Save HoneyDip, Save the Sidewalks, Save the Labor

Top of Mind

Save the Fritters: HoneyDip’s Fight to Stay

On the Northwest Side, a Columbus classic is facing its toughest test yet. HoneyDip Donuts & Diner, a Kenny Road staple since 1975, is rallying customers as a court-ordered property sale threatens to force them out of their longtime home.

The family-owned shop, famous for apple fritters, jelly donuts, and generations of regulars, sits on one of four Kenny Road parcels bundled together for sale at $2.6 million. Owner George Nicoloulias, who grew up mopping floors before expanding the diner in 2011, worries that a developer could swoop in and erase five decades of neighborhood tradition. “We’re fighters,” Nicoloulias said. “Hopefully we’re not going anywhere.”

HoneyDip isn’t alone; neighbors like DeSantis Florist and Iacono’s Ristorante also sit on the land in receivership. But HoneyDip has become the face of the fight. In just days, a Change.org petition topped 10,000 signatures, calling for public hearings and giving businesses a first shot at buying their properties. Nicoloulias says they even hold a lease through 2029, but without intervention, the courts could approve a sale that overrides it.

For now, HoneyDip’s case is in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, but its future may be decided in the court of public opinion. Every donut sold feels like a vote to keep the doors open.

Scarlet Letter Trivia

Question: When did the German Village Society start
A. 1840
B. 1796
C. 1949
D. 1960

Sidewalk Standoff in German Village

GERMAN VILLAGE, The German Village Society has filed suit to halt a city construction project slated to start Sept. 2, arguing Columbus skipped a key step: obtaining Certificates of Appropriateness (COAs) required by the city charter for work in historic districts.

What are we talking about:

• The claim: The city plans to remove and replace at least 55 sidewalks and curbs without COAs. Plaintiffs say similar 2024 work already “jeopardized” the district’s character.
  

• ADA vs. historic materials: The Society says it supports ADA-compliant ramps and curbs, but insists designs must use historically appropriate materials consistent with German Village guidelines (think brick where feasible).
  

• Legal ask: An injunction from Judge Kimberly Cocroft to stop work and force the city to follow its own preservation rules. As of 10 a.m., Sept. 2, no ruling or hearing was on the docket.

Why it matters
Created in 1960 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, the German Village Historic District has strict design standards. The Society argues the city is “abusing its corporate powers” by bypassing the local review process, framing the dispute as both a preservation fight and a governance one.

The city’s next move
The complaint says the German Village Commission received no COA request for the Sept. 2 work and likely would have denied one in its current form. The city’s Department of Public Service has been asked whether construction will proceed as scheduled.

Ending cadence, Forward-Looking:
All eyes now shift to Franklin County Common Pleas: if the injunction lands, bricks and plans go back to the drawing board; if not, the jackhammers start and the legal fight moves from the sidewalk to the courtroom.

A Brief History of Labor Day

Labor Day, that first Monday in September holiday now synonymous with cookouts, mattress sales, and one last trip to the pool, started with something a little less relaxing: angry workers.

Back in the late 1800s, American laborers were working 12-hour days, seven days a week, often in unsafe factories and mills. Even kids as young as five or six were sent to work. Unions began organizing strikes and rallies to demand better hours, safer conditions, and fair pay. In 1882, New York City hosted the first official Labor Day parade, when 10,000 workers marched through the streets to push for change.

The holiday didn’t go national until tragedy struck. In 1894, after federal troops violently broke up the Pullman Strike in Chicago, killing more than a dozen railway workers, Congress scrambled to calm the outrage. Just days later, they rushed through legislation making Labor Day a federal holiday. President Grover Cleveland signed it, though the move was less about honoring workers and more about damage control.

Over time, the meaning shifted. What began as a rallying cry for worker rights became a long weekend marking the unofficial end of summer. But its roots remain in the fight for dignity on the job, a reminder that weekends, overtime pay, and safer workplaces didn’t just appear. They were demanded.

ReSlice: A Pizza Night with Purpose

Columbus’s favorite excuse to eat too much pizza is back, this time with a new name and a new location. ReSlice, a reimagined take on the classic Slice of Columbus event, will take over COhatch Polaris on Wednesday, September 18, from 6–9 p.m.

13 local pizza shops will be serving up their best slices, from tried-and-true classics to creative toppings that spark debates stronger than pineapple ever did. Attendees get to sample them all while supporting the Development Board of Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

It’s part competition, part community gathering, and all about good pizza for a good cause.

Get Tickets HERE

Trivia Answer

D) 1960 but all those other dates are significant to german village!