Red tape and mounting bills keep bagel shop storefront dark

For the past three years, a local business owner, Johnny Sulaiman, has been trying to open 2 Guys Bagels, on the corner of Fourth Avenue and 25th Street, where he hopes to bake bagels fresh each morning. Instead, he has spent more than $150,000 on rent for an empty space while navigating permit mistakes, unclear guidance from the Department of Buildings, and shifting statewide rules on gas installation. His landlord has tried to help but has also added to the strain, leaving Sulaiman — and his would-be bagel shop — stuck in limbo between bureaucratic uncertainty and mounting bills.

Energy issues

In 2023, Sulaiman leased the storefront at 756 Fourth Avenue from H.L. Dynasty, a real-estate firm with offices directly next to the storefront. H.L. Dynasty owns a broad real estate portfolio, including multiple storefronts on this same block.

That year, Sulaiman paid his contractor to renovate the space, which included preparing gas lines to be used with a bagel machine that runs on natural gas. This contractor hired a plumber who performed work on the gas lines, but who apparently did not have an up-to-date permit with the Department of Buildings, this according to both Sulaiman and the contractor, who identified himself only as Abdul.

For the next two years, Sulaiman, along with his four uncles, paid rent on the storefront — $6,395 monthly — while they waited for the plumber to resolve his permit issues with the city and finish construction.

“All the money we make here,” referring to Fourth Avenue Gourmet Deli & Grill, also owned by him and his family, “we use to pay the rent over there,” shared Sulaiman.

This November, however, H.L. Dynasty stepped in, in hopes of assisting in getting 2 Guys Bagels open. They connected Sulaiman with a plumber they’ve worked with in the past, one whose permit is up to date, to finish the work, including preparing the gas lines.

“So, this plumber, who we paid another $4,000, tells us it’s only going to take three to four weeks to open,” said Sulaiman. “But then one of the guys from H.L. Dynasty tells us that’s not true, it’s going to take three to four months, and in 2026, the city isn’t giving out any more gas permits. So, he tells us we should just open with electric, which we already have,” said Sulaiman.

Jovian Lopes, the CCO of H.L. Dynasty, says that advice, which was delivered by someone else within H.L. Dynasty, was based on the difficulty they have been having with having gas installed in other construction they’re involved in.

“HL, our founder, was trying to open a residential building in Carroll Gardens and he had to scrap the plans because the city, which had already approved plans with gas, decided that the building needed to be electric,” said Lopes. “But that would have cost $30,000 just to get an architect to redo the plans, including spaces for charging electric vehicles in the back. This is assuming our tenants even had electric vehicles. But then, he found out that the grid wouldn’t even be able to support the building. He would have had to get power from a grid across the Hudson. So now that lot is just sitting empty.”

Officially, law written in 2023 required that gas not be a part of new buildings under seven stories beginning Jan. 1, 2026. But H.L. Dynasty is concerned that, due to the mixed signals they’ve received in the past, that law will end up applying to this storefront — which is new construction in an existing building — and if Sulaiman applies to have the gas turned on in the new year, the Department of Buildings will deny the application.

Further complicating the issue, these discussions were happening while New York State was deciding to halt these rules.

On Nov. 12, the state agreed to halt enforcement of the rules until the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals makes its decision on a two-year-old lawsuit challenging the All-Electric Buildings Act.

Among the reasons cited by the State Assembly for halting implementation of the rules is concern over whether the electric grid will be able to meet the demand of so many new buildings that run entirely on electricity.

But Sulaiman is tired of waiting for all these issues to be worked out.

“We’re just going to open electric,” he said. “It’ll just be different because now we won’t be able to make the bagels in the store, like we wanted to. We’ll have them delivered every morning from my cousin’s bagel shop in Brighton Beach: Rocco’s Bagels.”

But that does leave him with an enormous gas-operated bagel machine in the store, which will sit unused.

“And it’ll cost me $7,000 just to move it. It cost me $7,000 to move it in, not to buy it. Just to move it. And it’ll cost me that much to move it out. So, for now, it’s just going to sit in there.”

The Department of Buildings did not respond to a request for comment regarding whether the rules would have applied to only new buildings under seven stories, or if it would apply to new construction in existing buildings, such as 2 Guys Bagels.

Never-ending bills

In addition to all the construction issues, Sulaiman was recently delivered a bill for $30,000 by H.L. Dynasty.

“They want me to pay their real estate tax,” said Sulaiman. “They told me taxes went up, and I have to pay for it. I told them I won’t do it, that’s ridiculous. I know the other guys who rent from them, and they didn’t get a $30,000 real estate tax bill.”

H.L. Dynasty disputes that the $30,000 is only for real estate tax and asserts that the lessees of the space are responsible for the real estate tax.

“It’s a bunch of fees, not just taxes. Also, it’s a triple net lease, which means they are responsible for the real estate tax,” said Lopes.

Sulaiman scoffed at this. “They’re coming up with new names for leases now. Triple net lease, what is that? A lease is a lease. I don’t own the building. I told the guy I would pay him $1,000 a year, or whatever the increase in real estate tax is, but I’m not paying the whole bill.”

He shared this information to illustrate that even the people that are trying to help him open his shop are thwarting his efforts.

“I’m getting screwed from every side,” said Sulaiman.

His regular customers at the Fourth Avenue Gourmet Deli & Grill all agree and have sympathy for Sulaiman.

A regular customer and Sunset Park resident, a man who identified himself as Hamayoon, shared that he’s been watching Sulaiman deal with these issues for a long time now.

“These guys,” he said, referring to Sulaiman and his extended family, “they’re just businessmen who got screwed and they’ve been paying for it for years now. I know what that’s like. I had a restaurant in Pakistan, and it was shut down because the government had issues with the owner of the building, and I was caught in the middle. I was just trying to run my business, just like Johnny is trying to run his.”

Hopeful for the future

Sulaiman hopes to open in early 2026. He’s resigned himself to the fact, for now, that they won’t be baking the bagels in the shop, as was his hope.

“I don’t know, maybe I’ll be able to talk to Mamdani, and he’ll be able to help us out,” said Sulaiman.

A customer checking out at the time the interview was being conducted spoke up. “Yeah, he’s a small business guy. Didn’t he work in a halal cart?”

Sulaiman corrected the customer, sharing that Mamdani just recorded a video in a halal cart, but did refer to the mayor-elect as a “small business guy.”

“So maybe he’ll be able to help,” Sulaiman concluded.

And Hamayoon is optimistic that if 2 Guys Bagels does open, he’ll be able to work there.

“I already work in the bagel industry, but if I worked there, I wouldn’t have to commute to Manhattan,” said Hamayoon. “I want to see businesses open in the neighborhood. I think everyone should want that.”