Saul Zabar, who ruled the iconic Upper West Side grocery store bearing his name for more than seven decades, died Tuesday. He was 97.

The so-called lox-smith had been hospitalized with a brain bleed at the time of his death, The Post confirmed.

“A true New York legend. He gave the city lox, love, and a place to argue over babka. Zabar’s isn’t just a store, it’s a slice of NYC soul. May his memory be a blessing,” Mayor Eric Adams posted on X. 3

The Manhattanite ran his family’s namesake Broadway grocery for nearly the entirety of its 80-year history — and was famously a stickler when it came to the quality of the famed store’s goods.

He fulfilled a role he had never initially intended to take on.

Saul had been studying at the University of Kansas to become a doctor when his fath

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