JJ’s Jimmy Frantze is on the Edge

By CHARLES FERRUZZA

When the J.E. Dunn Construction Company pulled out of advertising mogul Bob Bernstein’s much-hyped West Edge project last week, it didn’t just leave the long-delayed office-hotel-and retail complex in limbo. It added more stress to the life of restaurateur James Frantze.

Frantze owns JJ’s Restaurant, directly across from the unfinished Moshe Safdie-designed complex (which still looks like a penitentiary to me) at 910 W. 48th Street. Last year Frantze told me how excited he was by the massive project, which could bring hundreds of new customers to his intimate bistro.

Instead, the acrimonious battle between contractor and developer and the delayed construction – the street in front of his restaurant narrows to a single lane and was briefly closed off completely — has seriously cut into his business.