NEW YORK (WABC) -- A long-standing restaurant in Lower Manhattan is closing its doors for good due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bennie's Thai Cafe on Fulton Street will serve its last meal Sunday after opening in 1996.
In a message to customers posted on their door, the restaurant's owners wrote proudly of withstanding the 9/11 attacks, the recession and Superstorm Sandy.
However, they say the coronavirus pandemic proved to be too much to overcome.
"It is with a heavy heart that we announce Bennie's Thai Cafe is closing permanently on July 26th, 2020," the note said. "It will be 24 years to the day that we opened in 1996. We made it through the dark days of 9/11, the recession and Superstorm Sandy, but the COVID-19 pandemic was just too much for us to undertake. We would like to thank all of our customers and neighbors who have supported us throughout the years. Some truly wonderful people have walked down those stairs and through those doors and we made some really great friends who became our extended family. We celebrated many birthdays and milestones with so many folks. Thank you for blessing us with your company -- those memories will always remain with us. We wish you all happy and healthy days ahead."
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