Photo by Bobby Panza
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Upper West Siders aren’t letting Harry’s Table close without a fight.
The food hall—part market, part restaurant, part upscale culinary hub—appears to still be on track to close this fall. But now, a group of residents from the Waterline Square development, where Harry’s Table is located, has launched a community campaign urging the landlord to renegotiate terms and keep the luxury anchor in place.
“We want Cipriani to stay,” reads a newly launched Change.org petition titled Petition to GID: Secure a Fair Deal with Harry’s Table by Cipriani in Waterline Square. “No other renter can match their value.”
The petition has gathered a bit over 500 signatures as of writing. It calls on GID, the real estate investment firm behind Waterline Square, to return to the negotiating table with Cipriani and “secure a fair deal” that would prevent Harry’s Table from closing its doors.
GID has not made any public comment, nor has Cipriani. A filing with the New York State Department of Labor, first reported by Crain’s New York Business, indicated the venue plans to lay off 72 employees by November 1 due to a “loss of contract.” One manager told Crain’s that the decision was not yet final, but the filing suggests the end may be imminent.
Rachel Naz, a resident at Waterline Square, is among those spearheading the petition effort.
“Our understanding is that the management company GID won’t budge on the (unreasonably high) rent and Ciprianis can’t survive in that location, so it’s leaving in another 1-2 months,” she wrote in an email to ILTUWS. “The Empellon space at Waterline is still empty, and GID can’t find tenants for the vacancies already, so the neighborhood is going to suffer a lot.”
Naz praised Harry’s Table for offering “high quality and reasonable prices,” saying “it brings the community together.”
Supporters of the petition point to broader concerns beyond just losing a beloved food hall. With ongoing retail vacancies, the closure of other eateries, and the opening of a drug treatment center on West 59th Street, some residents say they see signs of neighborhood decline—and view Cipriani’s presence as a stabilizing force.
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“Cipriani has brought our community together with top-quality, family-friendly dining that raises property values,” the petition reads. “With challenges like the new 59th Street drug-addiction shelter, rising crime, and retail struggles, they’re our key luxury anchor keeping the neighborhood strong.”
Without a renewed lease agreement, the petition warns, the space could be left empty or filled by “cheaper options that devalue our neighborhood.”
Harry’s Table opened in 2022 with the kind of fanfare few food halls receive. It wasn’t a multi-vendor space like other halls—it was Cipriani’s curated vision of an Italian market and dining experience rolled into one. There were pizza ovens, pasta counters, private rooms, cooking classes, and a seafood bar. The New York Times called it “perhaps the city’s most luxurious food hall.”
But if it closes as expected, Harry’s Table will join a growing list of food halls that have faltered post-pandemic. Gotham West Market, Northend Food Hall, and Citizens Market Hall have all shuttered in recent months. While new entries like Shaver Hall and Time Out Market are still launching, the heyday of the food hall boom seems to be winding down.
For Waterline Square residents, though, the issue is more local—and more personal.
“We’ve been sending emails to GID,” Naz said. “Now we’re building pressure with our petition.”
Whether it will be enough to change the outcome remains to be seen. We’ve reached out to GID for comment.
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