Collecting
Upper East Side Gallery Quietly Opens as Estate Queries Pour In
- Seniors pass away due to Covid, leaving behind art, antiques
- Families find local appraisers, art dealers to handle estates
Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg
After running an antique and art appraisal business online for a few months, Glenn Spellman made a rare move in pandemic-stricken New York City: He opened up a physical store.
That bet paid off so far, his business flourishing with calls to appraise and collect antiques left by seniors who died from Covid-19. The doors to his modest, eclectic gallery opened in the Upper East Side last month, bucking the trend in a city that has seen more empty storefronts as small businesses shutter under the weight of the Covid-19 crisis.