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Acclaimed Long Island City noodle destination Mu Ramen has closed but not by choice. Chef and co-owner Joshua Smookler, who opened the ramen shop with wife Heidy He in November 2014, is alleging that his landlord illegally terminated his lease despite an ongoing moratorium on commercial evictions in New York City. “This closure is not because we wanted to close,” he says. “It’s because the landlord took over the space.”
Like countless restaurateurs across the city, Smookler temporarily shuttered Mu Ramen following the state-mandated shutdown of indoor dining in March 2020 and never reopened, unable to turn a profit from outdoor dining due to the ramen shop’s limited sidewalk space. The plan was to wait for the return of indoor dining at 50 percent capacity, but when that time arrived last month, Smookler learned a new business had started operating out of the former home of his restaurant. His lease, he claims, still had close to a decade left befor