Resto Apocalypse on Hudson Street
581 Hudson Street: The former Valdino West was once the home of Trattoria d'Alfredo, the city's first Tuscan-style restaurant, and a hangout of James Beard.
If you're accustomed to gauging the health of the restaurant industry as I do by watching the openings and closings on Eater, and noticing that there usually seem to be more places opening than closing, this photo essay may come as a shock.
On the three blocks of Hudson Street between Charles Street and Bank Street, there are currently nine restaurants that have gone out of business in the last two years, several within the last few months. Despite the popularity of the neighborhood, which was recently designated one of the wealthiest zip codes in the country, these storefronts are finding no ready takers. In fact, the number of closed restaurants in the immediate neighborhood far outstrips those that are still open.
The papered-over storefronts give the neighborhood a derelict quailty, even though such hotspots as Spotted Pig, Employees Only, and August are just steps away. But whether this accretion of closed places is indicative of the restaurant downturn, or just the result of greedy landlords raising square footage prices much higher than the market will bear, remains to be seen. But whatever the reason is, these photos represent a sort of restaurant apocalypse in the West Village.
557 Hudson Street: Once the home of DaAndrea, which the Voice said was a prime date spot when it opened up.
551 Hudson Street: Alfama, one of only a couple of Portuguese restaurants in Manhattan, and a damn good one, closed last week.
Turn the page for six more forlorn storefronts.
Email to Friend
Write to Editor
Print Article
