Nolita Hall Delays Little Italy Reopening After COVID-19 Closure

Originally scheduled to resume operations today after temporarily closing on June 14, Nolita Hall is postponing its reopening. The Little Italy restaurant shuttered when a member of its staff tested positive for COVID-19.

In an Instagram post, which said that no other employees have tested positive so far, the eatery shared a letter from owner Douglas Hamm to his staff that explains the delay in reopening which said, in part, “we are writing to let you know that after days on end of trying to figure out the best thing to do for Nolita, and above all each and every one of you, we have come to the decision to stay closed for a few weeks beyond June 30. Short term, it’s gut wrenching on many levels but given the continuing increase in positive tests County and Nationwide we believe this is the right thing to do for the health and safety of you all and our guests. We’re not saying all restaurants should close and we need to stay inside forever, we all want to get back out there and we can make decisions based on the information we have and risks we are willing to take, we just think in light of recent data and trends this is the best decision for the Nolita Family right now.”

Hamm says that most of his staff agreed with the decision to hold off on the restaurant’s return. His main business is in real estate — he owns Nolita’s India Street property and doesn’t have a lot of investors to satisfy, so he says he’s lucky to not be subject to outside pressures that might force him to reopen more swiftly. He told Eater that he will continue to monitor COVID-19 metrics as well as public sentiment to determine a new reopening date, but says he hopes to be back in business by late July.