94-year-old shoe shine shop getting the boot at Empire State Building

MIDTOWN (WABC) -- You could call it part of the heart and "sole" of the Empire State Building.

It's a shoe shine shop that has been there since the skyscraper went up, but after 94 years the shop's lease is not being renewed.

The news at Louis Shoe Rebuilders was not good Friday. The place has been there since 1921 at the base of the Empire State Building before the high rise was even constructed!

But more importantly, the old New York City shoeshine is a part of the fabric of city life that's unfortunately dying a slow death.

"They do everything online! They going to fix your shoes online?" said Julio Galvis, a shoemaker.

Galvis has been the shoemaker there for the past 27 years, and he says there just aren't many places left in the city where New Yorkers like to stop and wait and talk about stuff.

"They don't even come for the shoes. They come for something else to talk when they've been sad or what they say is, 'Julio, I divorce' you know, we start talking about that," Galvis said.

But time is money in this city, and so is 1,200 square feet of retail space.

This is the issue right here, how do you charge three dollars for a shoeshine? And still stay in business here in Midtown where the rents are sky high?

Owner Beatrice Barbieri had a sweet deal, but only for a short while.

"And they reduced the rent to $7,000 for a year...and that was a gem!" Barbieri said. "But nothing good ever lasts!"

A group called "Save NYC" threw a mock funeral at the shop Thursday.

"I see all these people walking in with black on and I say to myself, 'Well what is this?'" a person said.

Perhaps the customers sum up the frustration the best.

"What are they going to put in another restaurant? That won't make it?" a customer said.

"What the hell is going on in New York City? They're closing down all the great places!" another customer said.

And barring a miracle, this one gets the boot June 30th.