A farewell to Big Lee and the Hard Swallow

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The Hard Swallow is going out in Coney Island style this weekend. 

The neighborhood bar at 140 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street closes after service on Saturday night.

This comes two-plus months after the sudden passing of co-owner Leroy "Big Lee" Lloyd, who was 51. 

Maria "Sasha" Lloyd, his wife and business partner, has planned a closing-night party on Saturday — which also happens to be close to Lee's birthday — featuring regulars from the Coney Island Circus Sideshow. (Big Lee grew up in Coney Island.)

"Anyone who feels connected to the bar and Big Lee is invited to come here on Saturday," said Sasha, a lifelong neighborhood resident. "Lee didn't want tears; he wanted a celebration."

She has also hired a videographer to record testimonials about Big Lee as a keepsake for her two sons, Nicholas and Jacob. (People who can't make the event can record a video and post it on social media with the hashtag #ThankYouBigLee, and those will be included in the keepsake for the family, she said.)

I recently stopped by the bar and met (from the left) bar manager Audreana "Storm" Janelle, bartender Socks Markley, Sasha and bartender Caitlyn "Aurora" Milkman

While the Hard Swallow is closing, Sasha's business partner will be keeping the space and eventually opening a new bar after going through the liquor license process.

As for Sasha, she decided to make a fresh start and will be moving to Hawaii next month, a plan put into effect while Big Lee was still alive. 

Sasha said she is having difficulty mourning and grieving while still in the same apartment and bar. She and Big Lee had the Hard Swallow for over eight years; it was their whole life, she said.

The Hard Swallow returns on 1st Avenue

[Photo by Steven]

The Hard Swallow (aka Big Lee's) reopened last month at 140 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street... and the bar is holding its grand re-opening party tomorrow (Saturday!) night at 8:30.

The no-frills bar had been closed for more than a year as husband-and-wife owners Leroy “Big Lee” and Maria "Sasha" Lloyd (pictured above) were locked in a legal battle with the previous owners. The Lloyds also had to go before CB3 and the SLA for a new liquor license. (This archived DNAinfo piece from March 2017 has all the background.)

The bar opened in the summer of 2015 in the former Spanky and Darla's space. Big Lee is a former doorman/bouncer at Hogs & Heifers as well as Coney Island High on St. Mark's Place (he is also originally from Coney Island).

About Big Lee's legal battles

Back in December, Big Lee's (aka the Hard Swallow Saloon) closed its doors for several weeks at 140 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street.

At the time, some patrons of Big Lee's started a fundraising campaign to help keep the place open while its owners — Leroy "Big Lee" and Maria "Sasha" Lloyd, who are married with two children — sorted through legal issues with the bar's previous owners.

Big Lee's opened in the summer of 2015 in the former Spanky and Darla's (and Cheap Shots) space, which was reportedly owned by Charmion Raymond and Thomas McNeil, whose bar credits include the Village Idiot and Doc Holliday’s.

Allegra Hobbs at DNAinfo reports on what has transpired with the bar.

According to a complaint, the Lloyds in July 2015 entered a purchase and sub-lease agreement with Raymond and McNeil to take over the space.

Per the agreement, the Lloyds paid weekly installments of $3,500, which included rent due under the sub-lease and payments towards the company’s agreed-upon purchase price of $150,000.

In March 2016, Raymond and McNeil demanded an extra $50,000 on top of the usual installments and the Lloyds “uncomfortably” coughed up $30,000, the complaint states.

That fall, Raymond demanded the remaining balance due under the agreement be paid all at once — when the Lloyds refused, McNeil snatched the liquor license that was displayed in the space and Raymond padlocked the premises to keep the Lloyds out, declaring them to be in “default,” according to the complaint.

Big Lee's was able to reopen briefly in December but has been closed of late after its liquor license was deactivated.

As if that wasn't enough...

[T]he Lloyds said they found out that money they had been paying McNeil and Raymond under the sub-lease agreement, which was supposed to go to the property's landlord, had been withheld. McNeil and Raymond were also $54,000 in debt to the landlord in summer 2015 while handing over the keys to the bar, according to the Lloyds' new lawsuit...

Meanwhile, the Lloyds are seeking a new liquor license for the space (CB3's SLA committee gave their OK earlier this month), and hope to be open again by the summer, per DNAinfo.

[Updated] Patrons trying to help keep Big Lee's open on 1st Avenue

We noticed that Big Lee's (aka the Hard Swallow Saloon), the no-frills bar at 140 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, has been closed the past week.

Some patrons of Big Lee's have started a fundraising campaign to help keep the bar open. Here's part of their appeal:

We are friends of Big Lee's The Hard Swallow Saloon, and are fighting to keep another true dive bar from being kicked out of the big city. Due to a re-neg on a purchase agreement of the bar, our friends are now having to incur some serious legal fees to fight this injustice, and also cover lost revenue while the bar is closed. ... So we're asking for everyone to help pitch in a little to help cover the legal fees & get our favorite bar back open.

So far, the group has raised some $1,400 of a $10,000 goal.

The bar opened in the summer of 2015 in the former Spanky and Darla's space. Big Lee is a former doorman/bouncer at Hogs & Heifers as well as Coney Island High on St. Mark's Place (he is also originally from Coney Island).

Updated 12/10

Big Lee's is back open...


[Photo by Steven]

Big Lee's makes it official on 1st Avenue

[Photo by Steven]

Spanky and Darla's closed back in the late winter at 140 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and East Ninth Street.

The bar quietly reopened under new ownership earlier in the summer… not looking too different from the previous establishment, at least on the outside.

The bar's new neon signage arrived a few days ago — here's Big Lee's Saloon.

Big Lee is a former doorman/bouncer at Hogs & Heifers as well as Coney Island High on St. Mark's Place (he is also originally from Coney Island).

In times of age of high concepts, hand-carved ice and charcuterie boards … it's nice just to have a regular old bar open.