The Horsebox closes on Avenue A

A for lease sign is now draped across the front of 218 Avenue A here between 13th Street and 14th Street (the listing via Meridian Retail Leasing is not yet online).

The signage officially marks the end of the Horsebox, the sports bar that opened in the spring of 2010 ... and that celebrated its one-year anniversary with a toga party.

The bar had been closed since the PAUSE went into effect in March. This also makes the third consecutive storefront for lease on the east side of A between 13th Street and 14th Street...

The Black Rose has closed on Avenue A; welcome Tompkins Square Park Art Bar (temporarily)

The Black Rose, which billed itself as a neighborhood rock-and-roll bar, has closed at 117 Avenue A between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

EVG regular Daniel shared these photos and the tip.

The Marshal took legal possession yesterday of the nearly two-year-old bar on behalf of landlord Steve Croman.



The space was quickly cleaned out...



As we understand it, the Black Rose management told Jerry, the artist who occasionally takes up residence on the corner of Avenue A and Seventh Street, and company to take what they wanted... and so for at least part of the day there was the all-new Tompkins Square Park Art Bar...



...featuring framed posters of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, velvet rope, red banquettes, bar stools, a disco ball and other former Black Rose items along the Seventh Street entrance to Tompkins Square Park...







No. 117 was the longtime home, until August 2013, of the Odessa Cafe & Bar.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Black Rose, 'a neighborhood rock and roll bar,' opening in the former Odessa Cafe and Bar space (73 comments)

Village Pourhouse makes closing official

As we reported last week, Village Pourhouse, the pub-crawling hosting hotspot on 11th Street and Third Avenue, was to close after service last night. Management informed the staff last Wednesday night.

And yesterday afternoon, the Pourhouse started spreading word of their closure...

Come say goodbye to the iconic Village Pourhouse TONIGHT! After an incredible 10 years, Village Pourhouse will be closing its doors to make way for our newest concept. Come drink us dry with drink specials all night and reminisce about all the good times you had but probably don't remember. $3 Draft Beers + $3 Bottled Beers + $5 Shots + $5 Mixed Drinks

A post shared by Village Pourhouse (@villagepourhouse) on Apr 3, 2017 at 9:18am PDT

The sports bar opened in the summer of 2006. No word on the fate of their phone number — (212) 979-BEER.



A rock club called E.Vil is expected to open in the space this spring.

Evelyn Drinkery has closed on Avenue C

After four years at 171 Avenue C between 10th Street and 11th Street, Evelyn Drinkery has closed.

An EVG reader shared this email that the owners of the cocktail bar sent out this past Friday...



We understand that new owners will be taking over the space. We will have more on the new tenants once we get some final confirmation.

The space was previously home to TenEleven, a space that we always liked. Never made it to the Drinkery.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Reader report: TenEleven closing at the end of June

What's taking over the TenEleven space on Avenue C

Krystal's Cafe 81 has closed for good on East 7th Street

[EVG file photo]

Krystal's Cafe 81 on East Seventh Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue has closed for good. Sunday was its last day in business, according to this website for "New York Ethnic Food Lovers."

There isn't any mention of a closure on the Cafe 81 Facebook page. The Cafe 81 phone rings once before the line goes dead.

Most recently Cafe 81 had been a Filipino restaurant and bar... Until Jan. 1, 2005, the address was home to Verchovyna Tavern aka George's Bar aka Bar 81.

H/T EVG reader Charlie Chen

Previously on EV Grieve:
At Cafe 81, you'd better be quiet or someone will throw a shamwow at you

[Updated] The Nite Owl has apparently closed

An EVG reader who lives on First Avenue notes that The Nite Owl, the cocktail lounge at 166 First Ave. near East 10th Street, has been dark all week.

There's an invite on the Nite Owl's Facebook page for a closing party last weekend...



The space went under a renovation and changed from North River to the Nite Owl back in March. North River, which served American-style comfort food from chef Adam Starowicz, opened in December 2013.

No word about the status of Dead Drop, the sorta hidden speakeasy in the basement.

Updated 4:11 p.m.

The for rent sign arrived today…

Common Ground has closed

The bar/restaurant at 206 Avenue A between East 12th Street and East 13th Street closed after service on Saturday.

Here's their official explanation, via Twitter...

Our lease is up, and it's time to move on. It's been a great 10 years. This weekend will be our last, so come on down for a few last rounds.

— Common Ground (@CommonGroundNYC) May 1, 2015

The owners have another location, West 3rd Common, on West Third Street and Broadway.

As for what's next at 206… we're not sure at this time. This past November, the proprietors of The Garret on Bleecker Street went before the CB3/SLA committee for a new liquor license for the address. However, CB3 denied the application, citing concern from neighbors and the applicant's inexperience operating a business, among other reasons, according to the minutes (PDF!) of that month's meeting.

Kabin has closed on 2nd Avenue

Last Friday we noted that the 10-year-old Kabin Bar & Lounge at 92 Second Ave. was on the market… we heard that the bar between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street would remain open through March.

However, that wasn't the case. According to BoweryBoogie, the bar closed after service on Tuesday.

The listing at the Newmark Grubb Knight Frank site points out that the rent is negotiable for the 2,100-square-foot space.

Destination Bar has closed on Avenue A, will reopen as Destination Bar

The bar on the northwest corner of A and 13th Street closed for good after service yesterday.

But this closure won't be for long — at last as far as the name goes.

Back in October, CB3 OK'd the sale of assets to the current owners of Local 138 and Iggy's Keltic Lounge on Ludlow Street.

According to minutes (PDF!) from the October CB3 full-board meeting, the new owners are retaining the Destination Bar name.

No word yet on a Grand Reopening.

Destination Bar opened in the summer of 2009 in the former Boysroom space.

H/T ‏@nyev_eliza

M. White has officially closed on East 13th Street

We hadn't seen the lounge at 448 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue open lately. For good reasons. According to a tipster, M. White called it quits about two weeks ago.

M. White, formerly known as Mug Lounge, was temporarily home to a post-Heathers venue.

Arrow Bar has closed on Avenue A

The subterranean space with a good happy hour at 85 Avenue A between East Fifth Street and East Sixth Street recently called it quits…



The bar, owned by two former employees of Pianos on Ludlow Street, had a pretty good run here (what was it — 7 years?). One tipster told us the closure wasn't rent related, rather business was off and management couldn't make it work anymore.

There isn't mention of the closure on the bar's website or Facebook page.

Ella Lounge has apparently closed for good on Avenue A

[Image via]

Ella Lounge, the duplex bar/lounge named for Ella Fitzgerald at 9 Avenue A, has apparently closed.

BoweryBoogie reported yesterday that Ella's last night was Jan. 3. While there isn't any mention of a closure on Ella's social media properties or website, the phone has been disconnected.

The retro space (previously Julep, Velvet and what else?) with live music and various acts opened in September 2008 with a news release that noted:

"Ella is our spin on Hollywood glamour and the roaring 20's. We want to capture the energy and flair of the time by bringing it back with our music, design and staff..."

And!

The 1700 square foot top floor of the space will have a combined feeling of the décor of Hampshire House, The Carlyle and Hollywood's Lake Arrowhead Springs Hotel as well.

Within a year, that old Hollywood glamour had apparently faded with hosted events such as...



We never made it to Ella. We were admittedly turned off from the get-go by ownership (The Gallery Bar) referring to this part of the neighborhood as the LEV — as in "Lower East Village." Then there was the requisite Thrillist writeup, which played up Ella's exclusivity: "reservations are referral only, and the door policy is doorman's discretion — so there's a decent chance you'll be stranded outside."

Thanks, but we'll stick to The Library next door.

Mourning lost bars; early morning at Downtown Beirut

The 6th Floor, the blog of The New York Times Magazine, checked in yesterday afternoon with a piece titled "Manhattan’s Most-Mourned Bars."

The neighborhood is well-represented in the listicle: Mars Bar, Downtown Beirut and The Holiday Cocktail Lounge. (And two nearby: The Cedar Tavern and Good World Bar and Grill.)

A lot of room for debate in that list. Which was probably the point, of course.

But! It's a fine time to revisit this EVG post from Jan. 5, 2009 titled Downtown Beirut, around 1990, about 3 a.m. It included this video...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Downtown Beirut, around 1990, about 3 a.m.

Tough times for First Avenue bars: Lilly Coogan's and Cheap Shots are closed

Over the weekend, we noticed that Lilly Coogan's on First Avenue near Sixth Street was closed. And the bar's phone number was not in service... So... several people have confirmed that the bar did close more than a week ago... As I wrote Saturday... I've never been to Lilly's, the former site of one of my favorites, the Homestead...

Meanwhile, as NYC the Blog (via Gothamist) reported that cops shuttered Cheap Shots between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street...



Per NYC the Blog:

After serving underage auxiliary police officers on at least three occasions as of late, as well as being the scene of a couple of physical kerfuffles, the City of New York had enough. Allison L Arenson, attorney in the office of the Legal Bureau of the Police Department and plaintiff in this case, has laid out the city's case in pages of arguments, which were laying on the sidewalk out front.

"The community has severely suffered and continues to suffer, as a result of the illegal activities...interfering with the health, safety and well being of those who live, work and visit in the surrounding neighborhood."

"It can not be denied," she wrote, "that the subject premises is a public nuisance, and as such should not be allowed to remain open even one more day."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Lilly Coogan's RIP?