Terzo Closes Permanently After a 'Devastating' Flood

The Broder family announced that Terzo, its Italian restaurant and pasta wine bar at West 50th Street and Penn Avenue South, will not reopen after a water main break flooded the building in February. "The time, energy, and resources needed to rebuild Terzo are beyond our capacity," the family said in a statement. The restaurant opened in 2013.

A city water main under West 50th Street broke before 3:30 a.m. on a Thursday in February, sending water through a stretch of the commercial node and damaging several businesses, including Terzo, the Paperback Exchange bookstore and Sparrow Cafe. The flooding left Terzo's basement and dining room heavily damaged.

Rather than rebuild, the Broder family said it will redirect its efforts into its two other businesses at the intersection, Broders' Cucina Italiana and Broders' Pasta Bar, and complete an expansion of dine-in service at Cucina Italiana this summer.

The closing removes the higher end of the 50th-and-Penn dining row, a destination known over its 12 years for fresh pasta and a deep wine list. It also underscores how aging underground infrastructure can reshape a commercial block as decisively as any market force: a single overnight main break did what a dozen winters of business had not.