Why 30+ Local Businesses closed in 2025 across Park Slope, Prospect Heights, and Gowanus
What owners say is behind the wave of closures - and how we can help
In 2025, Park Slope and nearby neighborhoods lost more than 30 local restaurants, bars, and shops - too many in a single year. We list them at the bottom of this article.
These weren’t just storefronts. They were meeting places, memories, and neighbors who took a chance on our blocks.
On Friday, we shared an Instagram post on @parkslopeliving listing the closures we were aware of. The community added more closures in the comments - bringing the total to over 30. If there are businesses we’ve missed, please add them below so we can honor them.
Why did so many close?
Many neighbors asked the same question. After checking directly with business owners and public statements from their businesses, most of these closures were tied to rent increases alongside rising operating costs that outpaced revenue.
Park Slope local and Clover Club owner Julie Reiner stated:
“The issue in Park Slope is the rents are high, and the residents only support restaurants on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. A restaurant cannot survive on weekend business. Cost of goods, payroll, and insurance premiums are rising, making it harder to survive.”
Another Park Slope restaurant owner shared:
“The old formulas we need to make ends meet as a restaurant or bar don’t work any longer for many items, because the price you’d need to charge is far more than what’s comfortable for guests- we had to do some nominal price increases for things and got so much push back, we had to adjust…Honestly, some things we just took off the menu because of volatility. I don’t think the average person realizes how little profit even a successful restaurant makes.”
A closer look at Bergen Street
Several owners specifically cited rent hikes along the Bergen Street corridor between 5th Avenue and Flatbush Avenue - a stretch long known for independent boutiques and eateries. Business owners have also reported similar rent increases along 5th Avenue.
As reported in January last year in Park Slope Pulse, Brooklyn’s Pintchik family sold a 26-building Prospect Heights and Park Slope portfolio - including 80 apartments and 32 retail spaces across Flatbush Avenue, Bergen Street, and Dean Street - for $102.5 million to the Ostads family. Following the sale, multiple tenants reported sharp rent increases:
Corner Delhi / Tarique’s rent reportedly rose from $8,000 to $17,500 per month (118%+ increase).
Antonio’s Pizzeria stated that Gino’s Pizza’s rent was pushed to $25,000 per month (unverified). Gino’s had served the neighborhood for 40 years.
According to Atlantic Yards Report, the sale was driven partly by aging owners and raised concerns among tenants due to the buyers’ past rent-regulation disputes.
When the sale was announced, I reached out to Valerie Fitch, whose store VF Designs I had featured on @parkslopeliving previously. Valerie shared that her rent would increase to $9,500 per month - an amount she couldn’t sustain. VF Designs closed at the end of May.
Beer Witch followed shortly after, closing in June. Owner Christa Sobier shared on Beer Witch’s Instagram:
“Despite my best efforts, the ongoing challenges of running a small business in this ever-changing city have become too much to sustain.” - @beer_witch_bklyn
When I sat down to have a beer with Christa a week before Beer Witch closed, she shared that while the store was deeply loved by the community, there weren’t enough customers coming in to sustain the rising costs of running the business.
Yesterday, she wrote: “Hard to feel long-lost already. Miss you all terribly. 😔”
She also shares that she is seeking a partner or restaurant group to help support a potential comeback.
What can we do to help?
All of this is a reminder that if you love local businesses, the most powerful way to support them is to show up. Make a conscious effort to visit them during the week, not just on weekends. Share your finds and favorites with a friend, leave a kind review.
Casa Azul announced a planned closure last month and is now operating month to month - let’s keep them open. I recommend dining there for their delicious Mexican food (best mole) and agave (get their mezcal flight)!
While commercial rents are set privately, neighbors can still make their voices heard. Community advocacy has made a difference before - as seen when residents and council members worked together to keep a neighborhood supermarket after Steve’s 9th Street Market closed.
I invite you also to share your own suggestions below to problem solve together as a community - even if some of the issues are structural or may seem out of our control.
Our neighborhoods are shaped by local businesses - if we want them to stay, we have to support them - consistently.
List of businesses that closed in 2025
Casa Azul (operating month to month - support them & let’s keep them open!)
Chuzo Culture (relocated to Bay Ridge - visit them there)
Nora Kogan (shop online at this link - a curated selection is available at Facets Jewellery)
Pecking House (visit them at their Lower East Side location)
Pisces Fish Market
Private Picassos (visit them at their Clinton Hill location - they also host events at 390 Social)
Really important work documenting this. That quote from Julie Reiner nails it-weekend traffic cant sustain a place when everyhting else is rising. I ran a small cofee spot years back and watched the math stop working despite loyal regulars.The Bergen Street situation with those rent hikes is particularly brutal for owners who invested years building their custoemr base.
I also think it’s important to note how the neighborhood changed after Covid.
At first, the support and neighborhood rallied and was engaged in rebuilding the community. Slowly, I watched clients move away and rebuilding a client base took more time. I’ve had pop up markets where I met clients that lived 2 blocks away and never knew I had a store in their neighborhood.
It’s not popular, but it needs to be said. Open streets killed our weekends. Imagine you wait all year for beautiful weather and for folks to come out and about and on a critical weekend, 5th ave is closed from 16th to Bergen street. It literally cut off my business from Parkslope and from Propect Heights open streets. Weekends were critical for making rent and if you’re only making 600-800 on a Saturday and less on Sunday. Numbers are against you. This was really were numbers fell and foot traffic was lost.
I know for a fact 5th businesses all felt the same. They voted to stop open streets every weekend and to all their surprise, The Commissioner formed their own association and was able to continue open streets. No one was happy about how this association was formed and felt very upset, completely blindsided.
For 3 years after 2020. I took my business on the road to participate in markets on Sunday mornings in the Hamptons. After working all week, Saturday evening after I closed, I would pack my car and travel at 4am on Sunday am to set up my tent by 8am, getting home at 10pm. This is how I paid my rent and bills to continue to operate my business in the neighborhood I loved.
In the end, the new landlords offered a lease at from 5k to 9500.00 which I declined. They then listed 458 Bergen at 15.5k.
Even if the rent remained at 5k, the business in this neighborhood was a struggle. We modestly thrived until 2021, and steadily watched the decline in the years after.