H&H Bagels

View from Broadway

The business was started in 1972 when Puerto Rican Helmer Toro and his brother-in-law Hector Hernandez (hence "H&H"), bought Midtown Bagels at Broadway and 80th Street for $5,000 ($31,000 in 2018 dollar terms) in cash and $50,000 ($310,000 in 2018 dollar terms) in a loan. Toro eventually assumed full control of the business.[3] In 1974 Toro opened H&H Midtown Bagels East on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

In 1979 H&H went bankrupt for the first time which resulted in a new group taking over ownership of the Upper East Side H&H location while Toro retained ownership of the Upper West Side location.

In 1993 Toro moved his bakery to 46th Street at 12th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen, although his primary storefront remained on the Upper West Side.

On December 18, 1997, NBC aired the Seinfeld episode entitled "The Strike," in which Cosmo Kramer returns to work at H&H Bagels after supposedly having been on strike for 12 years. He eventually strikes again, returns again, then is fired for dropping his gum into the bagel dough. The episode is also famous for introducing Frank Costanza's alternative holiday, "Festivus for the Rest of Us!"

In addition to its retail locations, H&H also ships bagels nationwide and supplies wholesale bagels globally.

On November 18, 2009, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau announced the indictment[4] and arrest of Helmer Toro for stealing, withholding taxes and evading unemployment insurance taxes.[5] The indictment alleged that between July 2003 and April 2009, Toro failed to pay $369,000 withheld from H&H employees.[6] In May 2010 he pleaded guilty to grand larceny, and was sentenced to pay restitution of more than $540,000 and to a jail term, which he served over the course of 50 weekends from June 2010 to July 2011.[7]

Toro's portion of H&H filed for bankruptcy protection in February 2011 in an effort to maintain its manufacturing facility in Secaucus, New Jersey,[8] but ultimately that facility was sold at auction in October 2011. The West 46th and West 80th retail locations closed in January 2012.[9] H&H on the Upper East Side continued its normal operations and opened a new retail location on the Upper West Side in 2016. In 2019, H&H Bagels opened two airport locations at JFK Airport and LaGuardia Airport.

The final days and collapse of Toro's portion of H&H was chronicled in The Rise and Fall of H&H Bagels, a business memoir, written by Marc Zirogiannis about his experiences as an advisor to the owner, Helmer Toro.[10]

• Upper East Side (2nd Avenue between East 80th and East 81st)

H&H Bagels at 1551 2nd Avenue between East 80th and East 81st streets on the Upper East Side.

• Upper West Side (Columbus Avenue between West 85th and West 86th)

In November 2016, H&H Bagels opened a second location on the Upper West Side.

• JFK Airport

In 2019, H&H Bagels opened a location in JFK Airport, Terminal 5.

• LaGuardia Airport

In 2019, H&H Bagels opened a location in LaGuardia Airport, Terminal D.

• Upper West Side (West 80th St) (Closed)

Opened in 1972, this was the original location of H&H Bagels. It was open to the public 24 hours a day. Bagels were produced at the location at nearly all times of the day and night.[11] It was closed by New York City marshals on June 29, 2011.[8][12]

• Hell's Kitchen (West 46th St) (Closed)

The H&H location at 639 West 46th Street also held a manufacturing plant. This location was also open 24 hours a day. The property was sold in December 2011, but the company continued operating until they were evicted in January 2012.[9][13]

• H&H Bagels