Silver Moon Bakery, UWS spot known for its challah, faces eviction after failing to pay rent
The crisis represents a one-two punch for locals still reeling from the abrupt closure of Absolute Bagels
Exterior view of Silver Moon Bakery, known for its challahs, and which faces possible eviction due to nonpayment of rent. (Jackie Hajdenberg)
(New York Jewish Week) — Silver Moon Bakery only sells challahs on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. But the bakery — whose windows often fog up in the winter from all the warm pastries and bread inside — sells about 200 loaves in just the three days a week it’s available.
Soon, though, patrons might have to look elsewhere on the Upper West Side to get their challah fix. The popular Morningside Heights bakery — known for its variety of Jewish baked goods, along with other treats like chocolate chip cookies — could face eviction, after its lease ended and it stopped paying rent.
As Crain’s New York business reported on Monday, the bakery “has allegedly overstayed its lease expiration and owes more than $200,000 in rent and other fees after allegedly refusing to vacate the storefront,” according to a lawsuit filed last week in Manhattan’s State Supreme Court. Landlord Broadside Realty, whose lease with Silver Moon ended in May, is seeking the bakery’s eviction.
For many Upper West Siders, the possible eviction and/or closure of Silver Moon is a particularly bitter double-whammy. Neighborhood denizens are still bemoaning the sudden loss of Absolute Bagels, a popular bagel bakery on 107th and Broadway, whose abrupt closure in mid-December following health violations prompted anguish and mourning. “I felt the same emotional feeling as identifying the body of a loved one at a morgue,” one regular told the Forward at the time.
And now, with Silver Moon Bakery’s future uncertain, some local Jews are worried that, in addition to their favorite bagel spot — many New York City foodies considered Absolute’s among the best bagels in the city — the neighborhood might face a lack of fresh-baked challah, too.
On a chilly Wednesday morning, Morningside Heights resident Jeff Alexander popped in for a coffee. He said the potential loss of Silver Moon Bakery just weeks after the closure of Absolute Bagels would be a shame; he lives around the corner from Silver Moon and occasionally stops in to buy challah, muffins and coffee.
Alexander, who is Jewish and calls himself a “news junkie,” said he came to the bakery after hearing the news of its possible closure.
“I just think it’s an important corner,” Alexander said of the stretch of Broadway between 105th and 107th streets.
Pointing to the bakery’s popularity — the New Yorker once said “there’s some serious baking going on at Silver Moon” and it’s been called the maker of the “best baguette in New York” — he added that he remains hopeful that Silver Moon and the landlord “should be able to figure something out.”
The bakery, which opened in 2000, has an unusual backstory: It was founded by retired concert harpsichordist Judith Norell — who is Jewish and started a second career as a baker — in partnership with the owner of the building, Georgia Stamoulis. Over the years, in addition to teaching music, Norell has been a vocal advocate for small business owners, speaking at community board meetings and commenting in local news outlets. In a 2018 interview with West Side Rag, she cited the main challenge with operating a small business on Broadway: “Rent, rent, rent. There is absolutely no protection for businesses from the whims of a landlord regarding commercial property.”
Court records from a separate 2010 case indicate that Stamoulis, her sister Helen Rose, half-brother Michael Rose and her nephew Aris Taflamba manage Broadside Realty as a family business.
It was not clear why Silver Moon did not renew its lease after its May expiration, according to Crain’s, which said the lease was most recently renewed in 2017 at a rate of more than $13,000 a month.
Silver Moon always has seasonal items for the Jewish holidays, including hamentaschen for Purim, sufganiyot for Hanukkah, and honey cake for Rosh Hashanah. But the bakery also offers more unusual Jewish pastries and breads, such as traditional Italian-style lacy matzah and teyglach — a knot of sticky, syrupy, boiled dough from the Ashkenazi tradition.
Additionally, the bakery sells challah year-round. As Norell told the West Side Rag in 2023: “You don’t have to be Jewish to love challah!”
Norell, who lived in Israel for nearly 10 years and also attended the Israel Academy of Music in Jerusalem, earned her master’s in music at Juilliard. At age 60, she retired from music and began apprenticing at Amy’s Bread in New York. During the lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic, Norell offered fee-optional Zoom classes to fundraise for health care and emergency workers in the neighborhood, teaching participants how to make some of her signature goods, including challah and rhubarb tarts.
Silver Moon and Norell did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
In an email to its customers sent last month, Silver Moon acknowledged the recent loss of Absolute Bagels in the neighborhood. “We are saddened by the closing of ABSOLUTE BAGELS,” the newsletter said. “But our wonderful sourdough bagels are available as PLAIN, POPPY SEED, SESAME SEED & EVERYTHING SEEDS (and we even have cream cheese to shmear on).”
In an article published by Eater New York about the best bagels on the Upper West Side last January, writer Robert Sietsema deemed Absolute Bagels the second-best in the neighborhood — after Bagels & Co., which is still open at 391 Amsterdam Ave. — while Silver Moon came in eighth, the last on the list.
“The real shame is that mom-and-pops get muscled out in our culture,” Marius Dicpetris, outfitted with a helmet and electric bicycle, said on Wednesday. “Judith, the lady here that owns it, is super special in that regard, that she’s just a regular person that actually cares about the community. And that’s the real travesty — not us losing any particular baked good.”
For Dicpetris, the first loss for Silver Moon began when the city started clamping down on outdoor dining in October, forcing the bakery to put away its small seating area. There are currently just two benches outside the bakery.
“Where can you sit outside on the Upper West Side and have a coffee?” Dicpetris said.
Customers on Wednesday morning shared that they bought coffee, pastries, and full loaves of bread. Danielle Leming, who was not aware of the legal proceedings against Silver Moon, said her birthday cake came from the bakery.
Henry, who declined to give his last name, brought his large dog to the bakery, where he ordered a cinnamon brioche. “They’re pretty cool people,” Henry said of Silver Moon while untying his dog from a post. “I’m surprised they’re having a problem here.”
Henry said he and his best friend, who is Israeli, used to regularly come for coffee and a pastry with their dogs. But now that his friend is back home in Israel, he makes the trip by himself.
“I keep the tradition going,” he said.
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