The owner of Bagel Cafe in Co-op City says the property owners are forcing him out.

Owner Charles Maselli says his cafe's lease with Prestige Properties expired back in March. Prestige Properties is the owner of the Bay Plaza shopping center. Maselli says he kept paying rent on a month-to-month basis, but Prestige returned two checks at the end of August with a letter saying the lease was terminated.

Bagel Cafe has been open for 25 years, and thousands of loyal customers have signed a petition asking Prestige to keep it open. In a statement, Prestige says, "The tenant failed to comply with our standards designed to bring first-class operations to our shoppers after repeated notices and we were not able to renew the lease."

The Bagel Cafe's last day is Nov. 30. Maselli says he is hoping to work something out with Prestige to stay open.