{"id":324516,"date":"2026-08-19T00:33:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T00:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/324516\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T00:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T00:33:07","slug":"iconic-fireman-hospitality-files-for-bankruptcy-spurring-nycs-biggest-restaurant-empire-crisis-since-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/324516\/","title":{"rendered":"Iconic Fireman Hospitality files for bankruptcy — spurring NYC\u2019s biggest restaurant-empire crisis since 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

The COVID pandemic\u2019s long shadow<\/a> threatens the future of Fireman Hospitality Group, which runs some of Manhattan\u2019s most iconic and venerable Italian restaurants.<\/p>\n

In a stunning move this month, Fireman filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing cash-flow problems that started before the 2020 lockdowns and turned critical when the group\u2019s large restaurants lost much of their business.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the largest Big Apple restaurant-empire crisis since 2020. The company\u2019s high-profile eateries have more than 2,000 seats combined \u2014 Trattoria Dell\u2019Arte, Cafe Fiorello, Bond 45, Paris Bar in Le M\u00e9ridien, Cafe Paradiso, Le Jardin Rooftop and two Brooklyn Diner outposts in Manhattan, as well as a spot in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n

Fireman Hospitality Group, which runs some of Manhattan\u2019s most iconic and venerable Italian restaurants including Bond 45, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing cash-flow problems that started before the 2020 lockdowns. Bond 45 \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

The restaurants are known not only for crowd-pleasing menus, but also for whimsical artworks such as the \u201cwall of noses\u201d at Trattoria Dell\u2019Arte and racy bronze female sculptures at Bond 45, some created by company founder Shelly Fireman himself.<\/p>\n

After Fireman died at age 93 <\/a>last October, the cash crunch left the company facing nearly $10 million in secured claims including $6 million in rent and $3 million in sales taxes.<\/p>\n

When some lenders told Amex and other credit card processors to withhold payments, it left the company with less than $100,000 in cash on hand, according to the bankruptcy filing.<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s urgently trying to restructure its debt to keep its nine eateries afloat and pay more than 800 employees, according to restructuring officer Jordan Meyers of Sierra Constellation Partners. The filing was first reported in FSR magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The company was founded by Shelly Fireman, who died in October at age 93. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Fireman had struggled to make rent payments to some of its landlords despite tapping federal\u00a0Paycheck Protection Program loans issued to stabilize the battered restaurant business during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Fireman later relied on merchant cash advances, or MCAs, starting in 2024. The company says in court filings that the MCAs are \u201ccriminally usurious and unenforceable loans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without restructuring, the Chapter 11 case would revert to Chapter 7, \u201cat which time the debtors\u2019 operations would cease and its assets would be liquidated,\u201d according to the court filing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think it\u2019s important to note that all existing restaurants remain open for business and we look forward to continuing to provide great dining experiences to our customers,\u201d Meyers told The Post on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The cash crunch left the company facing nearly $10 million in secured claims, including $6 million in rent and $3 million in sales taxes. Redeye Grill closed in July after a 30-year run. RedEye Grill \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

He added that the judge gave the company \u201cthe ability to continue operations in the ordinary course\u201d of business and \u201cto obtain the financing needed to get through the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things seemed to be running normally on Tuesday at Bond 45 and Trattoria Dell\u2019Arte, with no visible falloff in food or service.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s greatest strength \u2014 proximity to prime performance venues \u2014 proved to be its greatest liability when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and former Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered the closure of most public venues in March 2020.<\/p>\n

Things seemed to be running normally on Tuesday at Bond 45 and Trattoria Dell\u2019Arte, above, with no visible falloff in food or service. Trattoria Dell’Arte \/ Facebook<\/p>\n

Trattora Dell\u2019Arte is across the street from Carnegie Hall; Cafe Fiorello is opposite Lincoln Center; and Bond 45 is on the same block as three Broadway theaters. The performance venues had to operate at limited capacity even after restaurants were again able to serve indoors.<\/p>\n

When revenue finally returned to normal levels last year, it was too late for Redeye Grill on Seventh Avenue at West 56th Street, which closed in July after a 30-year run.<\/p>\n

Company CEO Ben Grossman told The Post at the time that the other Fireman places were all doing well.<\/p>\n

Grossman didn\u2019t respond to emails on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The COVID pandemic\u2019s long shadow threatens the future of Fireman Hospitality Group, which runs some of Manhattan\u2019s most…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[384,288,289,75,84,83,9,24,63,1491,3274,821,82647],"class_list":["post-324516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-bankruptcy","tag-business","tag-food-drink","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-real-estate","tag-realty-check","tag-restaurants","tag-shelly-fireman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}