The Sidewalk Bar and Restaurant closed after service on Feb. 23.
As previously reported, hospitality vets Laura Saniuk-Heinig and Alyssa Sartor are taking over the restaurant space. Work on that has yet to begin here on Avenue A and Sixth Street.
The Sidewalk still looks open — from a distance anyway. The lights are on inside, and I've seen several people try the front door then peer inside. (The gate is down on the bar side.) The sidewalk cafe tables and chairs are stacked on Sixth Street, seemingly ready for warmer weather...
[Photo from Monday]
In an email last night, Saniuk-Heinig said they're still ironing out details for the Sidewalk space.
Meanwhile, the building at 96-98 Avenue A remains on the sales market, per a tipster. The listing at Loopnet was first created in November 2017, and last updated on Monday.
Misrahi Realty has the exclusive listing. The current asking price is $11.9 million.
According to the listing, the floor area ratio (FAR) allows for one more floor to be added to the building. And per the listing: "The legendary location has seen many walks of life and now it can be yours. The building is a goldmine in the waiting."
It's strange. Why are there tables and chairs still there? And why is their Yelp page and phone number still active? Did they really close? I am confused.
ReplyDeleteyes we really closed. i worked there for 8 years as a bartender. we had been promised at first that the staff, and our jobs, were all safe in the transfer of the sale of the bar and that it would only be closed for 2 weeks max while the new owners did some necessary updates to the space (such as bringing the restroom up to code, it currently did not accommodate wheelchairs, as it predated the law for such, that kind of thing). As the closing date approached, we got more and more differing information. "we will be closed anywhere from 2 -6 weeks" "everyone is still going to work here" to "it's going to be closed 2-3 months" and the kicker "no one has a job here anymore" - that was 2 days before we closed, Followed by "it's closed indefinitely" - which is how it seems now, since i can still walk by and see items that were left out on the night we closed, almost 3 weeks ago. Since it's actually like GONE, apparently the people that worked there full time, and others that qualified for unemployment as we all search for work, are unable to file claims. i haven't tried yet but that's what i heard. So after 8 years as a dedicated worker, through good times and bad, i was tossed out like trash. the other kicker? the new owners NEVER even bothered to introduce themselves to us. we never met them, never had a meeting outlining what was actually going to happen, nothing.
ReplyDeleteI wish the best for the legendary space as well, but lets be honest i also want my job back.
I couldnt even get the former owner to sign a letter stating that i had lost my job due to the sale of the bar - so now i cant get my health insurance working because he refused to sign the letter.
the entire thing is a massive cluster**** and extremely unfortunate. if it turns around at all, or ends up working out in favor of the NYC local music community OR in favor of the former employees, i cannot emphasize how utterly SHOCKED i will be.
I wasnt shocked that we were kept in the dark and treated like disposable objects, that was par for the course my entire tenure. the shock will be reserved for any respect, kindness, understanding or communication tossed our way.
i DID love working the bar, but ONLY for the amazing regulars and support of the music scene. I cant even begin to write about the rest of it without wanting to throw up. i GENUINELY hope the new owners are kind, savvy, and business minded people who will take what they've picked up and turn it into the moneymaking machine it could have been. And i still hope i can be a part of that!
But i know as much as anyone else i guess, since communication was not a part of this process whatsoever.
Godspeed, local music venue. We will remember you.