The Midtown Businesses We Lost To The Pandemic

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — As the year ends, Patch is taking a look back at the beloved neighborhood businesses that closed amid the dire economic conditions of the pandemic — including dozens in Midtown and Hell's Kitchen.

Even before the coronavirus swept New York, times were tough for retailers. In February, the Pennsy Food Hall above Penn Station revealed that it would shut down by the end of March. Not far away, the Herald Square Kmart announced the same month that it would close after two decades in business.

Once the virus took hold, closures came in waves. In April, Empire Coffee & Tea announced it was closing after 112 years in Hell's Kitchen. That same month, the Upright Citizens Brigade said it would permanently close its comedy training center and theater in Hell's Kitchen.

In May, the legendary Copacabana nightclub closed its fourth-iteration location on 47th Street, but pledged to return one day. The following month, the Times Square McDonald's and the Record Mart within the Times Square subway station announced their own permanent shutdowns.

By July, the drag community was mourning the loss of Therapy, a gay bar in Hell's Kitchen whose owner announced it likely would not reopen after shutting down in March. Another cultural center, the Landmark at 57 West movie theater, announced in August that it would not reopen. Taladwat, a trendy Thai spot in Hell's Kitchen, likewise closed in August.

Another spate of closures has arrived in the last few weeks of the year, as small businesses brace for a slow winter and a lack of federal aid. Among the most heartbreaking were Blue Smoke and Jazz Standard, the barbecue restaurant-jazz club that closed Dec. 2.

The shut down for good this month after nearly a century, and hundreds of layoffs swept Midtown's shuttering businesses since the start of December — including 148 workers at the iconic 21 Club.

The hospitality industry likely deserves its own category, due to the near-total evaporation of all revenue during the pandemic. In Midtown, the Omni Hotel, the Times Square Hilton, the storied Roosevelt Hotel and the Marriott Marquis all announced temporary or permanent closures this year, laying off thousands of workers in the process.

Last week, when Patch asked which 2020 closures had been the most painful, neighbors responded with a couple of small Hell's Kitchen eateries: Method, a Japanese restaurant on 10th Avenue, and Adella, a Tapas bar on 43rd Street.

Amid the loss, there have been signs of hope. This month, neighbors and performing-arts stars banded together to save the West Bank Cafe, a Hell's Kitchen landmark, from near-certain closure.

But stories like that may be the exception, not the rule — one study found that one in three New York City small businesses may never reopen after the pandemic.

Industry advocates have called on the U.S. Senate to pass the RESTAURANTS Act, a bill with bipartisan support that passed the House in October and would provide more than $100 billion in grants to independent restaurants, small chains and catering companies.

Related: Chain Stores Shut Down Across Midtown In 2020, Report Finds

Which neighborhood businesses will you miss the most? Let us know in the comments.

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