{"id":167526,"date":"2025-08-22T21:59:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T21:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/167526\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T21:59:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T21:59:21","slug":"new-york-the-city-that-sleeps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/167526\/","title":{"rendered":"New York: The City That Sleeps"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a recent Sunday evening, Imad Khachan encountered a problem once unthinkable in New York City. \u201cI had a friend and his wife visiting from overseas,\u201d says Khachan, the owner of Chess Forum, Greenwich Village\u2019s last remaining chess shop. \u201cThey stopped by and said, \u2018We\u2019d like to go have dinner around nine o’clock.\u2019 . . . I understand it was Sunday, but we really were hard-pressed to find a place that opened till 10 o\u2019clock, let alone 24 hours. I couldn\u2019t tell them where we [should] go. I felt so embarrassed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khachan\u2019s experience reflects a strange new reality facing New York\u2019s night owls. Across the five boroughs, restaurants and businesses that once opened into the wee hours of the morning shut their doors between 8 and 11 p.m. Late-night coffee shops are all but extinct, and all-night diners are similarly endangered. Khachan\u2019s own Chess Forum, open 24\/7 for decades, now closes at midnight.<\/p>\n

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When did New York become the city that sleeps? The shift began at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the city forced restaurants and bars to close. Nearly 1,000<\/a> never reopened, and five years after the pandemic\u2019s inception, many that did survive have not returned to their old hours. Their owners cite various factors.<\/p>\n

From its founding in 1964 until 2020, Sarge\u2019s Delicatessen was open 24\/7. Even a 2012 fire that forced the business to close until 2014 couldn\u2019t deter owner Andrew Wengrover from serving overstuffed pastrami sandwiches through the night. But in 2021, he began closing at 10 p.m. New York\u2019s pandemic-era decline discouraged him from returning to the old model.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmployees really started to not feel safe getting on the subways late at night, walking around the city,\u201d Wengrover said. \u201cThe city definitely isn\u2019t what it used to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if crime were eradicated in New York, Wengrover would only slightly extend his hours. \u201cI don\u2019t miss getting phone calls at three o\u2019clock in the morning that people are pulling the fire alarms and all this stuff,\u201d Wengrover said. \u201cI also don\u2019t live as close [to the store] as I used to. I\u2019d like to be open later than 10 o\u2019clock. But I\u2019m okay not being 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarge\u2019s is a Murray Hill institution, but Wengrover thinks a 24\/7 establishment is out of step with the neighborhood\u2019s future. \u201cEverything\u2019s closing. They\u2019re building all these high-rises,\u201d he says. \u201cIf it was maybe more of a commercial situation, it would have been an easier decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a similar story on the Upper West Side, where nightclubs and bars have been largely supplanted by luxury residences. This cultural shift led French Roast, a longstanding neighborhood bistro formerly open 24 hours, to close its doors at 10 or 11 p.m. each night.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere simply isn\u2019t the demand for us to be open,\u201d said general manager Sam Belanger. \u201cWe would be operating at a loss for the late-night hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belanger has no plans to expand the hours \u201cunless late night venues and attractions return to the Upper West Side.\u201d He also considers the protean nature of New York\u2019s restaurant scene a continual challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Yorkers love their memories of the past and are always sad when landmark restaurants change or close,\u201d Belanger said. \u201cBut they need to ask themselves, \u2018When was the last time I was there?\u2019 [A] visit for nostalgia every five years or so cannot support a restaurant, so the restaurant needs to reinvent itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

French Roast isn\u2019t the only bistro to stir up wistful feelings among New Yorkers. L\u2019Express opened in Gramercy Park in 1996 and operated 24 hours a day until the pandemic. Since reopening in 2021, its hours have steadily extended; it now closes at 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, 2 a.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and midnight from Sunday to Tuesday. But according to Torris Pelichet, a brand and business strategist for the restaurant, it\u2019s unclear whether it will resume full 24-hour service, despite customers\u2019 frequent inquiries.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI think New Yorkers were a little bit more hardcore before the pandemic,\u201d Pelichet said. \u201cYou would see a lot of the business folks, the white-collar guys at a bar until 2 or 3 a.m. on a Wednesday. And then they\u2019ll wake up early in the morning to go to work. And I think the pandemic just changed a lot of that stuff. And maybe people don\u2019t value that kind of lifestyle anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pelichet notes that the ease of online delivery and the unsteady state of the economy have made expensive late-night dinners less attractive to consumers. The endurance of remote work has cost the restaurant clients who once worked in nearby offices. Still, Pelichet hopes that L\u2019Express can return to its old hours eventually.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to go over our historical data,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to identify and pinpoint some of the people who create 80 percent of the value for our company. And then we need to break them down demographically and psychographically and understand exactly who they are, what their behaviors are, and what they\u2019re interested in and what they like. And through our analysis and our research, if we do find that it\u2019s a smart business move to open back up 24 hours, then obviously we would do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For other restaurants, the obstacle to nonstop service isn\u2019t a lack of customers but a lack of employees. At Veselka, a Ukrainian staple in the East Village, owner Jason Birchard is eager to open around the clock, as he did before the pandemic. But finding workers who share his enthusiasm has proven difficult.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo by Joan Slatkin\/UCG\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just a lot [fewer] people in the workforce that are looking for hospitality jobs,\u201d Birchard said. \u201cIt\u2019s a struggle at times to just find the staff for the regular hours, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Birchard offers a few reasons for the staffing shortage. Among them are immigration restrictions and the advent of Zoom, which has allowed struggling actors, many of whom would have once waited tables, to audition for roles remotely without moving to the city. But for the most part, he\u2019s bewildered by the lack of available help.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy hiring manager is constantly telling me that it\u2019s just really slim pickings out there,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not a fly-by-night place. There are benefits that I offer. And working in a place that\u2019s got a 70-year history, you think there\u2019s going to be some pride to work in this type of . . . establishment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, he remains optimistic that things will recover. \u201cRight before Covid, I remember being here at 3 a.m. working on one of those shifts. And it was just as busy, if not busier, at 3 a.m. than it would be at three in the afternoon on a busy weekday or weekend. Obviously, there\u2019s a lot of allure, a lot of promise to be open late at night. People enjoy a quality meal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stratis Morfogen would certainly agree. He\u2019s the founder of Diner 24, which opened in Gramercy Park in May 2024 with 24-hour service as a primary selling point. So far, the model has succeeded.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiner 24 has tripled my projections. We do about 6,000 customers a week,\u201d Morfogen said. \u201cAnd the funny thing is, our busiest five hours are midnight to five. There\u2019s a line out the door Thursday, Friday, Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n

How has Morfogen achieved this as other businesses struggle to attract patrons? He stresses the importance of online marketing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bigger problem with our industry is that they\u2019re not embracing technology, search engine optimization, and really working on viral content,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you create viral content, and one of your videos goes viral, you could fill up a treehouse in Antarctica.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morfogen optimizes his site design to keep Diner 24 at the top of Google search results. He also produces promotional content on TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms. These measures have helped Diner 24 catch the eye of tourists from Europe to New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have a plan to come to the U.S. or visit New York City,\u201d Morfogen said, \u201cand we\u2019re on their hit list.\u201d<\/p>\n

For New York once again to become the city that never sleeps, its businesses will have to follow Morfogen\u2019s lead. Even amid cultural shifts, the local appetite for late-night living hasn\u2019t been sated. The companies that cater to this pent-up demand will shape Gotham\u2019s revival.<\/p>\n

Top Photo by Nicolas Economou\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a recent Sunday evening, Imad Khachan encountered a problem once unthinkable in New York City. \u201cI had…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":167527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-167526","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115074666677108780","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}