According to an affidavit accompanying the most recent petition, the bankruptcy "was precipitated by landlord-tenant issues with the landlord, over-landlord and fee owner of 122 First Avenue." In 2009, [owner James] McGown signed a sublease for the First Avenue property, and invested $400,000 in the store's renovation, but the property has changed hands several times since. Mr. McGown now "has no idea who to pay money to" for the deal, the affidavit says.
Duncan's lawyer says that South Brooklyn Pizza is "encouraging the Overlandlord to bring an eviction proceeding" against her, so they can take over the lease.
We were surprised to learn, recently, ... that none other than Angelina Jolie also went through her own semi-crusty phase, hanging out in the park and smoking pot ... During the L.E.S. Slacktivists/veterans' "adoptathon" outside Christodora House last month, Lara Mascara ... told us how she used to run with the young Jolie. "We were friends of the band Sick of It All," she said. "We called ourselves the Alleyway Crew." The members each had a Sick of It All dragon tattoo. "Angelina Jolie was skinny, no figure — just straight, she had no boobs — hair in her eyes," but did sport her trademark big lips even back then, Mascara recalled. "Her dad didn't pay child support. ... She was just not going to high school, like all of us. She was known as Angie."
"HEY EVERYONE — URGENT UPDATE: BLACKBIRD WILL NOT BE OPEN THIS WEEKEND AFTER ALL. WE HAVE ENCOUNTERED SOME CONSTRUCTION-RELATED ISSUES AND WILL NOT BE ABLE TO OPEN UNTIL NEXT WEEK. PLEASE ACCEPT OUR APOLOGIES FOR THE LAST-MINUTE NEWS. BUT IF YOU WANT TO GO OUT TONIGHT, PLEASE GO AND SUPPORT OUR FRIENDS ON AVENUE B: MANITOBA'S, REVISION, AND BOXCAR LOUNGE!"
In recent weeks, major nightclub operators associated with the Meatpacking District, SoHo and West Chelsea have been sniffing around the E. Houston corridor from the Bowery to Avenue A, where the weathered and fully licensed lower First Ave. properties Sutra Lounge and Lucky Cheng’s are prized commodities.
According to our sources, those interested in either these spaces (or a handful of unlisted ones in the area) include operators from Pink Elephant, Greenhouse, Hudson Terrace, Acme, 1Oak and Electric Room.
“The East Village is ripe for the picking right now,” says Ariel Palitz, who’s closing Sutra Lounge after nine years. “There’s an opportunity to change the culture and the makeup of the neighborhood from the underground nightlife experience to a high-end clientele.”
“It’s a good location for nightlife, because the residents for the most part are a younger age group,” he says. Picken also notes that a neighborhood used to loud bars won’t be impacted by a switch to lounges and clubs.
Simple — our lease is up, and that's given us an opportunity to look for a better location. We signed a 3 year lease in 2009 knowing that by this time, we'd have a good idea whether or not we wanted to keep on keeping on, and whether we liked our current location or wanted to find a new one.
The good news is we definitely want to stay open. But we think we can do better than our current spot. We'd like a place that's easier to get to for more of our customers, for one thing. New York can have some challenging weather, so being nearer more transportation options is important for us and our customers.
We're also looking for a space that's better for events - ideally one we can host events in itself! But if not, then at least closer to appropriate venues. Hopefully we can run more events once we reopen.
Definitely NOT a whiskey bar. And not a dive. Just a bar for people who don’t want to be part of the woo-woo scene and who are too smart to wait in line for an $22 cocktail. [It's] intended to be a beautiful but comfortable bar with a rock & roll vibe.
Please join us for riveting deejays, nightly open bar from 9-10 p.m, and simply the most charming people you will ever see in one room together ever again.
