License Holder of UWS Newsstand is Dead
The bid by Sadik Topia to regain rights to sell newspapers at a stand on W. 79th St. just got a lot more complicated. Topia only learned recently that the woman who held the license actually passed away several years ago without turning it over to her daughter who oversaw the business.
| 27 Feb 2024 | 06:34
Sadik Topia, the operator of a newsstand at 79th and Broadway for 23 years, was essentially a subcontractor to the actual license holder, identified as Marilyn Kaufman. He says her recently learned from the city that she had died three years ago without the license being passed to the daughter or directly to Topia. Photo: Michael Oreskes
The license holder of the West 79th street newsstand where Sadik Topia has endeared himself to the neighborhood for 23 years, is dead, and has been for some time.
This revelation has further complicated the campaign to get Topia back to work after the city ordered the newsstand to close because Topia sold electronic smoking gear after the license for sale of those products had expired.
Topia, an immigrant from Gujarat, has operated the newsstand for 23 years under what was essentially a sublet from the holder of the newsstand’s license, Marylin Kaufman. Technically, the license holder is responsible for the fines racked up for the illegal e-smoking sales and other violations, although Topia said he would take responsibility.
But now it turns out that Kaufman died some years ago and her daughter, Victoria, continued to operate the newsstand without notifying the city, a violation, a city official reported.
Under city rules, Victoria Kaufman could have arranged to have the license transferred to her, or to Topia, but did neither.
“DCWP is looking into some new developments,” said a spokesman for the city agency which licenses newsstands, The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. “We’re unable to share more at this time.”
In a curbside interview near the newsstand, where he has continued to sell papers from the steps of the neighboring church, Topia said he only ever dealt with Victoria Kaufman and did not know that Marilyn Kaufman had died until a few weeks ago.
“Marilyn Kaufman, she passed away a long time ago,” Topia said.
Topia said he had never met Marilyn Kaufman. “I’ve seen only Victoria,” he said. “The daughter handling everything.”
He said he had learned of Marilyn Kaufman’s death from an official at the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection when he went to get a breakdown of the fines he owes. “They said that three years ago she passed away,” Topia said.
Reached on her mobile phone, Victoria Kaufman said she could not speak with a reporter.
“I can’t talk now, I’m having an emergency with my dog,” she said. “The doctor is coming.”
Subsequent efforts to reach her were unavailing.
For more than two decades, Topia has been a popular fixture at the corner of 79th street and Broadway. He manned his station through the pandemic and all weather, often trying to give away newspapers and bottles of water to his regular customers and their kids.
So his neighbors and customers rallied to his defense after the newsstand was ordered closed. A Go-Fund me effort did not produce much money, but two pro bono lawyers stepped in to try to negotiate a solution on Topia’s behalf.
Those lawyers, Dara Sheinfield of Davis, Polk, and Andrea Tan at Volunteers of Legal Service, said they had nothing new to share about the situation right now.
Supporters of Topia had hoped that it would be possible for Topia himself to take over the license to operate the newsstand as part of an agreement to pay off the fines. Under city rules, the Kaufman’s had 180 days from the time of Marilyn Kaufman’s death to arrange a transfer of the license–which could have been to another family member or to Topia.
“Obviously, they missed that window,” the city official said.