NYC’s craft beer scene faces sobering challenges as closures and mergers reshape the industry

New York City’s craft beer industry, once thriving, is now grappling with the growing pains of rapid expansion.
Rising rents, high labor costs, and intense competition — all plaguing the broader NYC bar and restaurant industry — are forcing some breweries to close, cut costs or at least look for creative ways to broaden their appeal as the initial novelty of craft beer has waned.
A recent wave of closures and changes has rippled through the tight-knit brewery scene. Coney Islan