What to Know
- The Boat Basin Café, which opened in 1997, closed its doors for good earlier this week, due to construction by the Dept. of Transportation
- Besides Dining, the space had an outdoor bar and a catering venue for corporate and social events
- Social media accounts for the restaurant have been deleted except for the Instagram account which has not been updated since 2016.
A nice dinner while watching the sun set over the Hudson River, listening to the melody of cars and trucks speeding along the West Side Highway — just some of the many scenes the Boat Basin Café offered its hungry customers.
This week the owners of the restaurant said they closed their doors for good after the city approved a long-term construction project led by the city’s Department of Transportation in efforts to renovate Riverside Park.
“Due to a local construction project, we’re sad to say the Boat Basin Cafe has closed its doors,” the business announced via a Facebook Post, cited first by Gothamist. “Thank you for all for a great season & your continued patronage throughout the years.”
In a scenic outdoor space under the arch-like structures on the rotunda of West 79th Street in Riverside Park, the café opened its doors in the spring of 1997, attracting locals and tourists from all over the world.
The eatery ran seasonally from late March until the end of October on weather permitted days.
The property is owned by the city’s Parks Department, which has jurisdiction over its office space, food service operations and other facilities as stated in a DOT report.
Local
NBC New York reached out to the Department of Transportation for comment on the project, however no responses were received.
Once the reconstruction project nears its completion date, the Parks Department will offer leasing opportunities to new restaurant operators, for the space where the Café once stood.
Boat Basin Café’s Facebook page along with the business website has since been taken down, and the phone number has been disconnected when NBC New York tried to reach for comment.
