NYC's Mercantile Mayhem: Drom's Gypsy Festival, Lebanese Food Alert, Mimi Cheng's Dumplings, 8th Ave 'Strip of Despair' and Open House New York
A newsletter about the survival of independent businesses in New York City with a focus on immigrant-owned, storefront retail and CPG enterprises.
Greetings! I hope everyone is staying safe and sane. Please enjoy this edition of Mercantile Mayhem, my newsletter about the survival of independent businesses in New York City.
EAST VILLAGE’S DROM PRESENTS NEW YORK GYPSY FESTIVAL IN NOVEMBER
Drom’s annual New York Gypsy Festival takes place November 9 - November 19, 2025. This joyous, raucous event features seven nights of brilliant artists and groups playing Roma-rooted music found throughout the world, especially the Balkans, Eastern and Western Europe, Turkey and right here in New York City.
The lineup is truly outstanding, with a bonanza of Turkish heavy hitter artists—and why not? New York Gypsy Festival’s co-presenters Serdar Ilhan and Mehmet Dede are both originally from Turkey, so groups like like Sal Mamudoski Band featuring Serkan Çağrı will open the festival on November 9. Other Turkish musicians include Hüsnü Şenlendirici and İlhan Erşahin. There is some crossover with “Clarinet Mania” on November 14, featuring many of the above artists plus the renowned clarinetist İsmail Lumanovski, originally from Macedonia.
Groups like Romashka, Slavic Soul Party, Zlatne Uste, Yallah Yallah and Frank London’s Klezmer Brass All-Stars will play at the festival, as will others like flamenco duo Los Ricos: Sonia Olla & Ismael Fernandez, the French harmonica wizard Yvonnick Prené, guitarist, dutarist and dombraist Gabriel Marin & Balkan Trio, violinist Adrien Chevalier and the singer Tamara Jokić originally from Serbia.
I wrote about Drom in 2017 and it’s nothing short of a miracle they are still open for business. Given the havoc wreaked by the pandemic on independent music venues, inflation—Drom’s costs have risen 20% to 30% in the past year alone according to Ilhan, world politics, difficulty obtaining visas for international artists and the changing tastes and habits of city residents, like reduced alcohol consumption, earlier bedtimes and most residents are minding their own budgets.
I often ask independent businesses owners in New York City if there is one of several city policies that could help their businesses thrive, and all owners seem overwhelmed with inflation from every angle of their business, they don’t even know how to answer the question.
If you like rollicking, life-affirming music that squeezes out any form of depression and is guaranteed to make your body move in ways you didn’t know possible, you might try the New York Gypsy Festival at Drom.
NEW LEBANESE RESTAURANT ALERT!
A mere announcement, I didn’t try the food at Zesty Tabbouleh, a new Lebanese restaurant in the East Village, but if their opening night festivities that I happen to run into is a reflection on their food, it’s bound to be delicious.
I was riding a bike down 2nd Ave the other night and I heard lively music, spotted some Palestinian Dabke dancing, I later found out by Dalouna and when I stopped to observe, the owner rushed over to give me and other passersby superb knafeh treats.
MIMI CHENG’S DUMPLINGS PARTY FOR THE CPG-CENTRIC
Mimi Cheng’s, an East Village restaurant founded by sisters Marian and Hannah Cheng, serves delicious Taiwanese-style dumplings inspired by their mom. The Cheng sisters recently launched a frozen dumpling line selling at Whole Foods (in fact, I ran into Marian at an in-store dumpling tasting in the spring). Now in the CPG (consumer packaged goods) world in addition to their restaurant, the sisters threw a CPG-centric party, I was invited by Jack Acree, thank you Jack!
Most of the CPG people I know, report on, see from afar, seem to be social and generous with information and connections. Gatherings are not only raucous with tasty bites, but also ideal for making connections as there are so many facets to launching a CPG item: R&D, manufacturing, supply chain, financing, branding, packaging, marketing, legal, regulations, sales, distribution, hiring, managing, accounting, to name just a few.
Besides the outstanding dumplings on hand, there were all sorts of interesting CPG-centric people, products and services. The party was co-sponsored by Glimpse, a platform that helps brands to recoup erroneous fees charged by distributors and/or retailers, known as chargebacks. Disputing chargebacks is often too labor intensive and time consuming for a small CPG company but chargebacks can add up to losing tens of thousands of dollars per year. Accountreprenuer, an accounting firm for emerging brands was another co-sponsor.
8TH AVE BETWEEN PENN STATION AND PORT AUTHORITY: STAY AS IS OR GET ZHUZHED?
I attended a panel discussion in late September about how to reinvigorate 8th Avenue between Penn Station and Times Square. This strip of 8th Ave has never quite been glittery to begin with, but during and since the pandemic, it’s been “trash-strewn chaos” according to the NY Times, “where stabbings, drug use and public defecation are the norm” according to the NY Post and “plagued by crime, drugs, violence” according to Fox News, all reported in the summer of 2024.
Could this section of 8th Ave, which has been called the “strip of despair” by various publications, get zhuzhed up à la Meat Packing District or the neighboring development Hudson Yards, albeit soulless and packed with chains? Or remain as is? Something in between?
The Center for an Urban Future (CUF) brought together a panel of people who work and/or live in the area to discuss possibilities. Panelists included Barbara Blair, president of the Garment District Alliance and architect Vishaan Chakrabarti, founder of PAU who has worked on The Refinery at Domino and JPMorgan Chase Global Headquarters, among other projects. Also, Amie Pospisil, the COO of Breaking Ground a nonprofit that manages supportive housing and helps the homeless and Delores Rubin of the Midtown Community Improvement Coalition and CUF’s editorial and policy director Eli Dvorkin moderated.
I was interested in hearing what they had to say about independent businesses, present and in the future. According to the panel, current storefront owners and workers say it is fairly unsafe and they have to monitor for shoplifting. There is a sizable homeless population in the area, many with addiction issues and mental illness, and the people who exploit that population, like dealers.
The Midtown South Mixed-Use rezoning recently passed the city council, which touches 8th Ave and is projected to provide nearly 10,000 housing units in the area—likely luxury the way this city is going (with a supposed 3,000 “affordable” units [that could mysteriously disappear years down the road, yes, I am cynical]).
Several manufacturing and industrial buildings house independent businesses like Wing & Weft Gloves, owned by Katie Sue Nicklos, who was in the audience. These buildings were originally part of the rezoning, but will remain untouched, due to activism by The New York Fashion Workforce Development Coalition and small business owners. Even New York Nico offered his support, creating a short post on the close knit (pun intended) fashion, textile, notions and costume community.
There was not much discussion about what kinds of storefront businesses would inhabit the 8th Ave corridor. Will street level retail serve the original community or solely new residents? Will existing shops be priced out? Will the new stores be sanitized luxury chains, or will the community figure out how to showcase unique, emerging businesses, brands and designers selling their goods? Could it be a vibrant destination for buying items, foods, even experiences you can’t find elsewhere else?
The How to Reinvigorate 8th Avenue was a fascinating conversation touching on gentrification, design, architecture, public spaces, community, socio-economics, safety, change, politics, homelessness and mental health. You can listen to the entire event here, including an introduction by State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and a conversation with Dan Garodnick, Chair, City Planning Commission.
OPEN HOUSE NEW YORK, OCTOBER 17, 18 & 19
Once a year New York City’s museums, art studios, gardens, cemeteries, office buildings, historic homes, roof top gardens, shops and stores, among other sites, open their doors to the public for Open House New York. Participants can meander through spaces, often off limits, take tours and learn; some have guides, others are self-guided.
This year’s OHNY will take place October 17 - 19 and there are several independent businesses to visit (and many independent business adjacent locations as well). These sites are not ticketed, meaning you can drop by during the locations’ open hours, click here for the entire list of non-ticketed sites. (There are some sites that do require tickets that cost just under $10, but they sell out within seconds of going live online, but just to keep in mind for next year’s OHNY.)
Brooklyn Seltzer Museum and Brooklyn Seltzer Boys in Cypress Hills and New York Sign Museum at Noble Signs in East New York, both in Brooklyn, are two independent businesses I’ve visited and highly recommend. Lines can be long, so be psychologically prepared to wait. Brooklyn Seltzer Boys is the tk, Noble Signs is one of the last hand painted sign shops in NYC.
Other notable independent businesses include: Brooklyn SolarWorks, Kings County Distillery, M&S Schmalberg Flowers, Nickey Kehoe and Urbangreen Gardens, Secret Riso Club, Sparrow: A Contemporary Funeral Home and STICKBULB.
Independent business adjacent sites include MakerSpace NYC and FABSCRAP at Brooklyn Army Terminal, City Reliquary Museum in Williamsburg that features many NYC business artifacts and Circular Design for Climate Mobilization (CDCMo) Exhibit at MADE Bush Terminal. In fact, I was hired to photograph the opening of this exhibit (thank you Kathy!) where I took these photos of independent designers’ creations, Danielle Trofe’s lamps made from mycelium and hemp called MushLume Lighting and Elise McMahon’s Likeminded Objects chair with cushions and pillows.
Thank you to Mercantile Mayhem’s sponsor Accompany Capital. Based in New York City, Accompany Capital, a CDFI, helps immigrants and refugees with loans and free financial services. Please read about it here.
Thank you to Small Business Majority, Mercantile Mayhem’s sponsor. Small Business Majority supports and empowers small businesses across the US with a focus on public policy. Please read about the organization here and visit their finance resource platform Venturize.
MERCANTILE MAYHEM SPONSORSHIP
I am still looking for one additional sponsor, three in total. This individual, business, organization or foundation must believe that independent businesses in New York City need to survive and thrive. Do you want a city full of just Chipotles, Starbucks and bank ATMs? No! Do you value the character that independent businesses bring to New York City? Yes!
If you would like to know Mercantile Mayhem sponsorship rates and newsletter stats (open rates and such) please email me: ninarobertsnyc@gmail.com and I’ll send you the details. Please forward this newsletter to others.
OPPORTUNITIES GALORE
Toast Changemakers will award 15 restaurant $10,000 grants that are fighting food insecurities in their communities. Click here for more information. Deadline is October 17, 2025.
Buunni Coffee in Inwood is hosting a holiday market on November 23 and wants venders, apply by October 28. Click here for more information.
WomensNet offers a number of grants to women-owned businesses on a rolling basis, peruse grant information here.
Start Small Think Big is an organization that pairs experts with small business owners for free to share their expertise. On October 15 they will have a free So You Want to Start a Food Business: The Regulatory Basics online workshop.
Welcome to Chinatown still has an open call for their Test Thursday program. The program allows emerging food and beverage brands to test out their serving operations and products, click here for more information.
I love that pic of you getting the drink sprayed!