City Winery NY Will Rock Again Starting March 15

Closed since December 2020, City Winery NY will reopen on March 15

New York City's most celebrated music room and winery, City Winery NY, will reopen on March 15 at 35% indoor capacity, obedient to current governmental restrictions. The restaurant will be open on Mondays to Thursdays from 4 to 10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 10 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 9 p.m. The concierges are already taking reservations.

In 2008, Michael Dorf opened the first City Winery in downtown Manhattan as a showcase for locally-made wine and high-profile music artists. In time, the venue became the flagship for City Winery franchises in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Nashville, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and, most recently, in New York's Hudson Valley. Dorf was forced to close the original site in 2019 when the landlord sold the property. His intention was to open at the new location, 25 11th Avenue at Pier 57 in Hudson River Park, in April 2020. The newly emerging coronavirus pandemic made that date impossible. City Winery NY had a soft opening in October 2020 but closed in December when New York Governor Andrew Cuomo again prohibited indoor dining in restaurants. By that time, City Winery was selling out on evening reservations.

City Winery NY sets tables far apart

At 32,000 square feet, the new City Winery is the largest wine bar in New York, and also one of the city's largest restaurants. It is a complex of numerous wining and dining spaces, both indoors and outdoors, plus a wine cellar, winemaking facility, storage tanks and barrels. It boasts a view of the Hudson River, Pier 55's Little Island, and the New Jersey skyline. Upstairs, a winding space dedicated to artist musicians will again host an exhibition of paintings by rocker Joseph Arthur.

The new facility's main space is roomy, with soaring 26-foot ceiling heights, MERV-13 air filters, and plenty of space between tables. Masked staff takes the temperature and screens for COVID-exposure information of all customers upon entry. A slide show on two large screens repeatedly reminds customers to wear masks when the staff approaches and when moving to and from their table. Waiters, servers, and bussers wear masks at all times. Order food by a contactless electronic menu.

All City Winery NY customers agree to temperature checks upon entry

Live Music Returns on April 2

Following more than a year of construction and a $20M investment, the new City Winery immediately became the standard by which all future music venues will be compared. Dorf is correct when he states that "this is possibly the best intimate live music venue ever built in New York or in the country."

The new venue has a large stage. The sightlines to the stage are spectacular; unlike the first City Winery, which operated in TriBeCa from 2008 to 2019, the new venue has no pillars, there is no staircase occupying space in the middle of the floor, the sound and light boards have been moved from the floor center to a mezzanine, and additional seats overlook the stage from a semi-circular balcony. As expected, the sound and lighting are state of the art.

Teddy Thompson was among the first artists to perform at the new City Winery NY

Governor Cuomo increased indoor capacity in New York City restaurants to 35% on February 26. On March 3, he announced that starting on April 2, event, arts and entertainment venues throughout New York State could operate at 33% capacity, with a maximum indoor capacity of 100. If the venue limited its customers to those who test negative for COVID, the indoor capacity would increase to 150. Also on April 2, the governor will lift the 14-day quarantine mandate for those entering New York State.

"We are going to start doing shows in our main venue for 100 patrons on April 2," Dorf told The Manhattan Beat today. "This complies with the 33% maximum capacity but up to 100 people rule Cuomo announced earlier this week. It can be increased to 150 capacity if we do testing. We are scrambling right now to book performers to start on April 2 and go nightly. We hope to announce our first list of artist and go on sale by March 15."

Joseph Arthur created an art piece while performing his concert at City Winery

Jill Hennessey and David Broza performed unadvertised sets on the first two opening nights in October 2020. This was followed by performances by Teddy Thompson and many local artists including Svetlana and the Delancey Five, Leslie Mendelson, Joseph Arthur, Itai Kriss, James Maddock, Joy Askew, Hollis Brown, James Mastro & the Rant Band, Strange Majik, and Dina Regine. Once musicians with national audiences can tour without travel restrictions on April 2, City Winery will book the best live acts.

"We are considering either discounted admission or front row seating for people who show their vaccine certificates," speculated Dorf. "This would be an incentive for people to get vaccinated. The more people vaccinated in the room, the safer it is for everyone. We will comply with all the other safety protocols as before, including temperature checks and screening at the front door. Finally, we hope to further announce our partnership with Clear and their health app by the time we go on sale with tickets, to both create a frictionless and more complete solution to the entrance for our patrons and staff."

James Maddock headlined a residency of four Fridays, including a live stream, from City Winery NY