Beloved UES hot spot closing after 42 years and locals are fuming about what might replace it

The Upper East Side is in mourning.After months of will-they-won’t-they speculation, a neighborhood petition, and one seemingly miraculous reprieve, Mezzaluna, the beloved Italian trattoria that has held court on Third Avenue for more than four decades, is finally closing its doors.Its departure comes after the owners opted against a new 10-year lease and marks another loss for the old Upper East Side, as longtime neighborhood haunts increasingly give way to luxury condos, trendy coffee chains, and a streetscape that longtime residents barely recognize.“It’s so depressing.I was there yesterday,” said Genny Eide, 33, who grew up on the Upper East Side and has been eating at the restaurant since childhood.

“They were selling plates.I bought one.”When she asked the staff if it was really the end, they told her it was “real this time,” as the beloved neighborhood staple will officially turn its last key on Sunday, November 1, at 8 p.m., after 42 years.For Eide, who now brings her own children to the restaurant, life without Mezzaluna is hard to imagine.“My mom orders the Pollanca every day, no corn, no tomatoes,” she said of the salad that has earned unmistakable street credit.

“She says she doesn’t know where she’s gonna eat anymore.”For generations of Upper East Siders, Mezzaluna was less a restaurant than a second home.Having grown up across the street, I can confidently say I’ve eaten there more than at any other restaurant in my life— even when delivery apps made virtually any cuisine available at my doorstep.Proximity helped, sure.

But it’s the kind of place you can eat four days in a row without questioning your sanity.For founder Aldo Bozzi, 86, the decision to close is bittersweet.The restaurant was originally scheduled to shut its doors in March, but an extraordinary show of neighborhood support prompted him to ask his landlord for an extension.When rumors of the potential closure first circulated earlier this year, a wave...