"Many patrons of P & G call me all the time," Ms. Brewer said. "Even though it's not leaving the neighborhood, I hate to have it move -- and I don't know what happens with the sign."

The bar's beaming red, yellow and green "Cafe Bar" sign has illuminated the corner since 1942 and is widely considered a neighborhood landmark; its fate is now up in the air as the bar's owners plan to relocate to 380 Columbus Avenue after a fruitless two-year struggle to stay put. The existing lease expires Dec. 31.

"Are they going to want to move it? I don't know if they're going to be able to move it," Ms. Brewer said. "I don't know if they're going to be allowed to by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

"I know the new building really well," she added. "It's a downstairs environment, first of all, and I don't even quite know how it would fit there. I can't see it fitting in the context of the new building. Maybe he just has to do a new sign," she said, referring to P & G owner Tom Chahalis. "But I don't know how he could do something similar in the new space.

"I don't know what to say, except that the whole neighborhood is in mourning."

“I have definitely made and lost friends,” said Mr. Chahalis, 47, presiding over a neighborly Monday night crowd at the old P & G bar at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 73rd Street.

Mr. Chahalis’ great-uncle Peter and grandfather George first lit up the ancient Upper West Side watering hole’s iconic neon “Cafe Bar” sign back in 1942. (“My great-grandfather Peter gave them the money to open the store,” he said.) Come 2009, the husky, fourth-generation suds-slinging scion will have to pull the plug.

Despite a petition drive that netted nearly 4,500 signatures in support of the old bar staying put, the landlord has refused to renew his lease, which expires on Dec. 31, in an ongoing attempt to land a more upscale, higher-paying tenant.

Mr. Chahalis now plans to reopen the 66-year-old neighborhood institution just a few blocks away, after signing a new 20-year lease on the former Evelyn lounge space at 380 Columbus Avenue; same familial name, same friendly service.

The question is, will anyone recognize it?

“They put a couple of dart boards in there and a couple of pinball machines, maybe even I would go,” said retail broker Stu Morden of Newmark Knight Frank, who has the dubious distinction of being the listing agent for both the bar’s existing and future locations. (Mr. Chahalis noted, though, that he arrived at the new space without the broker’s help.)

Mr. Morden has yet to officially sign a new tenant to replace the old bar, long rumored to become a bank branch, albeit certainly not now, what with the current financial crisis and all. “We have a deal in the works,” the broker said, without getting into specifics.

Adjacent spaces, formerly occupied by a deli and a pizzeria, have been leased to fancy chocolatier Jacques Torres and the high-end Italian eatery and specialty foods shop Salumeria Rosi. “We think that this particular store will add yet another nice dimension to that corner,” Mr. Morden said.

MR. CHAHALIS, meanwhile, is cautiously optimistic about carrying on the family business on an entirely different corner, comforted by the fact that at least his old bar is expanding.

“I’m very psyched,” Mr. Chahalis said of the new location, a sprawling, 4,300-square-foot subterranean space, which measures more than four times the size of the original, “But,” he added, “I’m going to be on edge until everything works out.”

Brushing aside empty bottles and setting his laptop computer atop the bar, Mr. Chahalis pulled up a blueprint of the new space and proudly outlined his vision for a more modern, somewhat less gritty P & G, with a stage for live music and even a full kitchen, which the existing so-called “bar and grill” actually lacks. Patrons currently quell their hunger pangs with tiny bags of Cheez-Its and Doritos hanging above the cash register.

“We’re going to do steak and chops—like the sign has said forever,” Mr. Chahalis said with a smirk. “We’re also going to do burgers. I make these awesome teriyaki garlic-saffron-rubbed burgers. We’re going to do chicken wings and legs. I make my own hot sauces. I make a buffalo sauce and a hot teriyaki. …”

The new venue will also have a more refined look than the previous stripped-down dive. One corner of the new L-shaped space, for instance, will feature a fireplace, chess tables and shelves of books. “I want to really do it up like a man’s study in deep burgundy and walnut,” Mr. Chahalis said, explaining, “On Columbus Avenue, you can’t just open a shithole.”

He steadfastly refused to comment for this article, however, on the fate of the bar’s famous signage.

The future of the blazing red, yellow and green Art Deco-style script, often seen in the backgrounds of films and television, including Donnie Brasco and Seinfeld, has been in doubt for quite some time.

In 2006, Mr. Chahalis was shocked to find out that the building’s co-op board had submitted plans for a new storefront renovation plan that called for replacing the well-known sign. He pleaded with local leaders to intervene.

Robert Tierney, chairman of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, publicly stated his “concern about the iconic sign.” The building’s architect, David Acheson, ultimately promised, “The P & G sign would remain as long as that tenant remains,” and the landmarks panel passed a stipulation that “replacement of the sign shall be approved by the commission.”

At the time, Mr. Chahalis hoped to hang on to both the location and its bright beacon. “Our ideal would be to work out a new lease,” he told The Observer back then. “If we can’t do that, our next step is, where can we relocate? And can we bring our sign with us?”

Now that his intended renewal has been nixed and his plan-B relocation is all set, the signage issue becomes the next hurdle. And a tricky one at that.

Beyond the mere logistics of physically removing and reinstalling the neon lights, the process would likely require not one but two public approvals, as both buildings fall under the landmarks law.

And who knows what the bar’s new neighbors, including the esteemed American Museum of Natural History across the street, will think of the strip’s substantially increased wattage.

ALL THE POLITICKING and wrangling with various landlords so far has caused Mr. Chahalis’ family much grief already. The struggle has been particularly taxing on Mr. Chahalis’ father, P & G owner and family patriarch, Tom Chahalis, now 73. “He’s been nervous as hell, very, very stressed out,” the younger barkeep said. “It’s a tough business. … I know I don’t want to be doing this when I’m 73.”

The elder operator can find solace in the fact that the family legacy will survive, at least in some fashion.

“When he saw the new space, the first thing, he’s like, ‘Oh my God, there’s so much room, it’s going to cost so much money to fix up.’ And I’m like, ‘Dad, look, there’s sconces in all the walls, we checked all the electricals, there are four central-air heating units. …’ After that, he said, ‘This is really nice.’”

cshott@observer.com

Oddly, the article makes no mention of the neighborhood's most recognizable beer hall, the endangered P&G Bar, which is expected to take down its iconic (and landmark-designated) signage and move out when its lease expires on Dec. 31, after more than six decades at the corner of Amsterdam and West 73rd Street.

Its latest rumored replacement: Baby Gap.

Salumeria Rosi, an Italian-style specialty foods store, joins trendy chocolatier Jacques Torres as the P&G's new neighbors on the rapidly changing block.

But in order to keep his clan’s longstanding P&G Café Bar from devolving into yet another ubiquitous Manhattan bank branch, Mr. Chahalis might have to start paying like one.

After months of uncertainty surrounding the future of the 65-year-old tavern and its iconic neon signage, the Chahalis family has been offered a new lease on their original digs at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 73rd Street.

The offer comes at a hefty price, however—a 40 percent increase over the current rent, upping the bar’s monthly payment to above $20,000, according to Mr. Chahalis.

That’s a helluva lot of pints of Sam Adams to pour every 30-day cycle. But the 44-year-old fourth-generation suds-slinger said he’s willing to negotiate with the co-op board that owns P&G’s space.

The mere thought of apathetic A.T.M.’s standing in for the ancient tavern’s comradely vibe is simply too much for many of his most reliable patrons.

“I don’t even want to consider the possibility; I have enough problems in my life,” said Jon Friedman, a self-described 20-plus-year P&G regular, as he commiserated over several vodka drinks on Monday night. “Where do you go with your problems—Chase Manhattan Bank?”

Despite his initial sticker shock, Mr. Chahalis seemed thrilled to get any renewal offer from the landlord at all. “I’m confident that things are moving in the right direction,” he said.

Last year, the family was informed that they would not be welcome back after the bar’s existing lease expires on Dec. 31, 2008. The family was further offered $50,000 to vacate the premises even sooner. The proposed buyout, which the family rejected, came as three adjacent stores in the same building closed down.

Meanwhile, the co-op board landlord unveiled plans to standardize all of its storefronts.

The bar and its supporters promptly launched a media campaign. Signs screamed “SAVE THE P&G!!!!” at the bar, encouraging patrons to add their signatures to a petition in support of preserving the neighborhood watering hole. At press time, the lobbying effort had gathered some 4,500 names.

In September, the bar scored a significant victory when the Landmarks Preservation Commission ruled that the building couldn’t take down P&G’s famous neon sign without first seeking the city’s permission.

Weeks later, however, tensions between the bar and the landlord were further enflamed by the release of a letter from the co-op building’s board of directors, which charged that the bar was “constantly in arrears” with the rent. The letter further suggested connections between the tavern and the death of an alleged P&G patron struck by a car at 74th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

In their own letter, taped up around the bar, the Chahalis family firmly denied both allegations: “We are open to any and all questions o[r] concerns about the bar, and we encourage you to come in or contact us.”

Amid all the rhetoric, rumors persisted that the building’s ownership was looking to replace P&G with a bank—a gratuitous proposition, given the existence of 10 banks already within three blocks of the bar.

“There was some interest from financial institutions,” said retail broker Stu Morden, who’s been marketing and negotiating leases for all of the co-op building’s ground-level retail. “There was also interest from a lot of other people, too. But we weren’t close to completing a deal with anybody.”

Mr. Morden suggested that the landlord’s earlier aversion to renewing the bar’s lease stemmed from the co-op board’s newfound anti-food-use policy. A former deli and pizzeria located next to the bar had created a considerable vermin problem for the building, he explained.

“Based on the experience of those two stores, they didn’t want to continue with any food operation, which extended over to P&G,” he said.

Of course, the bar doesn’t serve much in the way of food—just the occasional burger, fries and grilled cheese.

Mr. Morden cited some co-op owners’ “sentimentality” toward the historic tavern as influencing the building’s policy shift regarding P&G. “They polled the people in the building, and there was not a great objection [to the bar’s renewal],” he said.

Still, the landlord fully intends to get “what the market bears” for the space, he added.

And if the P&G Café Bar won’t pay, guess who will?

Simon & Schuster Stays at 1230 Avenue of the Americas
"Bucking a recent trend for media and publishing, Simon & Schuster isn't moving.For now.The publishing titan has renewed its lease of 292,000 square feet at its headquarters at 1230 Avenue of the Americas."
Trammell Crow Office 'Like A Morgue'
"'It's like a morgue here,' said one Trammell Crow broker describing Trammell's former office on Madison Avenue. 'It just sucks.' As The Observer reported in December, a large portion of Trammell's 24 New York-based brokers won't be making their way to CB Richard Ellis's headquarters at 200 Park Avenue in the coming weeks."
Go to Commercial Breaks by John Koblin.

Money Guy Gets Centenarian Beauty for a Song
"The 101-year-old mansion at 47 East 68th Street has been sold for a bargain $19 million to Carlos Alejandro Perez Davila. The managing director of the finance firm Quadrant Capital Advisors is also a director at the beer brewery SABMiller (as in the classy, golden Miller Genuine Draft)."
Crazy Like a Fuchs
"Fifty Gramercy Park North was built in conjunction with the redevelopment of that next-door dowager, the Gramercy Park Hotel, by a development team that included hotelier Ian Schrager and real-estate developers Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs. Mr. Fuchs, who himself invested in an eighth-floor sponsor unit at 50 Gramercy Park North for $9,062,400, has now put the apartment back on the market with a $5.5 million mark-up."
Go to Manhattan Transfers by Max Abelson.

Co-op and Condo Buildings Win City's Valuation Game
"When is a luxury condo not a luxury condo? When the city assesses it for property taxes. Then it becomes a rental. Under the city's notoriously convoluted property-tax code, condos and co-ops are assessed for property-tax purposes as if they were rental buildings. This rule, based on the concept of guessing how much income apartment buildings could generate in rent rolls, leads to vastly undervalued condos and co-ops."
Go to The Lab by Tom Acitelli.

Congestion Pricing Prophet: 'Biking Is The New Golf!'
"Paul Steely White, 36, is on his way to a community board meeting in Park Slope to ask for its support for Intro 199, a City Council bill that would require the city to track traffic patterns around New York, and set goals for reducing congestion. It is, he explained, a necessary step toward any sort of congestion pricing system--the system, devised in London, whereby drivers would pay for the privilege of driving into the central business districts of New York City."
Go to story by Matthew Schuerman.

Letters to the Editor:
Donald Trump Responds
"One would hope that even public figures would be accorded fair and accurate treatment by The Observer. This is clearly not the case. Your Dec. 18, 2006, article entitled 'The Trump Family,' by Tom Acitelli and John Koblin, paints a seriously inaccurate--indeed, false--picture of me and my business dealings."--Donald Trump, Manhattan

Burning Bridges
"I'm not so sure that Robert Moses would appreciate the honor Columbia University is bestowing on him; he certainly would not have wanted Robert Caro to be any part of a program examining his career."--Jim Schachter, Manhattan
Go to Letters to the Editor.