January 14, 2025 Restaurant/Bar News
Jon Pepper wrote to say that abcV, the vegan restaurant at the Tin Building (it was originally called Seeds & Weeds, which wasn’t the best name) had closed permanently. Sure enough, it’s listed as closed on Google and is no longer on the Tin Building website. (Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who created the Tin Building and all the restaurants in it, has the original abcV on East 19th Street, an offshoot of ABC Kitchen.)
Then there was the story from Gothamist on Friday saying that 100 workers at the two-story food hall, which opened to fanfare in 2022 were fired after the company did a “surprise check” of identity and employment authorization just before the new year. (It happens that I have a pal working there — and he confirmed that yes, every employee had to come in with their ID.) Gothamist said they confirmed with six employees that there were massive job cuts at the end of December.
But what was more discouraging (and not at all shocking, if you have ever tried to shop over there, since the prices are outrageous) was the overall losses: “The Tin Building by Jean-Georges… is losing its parent company more than $100,000 a day on average, or $83 million in total, according to publicly available financial records. The building’s losses are staggering, according to two investment analysts who research similar properties, including Chelsea Market and Eataly.”
When the building was first opened, it was billed as a joint project between the Howard Hughes Corporation, which controls a lot of the Seaport, including the massive development that is 250 Water. But this past summer, HHC spun off Seaport Entertainment Group, which is now a publicly traded company. Seaport Entertainment Group owns a 25 percent stake in Jean-Georges Restaurants and 65 percent of the Tin Building, according to the Gothamist story.
These sort of corporate machinations are well above my paygrade, and while I really hope I am wrong, this is troubling. Even for January, when everything slows down, it’s just too quiet over there…
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The Tin Building is fun – but there were and are already so many food places and restaurants in the area.
Restaurants are cannibalizing each other.
Plus so many people order food delivery.
(A worker at the Subway sandwich chain on John Street said that people who live across the street order Carvel to be delivered – instead of just walking a few yards…)
There is no way there would ever be enough people to eat at all the places around the Seaport as well as just a few blocks away….
BTW the Gotham West food hall was slated to close, the food hall at Manhattan West is closing, the Essex Market food hall closed.
Slight correction, but I think Essex Market (which moved from across Delancey) is still open with the same vendors; it’s The Delancey food hall that was downstairs that has closed.
Essex Market is open. Essex Market is a public market owned & operated by the city, so it’s open and will always be around. The Market Line (which was a separate food hall in the basement, owned by the building development that houses Essex) closed.
To correct my own correction, the food hall that closed downstairs of Essex Market was called the Market Line, which a Grub Street article on the Tin Building reminded me.
Grub Street article.
https://www.grubstreet.com/article/tin-building-report.html
I love the Tin Building, especially the Bakery and the French brasserie. The best almond croissant I’ve had in the city. Even the cheese and wine bar is a fun stop. I also use Uber Eats for delivery. And Mercato for fresh fish and prepared foods for dinner. I believe the problem is that it’s not easy to get to. Uber/cab or walking is necessary since there’s no nearby subway. I’m also surprised how many people still don’t know about it. Now that it’s winter, there may be even fewer people. But it could be a great option for dining and indulging on a cold winter day
Living in the area, I walk by the Seaport at least once or twice a week. There are restaurants that are always packed such asT brasserie, the coffee area, the egg station, The oyster bars, brea station. All on the main floor. ABC V was on the second floor. Those are successful. I think this was just too much commercial space to fill and not every spot will be successful. It’s a lovely market and tourists love to go there. I don’t think it’s a spot where people will go shopping for meat and vegetables.
Let’s see if it does the common real estate trick, they sell the second floor of the building to another company.
Hope the tin building continues! It is a pleasure to go there!
The Grub Street article is unnecessarily snarky. The Tin Building is a huge enterprise–always risky. But for NYC foodies, the breakfast pastry is unparalleled and the ambiance is ethereal in a way that a food court never will be.
I know about it bc I’m a ferry hound–and it’s lovely to get there early in the morning a few minutes walk after a beautiful ride. Breads and pastries are also excellent and no, most places where they look good they are not tasty. The Tin Building offers technically excellent food with the flavor profiles you always hope for and rarely find, not to mention how peaceful and beautiful the environment they have created is. In summer, outdoor area is gorgeous and no staff shoo people away or hurry you off . Hope it survives!
…and there’s the beer bar…