Still a lot of changes going on around here

As the Grove is taken over as part of some plan, people are being asked to vacate or to at least be prepared to vacate. One popular gallery, Blu Moon, that's been a very big part of Coconut Grove, is leaving. They are moving down to Cauley Square, the historical railway village. A loss for the Grove while Cauley Square gains a great new tenant. July 2 is their scheduled grand opening day. They will be in the Grove until May 30.

One of the tenants in Florentine Plaza was given their walking papers this week. Too much complaining on their part, it seems, and the PointeGroup sent a couple of people down to throw them out. But they reconsidered and the tenants were given an ok to stay until March, almost a year away. So who knows what's going on there.  Old Joe is allowed back on the premises, too. Public outrage had the PointeGroup reverse their decision of having him persona non grata. 

When businesses are told to leave, it affects others. Locals who depend on certain places are going to have to find alternatives to shop and I met one person who has one business who is her client, she tells me that now that they are leaving, her business will suffer unless she is willing to follow them. It's a ripple effect. When one business leaves, all the peripheral customers and vendors are affected. But places like Bombay Darbar and Lasso the Moon both found bigger and better locations.

But of course, there are so many new things happening in the Grove so while some are leaving and there are empty storefronts, a lot of good is happening, too. CocoWalk's sale of course is the biggest news. And Bombay Darbar had their soft opening on Thursday night on Florida Avenue. This week they spent it moving things from Commodore Plaza and with a last minute rush, they managed to open for the weekend.

I love upstate New York with all its small historic towns and maybe this article and list of Top River Towns in Hudson Valley Magazine is what we need to strive for before all of our history is gone. Hudson, Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Catskill, this is what we need to be.

Another major change is that Jackie is no longer at the BID. She'll be missed, but she tells me she'll still be around the Grove, so we will still see her from time to time.