Thursday, November 5, 2015

Lit Lounge is back for a return engagement in front of CB3's SLA committee


[EVG photo from September]

A familiar name is on CB3's SLA committee docket this month.

Lit Lounge actually appears twice on the agenda… for an alteration and corporate change…



According to the paperwork (PDF!) filed online ahead of the Nov. 16 meeting, Lit is reducing its size from two floors to one, cutting the occupancy of the bar at 93 Second Ave. between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street to 157 in the process.

Meanwhile! As DNAinfo reported, as of Sept. 29, Cock owner Allan Mannarelli is now the majority owner/managing member of Lit. Hence the corporate change… (and if anyone can explain the 40 percent…)



In August, the SLA committee voted against Mannarelli's application to move the Cock from its current Second Avenue home several blocks north to the Lit space.

Per DNAinfo:

Mannarelli said the owners were considering a move to split the space and possibly add a new bar on the ground floor. “LIT [is] still alive,” he added, although plans to move Lit Lounge to Brooklyn were not completely off the table.

And so the maneuvering continues.

Lit first closed at the end of July after 13 years. There was talk of a relocation to Brooklyn, but those plans haven't been realized. Lit did briefly reopen on the weekend in late September.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Confirmed: Lit Lounge is closing on 2nd Avenue

New, confusing signs up at the former Lit Lounge space

10 comments:

Walter said...

I hope they'll get it approved. There have to be some spaces in the EV for people to listen to live music. The whole area has become so antiseptic.

Anonymous said...

They better be careful with this one. This guy is just maneuvering however he can. What's to stop him from doing this and then changing the name to "The Cock"? Scumbag moves abound. Careful, CB3.

Anonymous said...

40& change if he already owned >10% would make him the majority owner.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Walter. And if it does change to the Cock, that's fine too. I still can't get over people complaining about this move - the 'noise' that you are worried about doesn't exist - at least not at its current location. I walk by there at least four times a week and at random hours - 100% agree with the last comment chain about this...that the dance studio is ten times louder than the Cock.

Let's not be a neighborhood that kneejerks itself into blandness.

Anonymous said...

Oh please Walter. This place is 21+ which means they shut out entire generations of youth from seeing live music which further kills live music produced by NYC kids because why pick up an instrument and learn to play it to start a band when you can't go to or play a live music show until you're 21?

I would LOVE for there to me a live music CAFE with an ALL AGES admission policy in this space. It is time. Fuck places who book live music to sell alcohol. Tell me CBGB did that, bullshit. CBs had a 16+ admission policy but they barely enforced it and when they did at least 16-20 year olds were able to see bands. This place and others like it? They tell kids live music is for legal age people only and that's not right!!! We need the youth to produce art otherwise they become what most NYU students are: talentless iPhoners whose idea of culture is what OTHERS are producing.

Anonymous said...

Lit had 18+ shows for sure. Not sure who your issue is with?

Anonymous said...

Yeah, 18+ shows which shut out highschool kids thus an entire generation of kids from seeing and playing live music. So less exclusionary/discriminatory on those nights.

My issue is with a venue which shuts out people under 21 and sometimes under 18, and all venues who shut out people due to age.

If venues had these policies from the '70s on we'd have never had CBGB, Danceteria, etc. The youth keep music alive.

What I said in my second paragraph for those who didn't read it like you.

Anonymous said...

So, you snarkily indicate that I didn't read your 2nd paragraph and yet you mentioned the ages of 16-20 in your post...but hey, this is a blog comment, not an argument soooo....).

Are there all ages shows in our neighborhood anymore? No, probably not. And yes, that sucks.

But, there are TONS of them and if a kid is so inclined, then he/she will find a way to get there. I sure as hell didn't live within walking distance of live music growing up, but I found a way from my suburban bubble to the city. These kids have a lot more to choose from than I did:

http://www.ohmyrockness.com/shows/all-ages

Anonymous said...

Do you know what my favorite bar is? Burp Castle. Do you know why it's my favorite? Because it's 25+! Kids under 25 act like idiots. If you think I'm going to go to a place with a bunch of high school kids, you're crazy.

Anonymous said...

No, you didn't read the second paragraph, Snarkums, because you said Lit Lounge has 18+ shows as if those shows aren't exclusionary, too (they are they basically say fuck you to an entire generation of highschool kids.) Better than 21+, yes, but still kid-hating bullshit.

No, there aren't all ages shows in the neighborhood anymore, and that sucks, and I was talking about the neighborhood and this space in particular, not the rest of NYC. Yes, there are all ages shows in Brooklyn and sometimes Queens, I know that, but we're not talking about Brooklyn or Queens. EV short for East Village Grieve remember? But here's the problem with these shows in Brooklyn and Queens: they're difficult to get to for NJ, CT, and LI kids who by and large don't have cars much less the money for multiple public transportation fares. The beauty of all ages shows in Manhattan including the East Village was you could go from NJ, CT, or LI right into Manhattan via PATH, LIRR, Metro North, and for outer borough kids the good ol' subway. It helped to have older siblings give you rides in, too (for those whose older siblings got into punk, metal etc. first.) Now you have to take that and at least a subway train or two, that adds up moneywise. Timewise, too. I can't fault these outer borough all ages venues, though, as they have been priced out of operating in Manhattan. It's just...how 'bout a new live music venue where you don't have to drink alcohol to see it or alcohol isn't the driving force behind it? Get the city involved somehow.

7:12pm I'm not talking about the 21-24 mostly NYU/college/just out of college crowd you're alluding to, I'm talking under 21s. Believe it or not I find under 21s better behaved than the 21-24ers.