doubled in the past five years, he noted.

Diaz said his lease ends in May 2017, but he can’t afford to keep the space open until then.

“I’m sad, sure,” he said. "But I can’t pay that kind of money.”

A Parkoff representative declined to comment.

The Dyckman Seaman Grocery is one of the few non-restaurant businesses left on this section of Dyckman Street, which has 10 eating or drinking establishments over a two-block stretch.

Residents were disappointed to hear that the space was closing.

Juliette Vaiman, 37, lives a short walk from the grocery and said she stops by at least once a week for necessities.

“Now there will be nowhere around here for me to buy little things like coconut water,” she said.

Vaiman added that she was concerned another eatery or bar may open in the space in keeping with the trend over the last few years.

“How can they fit one more restaurant in that space?” she asked. “Dyckman Street is crazy as it is.”