"I think it was great before. I think they were doing a great job before. I just think now it's a fresh start." That was Jose Bustamante in April, telling the Peekskill Herald why his group took over three dark restaurants at 55 Hudson Avenue, next to the Metro-North station.
His "fresh start" line fits most of Peekskill's dining news in 2026. The summer closures got the headlines, and they deserved them. But look at what opened this year and nearly all of it is a return. Some are businesses that lost their rooms and found their way back. Others are rooms that sat empty and found new owners. That pattern is the best guide we have to the three addresses that went dark between June and August.
The Summer Peekskill Lost Three Regulars
The losses came quickly. Gleason's, at 23 South Division Street, served its last flatbread pizza on June 28 after more than 14 years. Birdsall House, the craft beer gastropub at 970 Main Street that opened in 2010, closed on July 26 after a 16-year run. Then The Central, the train station coffee shop that grew into a full restaurant at 300 Railroad Avenue, closed indefinitely after service on Sunday, August 30.
The owners said the reason was money, not a lack of customers. In a statement to the Peekskill Herald, Birdsall House co-owner John Sharp said "independent restaurants operate on thin margins," and pointed to rent that "escalates 7 percent every year while major building costs continue shifting onto the operator." Rent that rises 7 percent a year roughly doubles in about a decade. For a business that has been open 16 years, that math catches up eventually.
The Central gave the same kind of answer. Partner Chappy Manzer told the Herald the decision "was one of economics," and added, "We were losing money, so for us to stay open, it was costing us money."
Over the same months, a longer list of rooms was lighting back up.
The Rooms That Came Back First
Two of the year's warmest openings were businesses returning after long, unplanned absences.
Burger Diner at 1 Bank Street reopened on February 6. An early-morning fire on June 14, 2023 had destroyed it, and the electrical fire spread from the kitchen into neighboring businesses. The diner is owned and run by Margarita Lopez and her parents, a Guatemalan family who have operated it for a decade. The menu still has classic diner plates next to Guatemalan dishes like the Desayuno Chapin. The room had been gone for two and a half years.
Kathleen's Tea Room was closed even longer. A roof collapse in 2021 shut the English-style tearoom at 982 Main Street. It has now reopened at a temporary spot across the street, 979 Main Street, the former Ofori's World Cuisine. Owner and chef Vivian McKenzie, who is also Peekskill's mayor, held a first pop-up on April 24 and a formal opening on May 19. The menu has chicken salad, scones and Soul Food Fridays. Neighbors helped stock the cupboards. "All the tea cups and all the saucers, I didn't have to source any of them," McKenzie told the Peekskill Herald.
Both businesses were dark for years, not months, and both came back on Main and Bank.
Two Station Corners, Two Outcomes
The clearest example of a room getting a second life sits at 55 Hudson Avenue. The building's three restaurants closed in fall 2025. Hudson Fusion Hospitality Group then took them over. Partners Robin Urbina and Jose Bustamante run it with chef Ronald Lopez, Katherine Norena behind the bar and Carolina Urbina on the administrative side. They brought the building back one concept at a time:
- Taco Station replaced Taco Dive Bar. It soft-opened for family and friends on April 13 and opened to the public on Taco Tuesday, April 14. According to the Herald, a waiter counted more than 100 people by 7 p.m. that first night.
- Savia took the former El Sueño space. It serves Colombian empanadas, ceviche, tostones and tapas, and has a lounge and an outdoor patio. By mid-June, Westchester Magazine was writing up the group's "triple takeover near the Metro-North station."
- BES Sundae moved into the old Froze and Better Burger spot. It opened July 1 with 12 flavors of Gifford's ice cream plus soft serve.
The Central stands a short walk away on Railroad Avenue, and its future depends on a landlord most restaurants never deal with. The space belongs to the station. Partner Louie Lanza told the Herald he was meeting with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on September 1 to talk about reopening with a new partner. He also said that if the space reverts to the MTA, it goes into a request-for-proposals process that would keep it closed for a year. As of early September, The Central was closed indefinitely and a reopening was a hope, not a plan.
So these two station corners went dark around the same time and may take very different paths back. A private building can change hands in a single winter, as 55 Hudson Avenue did. A space controlled by a transit agency comes back on the agency's schedule.
Operators Who Came Home
Some of this year's openings were operators coming back, not rooms.
K&P Lounge opened at 911 South Street in February. Co-owners Pamela Tiru and Katrina Harris closed their Cortlandt Manor location and returned to the city where they first went into business nearly a decade ago. "We thought we were done but we're glad to be in the heart of Peekskill," Harris told the Peekskill Herald. The menu puts fried whiting, collard greens and cornbread next to arroz con pollo, rellenos de papa and maduros. The Boriqua Soul Bowl brings both sides together in one dish.
On Welcher Avenue, the grocery storefront at Blue Mountain Plaza had struggled to keep a tenant. The last one, Apple Farm, closed in August 2025. Wilson Bermeo and his daughter Karina Zeor, whose family runs several markets in Rockland County, soft-launched Peekskill Supermarket there on July 1. It has a bakery, fresh meat and seafood counters, and a hot-food buffet. "We come here with an open heart, an open mind, and we're just really hardworking people," Zeor told the Herald.
Down at Charles Point, the change was a chef moving within the same building. Fin & Brew at The Factoria, 5 John Walsh Boulevard, has permanently closed, and its dining room is now event space. Executive chef Jan Michael Anastacio now cooks at River Outpost Brewing on the first floor. Its biergarten, patio and outdoor bar run along the edge of the boardwalk.
The Ledger, as of Early Fall
| Address | What was there | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Bank Street | Burger Diner, closed by a 2023 fire | Reopened Feb. 6 |
| 979 Main Street | Former Ofori's World Cuisine | Kathleen's Tea Room, formally open since May 19 |
| 55 Hudson Avenue | Three restaurants dark since fall 2025 | Taco Station, Savia and BES Sundae all open |
| Blue Mountain Plaza, Welcher Avenue | Apple Farm, closed August 2025 | Peekskill Supermarket, open since July 1 |
| 23 South Division Street | Gleason's | Dark since June 28 |
| 970 Main Street | Birdsall House | Dark since July 26 |
| 300 Railroad Avenue | The Central | Closed indefinitely since Aug. 30 |
The top four rows took anywhere from several months to about five years to come back, and every one did. The bottom three are on the same clock now. One of them, The Central, also has to wait on the MTA.
Where the Calendar Puts You Downtown This Fall
Until those rooms fill, the city's free events keep people on the same blocks. All of these are listed on the Destination Peekskill events calendar:
- Saturday, Oct. 24: Pumpkin painting in Pugsley Park, with costumes encouraged and Halloween music. At 11 a.m. there's a ribbon cutting for Terra Dulce Bakery's fifth anniversary.
- Saturdays, Oct. 24, Oct. 31 and Nov. 7: The Peekskill Farmers Market on Bank Street, a short walk from Burger Diner's front door.
- Sundays, Oct. 25, Nov. 1 and Nov. 8: The Peekskill Flea Market on James Street between Main and Park Streets.
- Sunday, Nov. 1: The last car-free morning of the season in Depew Park. Roads close to vehicles from 7 a.m. to noon for walking and cycling.
- Friday, Oct. 30: The 5th Annual Peekskill Community Trunk or Treat, 6 to 8 p.m., in the Central Firehouse parking lot. The fire department hosts with the police department, Peekskill Community Ambulance Corps and ShopRite.
A Saturday at the market can end with Desayuno Chapin on Bank Street or scones at 979 Main. A Friday can end with tacos by the station.
If you love Peekskill's restaurants as much as I do, I'd love to hear which comeback you've tried and which dark storefront you're hoping lights up next. Local news like this is part of how I keep up with the communities I serve, and I'm always glad to talk it over. Let's Connect at Sami Vecchiolla.
