New York Magazine devoted its annual "Reasons to Love New York" issue as a tribute to 500 of the iconic, singular, "essential," and decidedly NYC businesses that have shuttered as a result of the pandemic: "The bars where we came together for after-work drinks, the boxing gym where everybody thinks they're in an action movie, the gallery that trusted you to build a cloud, the coffee shop where you were left alone to read, the restaurant with the full bar where you'd find yourself trying to eat after an all-night bender, the place that was so of its moment that it became a relic and then (deservedly) an icon. All gone. And sadly, probably, more to come before the city returns to its purpose: a place of gathering." Here are a few of those "Reasons We've Loved New York," ordered by when the businesses opened:
Lord & Taylor [Read Wendy Goodman's tribute ➽]
Department Store, Lower East Side, first opened 1826The Paris Café
Bar, South Street Seaport, 1873Danish Athletic Club
Restaurant, Bay Ridge, 1892Empire Coffee & Tea
Coffee Shop, Hell's Kitchen, 1908Mynd Spa & Salon
Salon, Midtown East, 1910John Jovino Gun Shop
Retailer, Little Italy, 1911Gem Spa
Corner Store, East Village, ca. 1921Chumley's
Restaurant, Greenwich Village, 1922The Roosevelt
Hotel, Midtown East, 1924Omni Berkshire Place
Hotel, Midtown East, 1926Riverdale Fur Shop
Retailer, Kingsbridge, 1926Nat Sherman Townhouse
Tobacco Shop Midtown, 1930Colandrea New Corner
Restaurant, Dyker Heights, 1936The Monkey Bar
Bar, Midtown, 1936Copacabana [Read DJ Alejandro Bouza's tribute ➽]
Nightclub, Times Square, 1940
"Reasons We've Loved New York A send-off to the many places, big and small, that closed in 2020." (New York)
image: Lamberto Zannotti (CC BY-SA 3.0)