This is heartbreaking:
Virus lockdowns have meant a death knell for two beloved landmarks, one in New York City and the other in San Francisco.
The 21 Club has been one of the Big Apple’s best-known eating establishments since it opened in 1930. It started as a speakeasy during Prohibition and had a hidden dining room behind a secret panel. It later became a gathering place for presidents, actors, athletes, and other high-profile guests.
Now the restaurant says “it will not be feasible to reopen” in the foreseeable future and is laying off its 148 employees. News of the closure came the same day Governor Andrew Cuomo announced he was shutting down indoor dining in New York, putting more restaurants at risk of extinction.
In San Francisco, the 157-year-old Cliff House will close permanently and lay off 180 employees after a mandate from the National Park Service made it impossible to stay open. Its priceless memorabilia will be auctioned off.
The Park Service has control of the dramatic cliffside venue above the Pacific Ocean where the restaurant sits.
In a sad but all-too-true statement, the owners explained: “Unlike the government which is not held accountable for profits and losses we could not accept the additional lockdown extension as there is no possibility of doing a sustainable level of business for the foreseeable future.”
The 21 Club and The Cliff House. Two American landmarks. Closed by the government’s virus mandates in 2020. These cities will be the poorer for their demise.