SAVE TACO MAHAL WEST VILLAGE
❤️ #SaveTacoMahal

Tell Bleecker Street Pizza: Reconsider the termination of Taco Mahal’s lease and let this small family business stay in its home. For nearly 50 years, the corner that is now home to Taco Mahal has been part of one family’s American story. Before Taco Mahal existed, founder Danikkah Josan’s father operated a tiny newsstand in the West Village for approximately 40 years. When that business was struggling, his daughter — then just 24 years old — set out to save it. She transformed an oddly shaped building with a roughly 200-square-foot newsstand, no restaurant kitchen, no gas, and almost none of the infrastructure needed to operate a restaurant into what eventually became Taco Mahal. Taco Mahal was born from Danikkah’s Indian and Puerto Rican heritage, but its purpose went much deeper: to preserve her father’s legacy and keep alive what her family had spent decades building in the West Village. For 10 years, Taco Mahal has called this corner home. Now, that future is in jeopardy. In May 2026, the building housing Taco Mahal was sold to a new landlord associated with their neighbor, Bleecker Street Pizza. Only months after purchasing the building, the new landlord has served Taco Mahal with a notice seeking to terminate its lease and requiring the restaurant to leave by October 12, 2026 — despite Taco Mahal’s lease running through February 2036. That means Taco Mahal is fighting to remain in the home it expected to occupy for nearly another decade. (And leave on the eve of their tenth anniversary.)

This isn’t simply about losing a storefront. It’s about what kind of New York City we want to preserve. Taco Mahal is an independent, family-owned New York City small business. It has created jobs, welcomed generations of neighbors and visitors, and become part of the fabric of the West Village. Taco Mahal has been a proud member of the community, sponsoring events for NYU. Taco Mahal is also an ally to the LGBTQ+ community that has helped define and shape the West Village. Their family and team have fed people experiencing homelessness in our neighborhood. And when COVID-19 devastated New York City’s restaurant industry and emptied the streets of Manhattan, Taco Mahal kept going. They remained one of the restaurants that stayed open, continued serving our community, employed people when they could, and continued paying rent during one of the most difficult periods New York’s small businesses have ever faced. They survived COVID. They survived the shutdowns. They survived the uncertainty that followed. They kept investing in this neighborhood because they believed the West Village was their home. And now, after nearly 10 years as Taco Mahal — and nearly 50 years of their family’s history at this location — they are being told to leave years before the expiration date written into their lease. We believe that deserves the attention of our neighbors, Taco Mahal’s customers, New York City’s small-business community, and our elected officials. If you’ve ever eaten a taco here, grabbed a beer, gone on a first date, brought your family or friends, sat outside people-watching, stopped by after work, talked to their staff, or simply walked past that little orange storefront and considered it part of your West Village, this fight is about preserving places like that. New York cannot remain New York if the independent businesses that give our neighborhoods their character disappear one by one. Behind every storefront is a story. Behind this one is a father who spent decades working in a tiny newsstand. A daughter who refused to let his life’s work disappear. A family that invested its savings, labor, and future into the same corner. Employees whose livelihoods depend on the business. And a community that turned a tiny restaurant into something far bigger than its walls.

WHAT WE ARE ASKING: We are asking Bleecker Street Pizza and the new ownership of the building to reconsider their effort to terminate Taco Mahal’s lease and allow Taco Mahal to remain in its West Village home under its existing lease. We are also asking our community leaders and New York City officials, including the Mayor’s Office, to hear Taco Mahal’s story and stand behind the preservation of independent, family-owned neighborhood businesses. This petition is not asking for special treatment. We are asking for Taco Mahal to have the opportunity to stay in the home Taco Mahal built and continue operating under a lease that runs through February 2036. Please sign this petition. Please share it with your friends, neighbors, local organizations, elected officials, and anyone who believes New York City’s small businesses are worth protecting. Please help us tell Bleecker Street Pizza and the new ownership: Let Taco Mahal stay. Honor this family’s history. Protect small businesses. Save Taco Mahal West Village. They’re still here. We’re still fighting for them. And after nearly 50 years of this family’s history on this corner, we’re not ready to let this beloved neighborhood business disappear. ❤️ #SaveTacoMahal