Owner of nearly century-old Bayonne store ‘relieved’ threat of eminent domain is averted
“In a brief special council meeting on Wednesday, Bayonne city officials rescinded the designation of a nearly century-old store on Broadway as part of “an area in need of redevelopment.”
“I’m very relieved because I don’t want (city officials) coming in, saying ‘We’re taking the building by eminent domain,'” Mel Stock, the owner of Barney Stock Hosiery Shops and its building at 499 Broadway, told The Jersey Journal today. “I’m very happy for my customers.”
The hosiery store, which has been a family business since 1923 and has been run by Stock for more than 40 years, sells bras, underwear, night gowns, spanx, bathing suits and maternity wear.
“We’re probably one of the last few family-owned business left on Broadway,” Stock said. His father, Barney, started the business, and he and his brother Larry continued their father’s dream of owning a business, he said.
Around May, Stock filed a lawsuit against the city of Bayonne when he discovered that his building had been roped along with rest of the block into the designation of “area in need of redevelopment.” The block is located between West 23rd and West 24th streets.”
Lin, Jonathan. NJ.com 13 September 2014.