Broadway Farm Faces Uncertain Future as Closure Rumors Intensify on the Upper West Side
Broadway Farm, located on Broadway between West 85th and 86th streets, appears to be winding down operations as shelves sit increasingly bare and conflicting accounts from staff fuel rumors of an imminent closure.
Throughout 2025, neighborhood residents have repeatedly raised concerns about declining inventory at the store. In recent days, those concerns escalated sharply. Multiple Upper West Siders report near-empty shelves and conversations with employees suggesting the store could close permanently by the end of January.
“The Broadway Farm grocery store at 85th and Broadway is shutting down,” one resident wrote on January 6. “Shelves almost empty. This is a local disaster.”
Photos taken this week show significant stock depletion across the store. One tipster described the situation as a “soft closing” that has unfolded gradually over the past year, an increasingly common pattern for small neighborhood grocers struggling with rising rents, supply costs, and razor-thin margins.
Several residents said employees told them the store plans to shut its doors within weeks.
Upper West Sider Annie Reingold called the potential loss “a great blow to the neighborhood,” pointing to Broadway Farm’s reputation for strong produce selection, reasonable prices, and longtime staff. “It’s been a real community anchor,” she said.
Attempts to confirm the store’s future have produced mixed, and at times contradictory responses.
A phone call to Broadway Farm late last week ended with an employee asking the caller to ring back later to speak with a manager. When the call was returned, a woman who did not identify herself said the store would not make any announcements for several weeks “until they had something in writing.” When pressed for clarification, the call was abruptly ended.
In-person visits have offered little clarity. During a visit earlier this week, one cashier said the store would close in three weeks. Another employee said the store was not closing at all. A third suggested the business may soon be under new management and continue operating.
The uncertainty recalls a similar episode last year involving Harry’s Shoes, another Upper West Side institution. In early 2025, residents feared the store was closing after its shelves were cleared, only to learn later that it had temporarily shut down during a change in ownership before reopening.
When asked directly on Monday, a Broadway Farm manager said they would follow up with more information. No further details have been provided.
Broadway Farm has operated on the Upper West Side since at least the 1990s and appears to have no other locations. If the store does close, it would mark another loss in a growing list of neighborhood-scale businesses disappearing from Manhattan corridors increasingly dominated by chains, banks, and vacant storefronts.
For now, the future of Broadway Farm remains unresolved.
Redthread will continue tracking developments as more information becomes available.
Reporting for this article was originally conducted by West Side Rag. This piece has been adapted and edited for Redthread with updated information and commentary.