NYC Grand Central Oyster Bar closes days after reopening due to 'lack of traffic' caused by pandemic
The restaurant had been closed for 7 months
The Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant closed 13 days after it reopened from its months-long initial shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
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The historic 107-year-old eatery housed inside Grand Central Terminal announced the closure on its website Monday, stating it had reopened on Sept. 30 for takeout, delivery and indoor dining at the city’s approved 25% capacity.
The restaurant closed less than two weeks after reopening. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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“Today, however, we must, temporarily, close again due to the lack of traffic and business implicitly, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic,” the restaurant wrote in its update.
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The restaurant had been closed for seven months before it reopened at the end of September.
“As we re-opened on September 30th we relished the opportunity to be of service again, and fill your hearts, and ours, with joy and do what we do best; offer an amazing experience to our beloved New Yorkers and to our friends from all over the world,” the notice read, before announcing its second closure.
Though the restaurant did end with a “promise” to “come back stronger and with an even bigger desire to serve” in the future, it gave no indication of a timeline.
The famous Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant is far from the first business – or even the first renowned business – to close due to the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
New York City’s iconic Loeb Central Park Boathouse restaurant has shuttered temporarily after 66 years of service. The popular tourist destination has plans to reopen in 2021.
Though the two venerable institutions have sights on opening back up, a startling statistic shared earlier this month claims half of New York City’s bars and restaurants could shutter permanently in the next six months due to the pandemic’s fiscal impact.