Urban Hawker announced the closure of its Midtown Manhattan location. The food hall’s final day of operation will be July 17. The food hall owner shared that the building owners are planning to sell the building for redevelopment, leading to the food hall’s shutdown.
Urban Hawker to Close After Four Years in Midtown Manhattan
Founded by KF Seetoh, creator of Makansutra and the World Street Food Congress, Urban Hawker opened in 2022 as a Singaporean food hall. The food hall showcases vendors inspired by Singapore’s UNESCO-recognized hawker culture. The food hall includes 12 vendors serving Singaporean and Southeast Asian cuisine. The stalls include Chinese, Indian, Malay, and Asian-inspired Western dishes, and more.
The owner of the food hall shared the closure news with a social media announcement.
KF Seetoh explained that the owners of the building shared plans to sell the building for redevelopment. The building owners informed the Urban Hawker team about the plans a year ago.
Reflecting on its four years of journey, the owner said, “We are truly grateful for your support all this while. It was such a pleasure for me to help curate and create Urban Hawker.”
Plan New Openings After the Closure
Although the Midtown Manhattan location is closing, Seetoh said the group’s expansion plans in New York will continue. “A few Singapore hawkers had already opened second and even third outlets there, and we all plan to roll out even more,” said KF Seetoh.
He said the team is searching for a new location for a future Urban Hawker food hall. He said New York remains “a dynamic and meaningful market for us” as the team explores future opportunities in the city.
The popular Hainan Jones chicken rice outlet will be available at DeKalb Food Market, Brooklyn.
As the Urban Hawker enters its last weeks of operations, it encourages visitors to visit other Singaporean hawker locations spread across the city.
