A wine-shop owner says he took a storefront in Grand Central Terminal from rat-infested to radiant, but the MTA wants to pull the cork on his business after 16 years.
Grande Harvest Wines, in a 960-square-foot space in Grand Central’s Graybar Pass, accuses the agency of “rigging” the bidding process for the space.
“I wouldn’t have done this if I knew we could potentially lose it all,” said Bruce Nevins, 68, of his decision to take a lease at Grand Central Terminal.
He has filed a lawsuit against the MTA in Manhattan Supreme Court claiming the lease went to a different bidder “in secret,” without a public hearing.
When its lease was up last year, Grande Harvest put in a competitive bid, including a 30 percent rent increase. It was the only bid the MTA received at the time, and the agency has awarded leases to a single bidder before, the suit says.
But the MTA wanted more competition, and decided to reopen the bidding process two more times.
The authority eventually solicited three bids for the space. The company 120 Nassau Corp Inc., which offered $4.5 million, won out over Grande Harvest’s $3.3 million proposal.
The MTA denies any wrongdoing, saying it simply went with the eventual highest bidder for the space.