Cleveland's Brownfield Grants, Jack’s Deli Closing, MoMo’s Kebab: CLE Daily
Also in our daily news roundup for May 21, Baldwin Wallace University announced major academic cuts amid ongoing budget troubles, Ohio tightened Medicaid provider rules to combat fraud and the former owner of Crop Bistro was sentenced to prison for theft and passing bad checks.
by Cleveland Magazine Staff | May. 21, 2026 | 6:45 AM
Photographed by Wil Lindsey
🪨 The Hunt: Beach glass hunting is still very alive on Lake Erie.
☀️ The Sunshine State: This Ashtabula cottage has been turned into a "Malibula" beach house.
📖 Local Book to Start Reading: WHERE SHIT HAPPENED: The Paper Trail to Speak In Tongues by John Delzoppo.
ICYMI: Britney Taylor turns an idea to help visitors navigate Downtown into a way to help herself.
Today's Trivia
What socialist, labor leader and perennial presidential candidate went on trial in 1918 in Cleveland for violating the Espionage Act by giving an anti-war speech in Canton?
West Side Market, Midline projects win key Brownfield grants.
Development | By Ken Prendergast, NEOTrans
Although each county in Ohio was limited to $1 million in Ohio Brownfield Remediation grants in this round of funding awards, Cuyahoga County made the most of it despite its voracious appetite for such grants as it repositions its former, massive industrial base in the post-industrial era.
The Projects: Two projects won funding — the renovation of the West Side Market and the repositioning of the former Cleveland Cooperative Stove Co. site in the newly announced Midline redevelopment district in the Central neighborhood.
The Money: The West Side Market won a $763,750 Brownfield grant for the clean-up and remediation of the 1912-built public market house. A $236,250 Brownfield grant will chart the repurposing of the Cleveland Cooperative Stove Co., which is literally falling down.
A Small Drop: The West Side Market planned renovations are expected to total more than $71.33 million. The Brownfield grant will be joined with a $5 million maximum Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit to support the West Side Market Project.
The project is expected to create 193 new jobs.
Half the Cost: The demolition and removal of debris at the Cleveland Cooperative Stove Co. is expected to cost $437,840 and take five to 10 working days to complete.
The project is expected to create 222 new jobs.
Mohamed Abdessamad of MoMo's Kebab.
Photo of the Day | By John Skrtic
In Cleveland Heights, MoMo's Kebab feels like one man carried part of Morocco across an ocean and quietly set it down in the Cedar Lee neighborhood. Owner Mohamed Abdessamad opened the restaurant on Feb. 12, 2015, and told me the neighborhood embraced him almost immediately, drawn in by the smell of charcoal grills and simmering tagines drifting onto Lee Road.
The regulars long ago stopped calling him Mohamed. Around here he is simply “MoMo,” the kind of nickname a neighborhood gives somebody after years of trust, conversation and meals shared at the same tables. You walk inside and see families talking slowly over mint tea while Abdessamad moves between the kitchen and dining room like someone tending his own home instead of merely running a business.
Talk of the Town
Baldwin Wallace University is set to cut 28 majors and minors and eliminate 10 faculty positions due to budget issues. The university laid off or bought out 35 faculty and staff in 2024 after a $20 million budget deficit was discovered. Cleveland Scene reports that majors being eliminated include economics, human resources, international business, physics, sociology and sustainability.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order approving emergency rules on Medicaid provider revalidation to crack down on medicaid fraud. The new rules will require providers who have not provided or billed Medicaid services in more than one year to terminate their provider agreements with Medicaid. It will also require some higher-risk Medicaid providers to revalidate more frequently.
The Cleveland Browns made some roster moves by waiving defensive tackle Bernard Gooden, wide receiver Isaiah Wooden and tight end Caden Prieskorn. The team is also adding wide receiver Aaron Anderson, linebacker Reid Carrico and defensive end Markee Watts.
The former owner of Crop Bistro and Bristro on the Falls has been sentenced to four to six years in prison for aggravated theft, grand theft and passing bad checks. Marcelo Fadul Neves is being ordered to pay back a total of $969,315 part of his sentencing to nine victims. Using COVID funds, Neves illegally spent and wrote bad checks to employees and other people for four years.
Three people near Kelleys Island were rescued on May 19 by the U.S. Coast Guard. Rescuers had to launch a rescue helicopter from Detroit along with response boats from a Coast Guard Station. The Coast Guard reports that the three people fell into the water.
Iconic Jack’s Deli has abruptly closed.
Food & Drink | By Douglas Trattner
Guests who dined at Jack’s Deli in University Heights on Sunday had no idea that it would be their last meal there. Others who would have loved to have dined at Jack’s “one last time” will never get that opportunity after the location
Ownership changes: The iconic Jewish delicatessen that was founded by the Markowitz family in 1980 has changed hands in the past year.
In 2025, Cleveland Restaurant Management Group purchased the deli and sold it to Don Apel later that same year.
The Burden: Apel says that the economic realities of running an ingredient and labor-intensive restaurant like Jack’s in today’s environment are untenable.
“The cost of corned beef has gone up 15 percent in just the four months that we’ve been here. It’s crazy. We bit the bullet for a long time on the prices before bumping them up accordingly.”
Shutting the Doors: When asked why he opted for a sudden closure rather than setting a future date to allow customers to say goodbye, Apel cited security concerns.
Read more on the closure and learn what might come of the location.
Yesterday's Trivia Answer
What East Side thoroughfare, home to Cleveland’s millionaires’ row, did Mark Twain refer to as “One of the finest streets in America?” Euclid Avenue
Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's question.
From the Editor
For some historic and iconic locations, their lives continue, get refreshed or die out quietly, possibly even loudly. The West Side Market, a staple for Clevelanders, has been a heartbeat of the city, one the city has kept pumping with changes in operators and by spending big to offer the best for many years to come.
However, the Midline project will see many of the historic places there torn down, while new buildings rise in their place. Those new structures become landmarks for the next generation, but they bring back memories for the older generation.
My great grandpa would drive me around the Warren/Youngstown area. Telling me this building used to be a grocery store or toy store, that street was built with bricks during the Great Depression. My parents did the same with their memories. I will do the same once I have kids. - Jaden Stambolia, Editorial Assistant
