Photo: Fuzheado via Wikimedia Commons
L’chaim to 90 years of deliciousness! The celebration of the definitive Upper West Side grocery store’s 90th anniversary continues as New York State officially declares February 6, 2025 the inaugural Zabar’s Appreciation Day.
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The following month, the Broadway Mall Association partnered with Zabar’s to sponsor a five-mile stretch of ‘Light Up the Green Way,’ featuring its iconic orange and white lights strung along the Broadway malls between West 78th and 82nd Street. A celebratory lighting ceremony was held in Verdi Square on December 3, with live music by Reaching for the Arts Choir and Fordham Lincoln Center’s a cappella group, The F Sharps.
“I can’t think of an institution more synonymous with the Upper West Side than Zabar’s,” New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal told Patch, which first reported the story of Zabar’s Appreciation Day. “Their growth from a small, family-owned shop to an internationally recognized brand, sought out by tourists and residents alike, is an inspiration to all New Yorkers.”
On Thursday at 1 p.m., Hoylman-Sigal will present Zabar’s with an official proclamation, officially recognizing February 6 as Zabar’s Appreciation Day in the 47th District. To mark the occasion, Zabar’s is selling a limited-edition 90th-anniversary poster featuring a master lox slicer expertly carving a sliver from a salmon fillet. Customers can also pick up a special 90th anniversary kosher coffee blend. These two offerings embody the excellence that Louis and Lillian Zabar envisioned when they opened their original 22-foot-wide shop—one that has since expanded to fill the entire block.
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When Banksy, the mysterious world-renowned graffiti artist, visited NYC in 2013 for a month-long residency, he left behind a mural known as Hammer Boy across the street from Zabar’s (2245 Broadway) on West 79th Street. Zabar’s took it upon itself to protect this precious work of art with a plastic cover. Some have referred to it as Zabar’s Banksy, and it is likely the last remaining Banksy in the wild of the city, especially after Ghetto 4 Life was removed from the Bronx in 2024 and shipped to Bridgeport, Connecticut. Protecting Banksy’s art can be difficult in the public sphere, but Zabar’s appreciation for preserving history is a testament to the store’s own cherished legacy.
Zabar’s will also celebrate National Bagel and Lox Day this Sunday, February 9, with special deals on their bagels and lox, the store’s owners told Patch. Though no details have been announced yet, in 2024, they honored the occasion with $2 off any custom-made or grab-and-go bagel and nova.
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The real founding was in 1957 when Murray Klein returned as a partner.
Without Klein, Paul and Saul — who were then running the store, wouldn’t have lasted much longer, and of course would never have made it what was Zabar’s until about 2015 — nineteen years after Klein sold his shares to P and S.
Yes, it’s really gone down hill in the last 10 years or so. Higher prices and less selection.
Before celebrating Zabar’s, you should know how they expended their original store on Broadway. They used slumlord tactics to clear out tenants as they took over the block. Tenants on upper floors had their heat, water and electricity shut off to force them out. Store owners were pushed out without negotiations. The Zabar’s people were money grubbing scum. Thiere is nothing to celebrate here.
Doesn’t surprise me, given how much the store has gone downhill since Klein sold his share of the business, not the real estate, to the family in 1996.
The store ran pretty well for another 15 yearsish, but then it declined steeply. I have to imagine a Klein hire left or was pushed out.