New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s radical policy proposals have prompted high-profile restaurateur Stratis Morfogen to cancel plans to open new businesses.
He told Side Dish he’s pulling the plug on three new establishments, including one in Midtown West.
“I waited for the election before signing and now I’m not signing,” he said.
Just last week, Morfogen opened his first restaurant in Miami. The eatery, called Brooklyn Chop House Miami, boasts 400 seats and has a rooftop bar overlooking the skyline in the Moxy Hotel in Wynwood.
“I’m not signing any more leases in New York,” Morfogen vowed. “I’ll keep what I have. We’re not expanding in New York but we are pursuing further opportunities in Miami and other cities.
“We just don’t feel that this mayor is suitable to supporting small businesses.”
Veteran restaurateur and nightlife guru Richie Romero had the same response to Mamdani’s stunning defeat of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa earlier this month.
Romero has put a halt on new openings except for a new East Village outpost of Sushi By Bou, for which construction began months before the election.
“The hatred of Jews, socialism, the economics – it’s too much,” he said of Mamdani. “I had to be vocal. I get attacked, but it is what it is.”
Romero, who hosted fundraising events for Cuomo, said he is launching a coalition “to fight socialism” that is still in the works.
Instead of betting on New York, the lifelong New Yorker is opening 12 to 15 concepts outside the city in secondary markets — from Atlanta and Dallas to West Palm, Fla.
Morfogen said he opted never to sign a lease for an all-but-completed deal for a new restaurant at West 32nd Street and 10th Avenue. He also put the brakes on signing leases for new diners on the Upper East Side, at East 62nd Street and First Avenue, and on the edge of the Upper West Side.
“I am not signing any leases now,” Morfogen declared. “We want to wait and see what [Mamdani] does. His radical changes scare the s–t out of small business owners.”
The mayor-elect’s proposal to raise the city’s minimum wage to $30 by 2030 will “put fast-casual out of business,” Morfogen predicted.
“There won’t be any more diners for $25 a person if a $12 burger goes up to $22,” he said. “We will still have to pay our rent and our profit margin — at 10% — is too thin to survive.”
He is also worried about public safety under Mamdani, an ardent critic of the NYPD.
It’s personal for Morfogen, who said illegal immigrants have assaulted members of his family in recent years, leading one of the victims to be hospitalized.
“I have had enough. I love New York City and even after all the destruction with Cuomo during COVID, I was forced to vote for him because anything is better than a socialist communist with insane, anti-small business policies,” Morfogen said.
“I can’t believe that New York City, a city I love and where I grew up, voted him in. I’m not sure I recognize this city anymore,” said the restaurateur, whose dad was a Dem.
“This is not the Democratic city that my father loved. [Former Gov.] Mario Cuomo is turning in his grave seeing what the Democratic Party has become.”
He said the streets don’t feel safe near his 24-hour Gramercy Park diner, called Diner24.
“Thank God we have a police station a block away. Can you imagine if [Mamdani] defunds the police? It’s insanity, and the message that is even being considered gives criminals a lot of confidence that they can get away with things,” Morfogen said.
Mamdani’s anti-business proposals like taxing the rich and opening publicly-run grocery stores angered Romero, too.
“You see 30 to 40% of vacant storefronts now,” he said. “How do you suggest that someone who is not pro business will make it get better?”
Not everyone agrees. Restaurateur Mark Bucher, who co-owns Medium Rare restaurants in nine cities including the Big Apple, said he’s “always bullish on New York City” and plans to open a new outpost in Manhattan next year.
But Romero said his main interest in the city is for promotional purposes, not making money.
“New York is a showcase — like Fifth Avenue,” he said. “It’s better to open in West Palm, Dallas and Nashville, where they are more business friendly. It’s impossible to make money here.”
