The Historic Central Park Boathouse Restaurant Will Permanently Close This Fall
New Yorkers with the urge to reenact the iconic autumn moments of When Harry Met Sally this fall will have to mark at least one landmark from the film off their lists. The lakeside restaurant at the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park, which has been a tourist attraction and New York mainstay since 1954, will officially close its doors for good on October 16, 2022, per a Department of Labor filing. Per the document, the venue is shuttering due to "rising labor and costs of goods," resulting in the layoff of 163 employees.
"I've been there for 21 years. The economics just don't work anymore," owner Dean Poll told Patch. "The Boathouse is a beloved place in the city of New York, for New Yorkers and tourists alike—but the current economic situation does not permit it to sustain itself." He added, "COVID has nothing to do with anything. The volume was there, but the expenses just eat away at it."
This won't be the first time in recent years that the boathouse has closed its doors. In October of 2020, they similarly announced that they would be closing for an unspecified length of time due to the constraints of the pandemic. They later reopened in March of 2021 to much fanfare. According to reporting from that time, the restaurant was licensed to Poll through the NYC Parks Department, who was contracted to pay up to $1.7 million or 7.2% of gross annual receipts, whichever was greater, each year for the lease, up to $22 million.
The Parks Department will reportedly be seeking a new operator to take over the space, and will attempt to accommodate people who had already scheduled events at the venue after its new closing date.
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