The eeeevil landlords at New York University might be shutting down the Bottom Line, one of THE most hallowed stages in the history of rock, folk, blues, and American music of all stripes, and a late but crucial player in the Greenwich Village music scene in the 1970s. In the wake of September 2001, business fell way off and the Bottom Line got behind on their rent with NYU, the owners of that property as well as most of the rest of lower Manhattan.
Here's the statement from the Bottom Line:
The problem is as follows:Even before the terrorist attacks on the World Trader Center, the nation was already feeling the downturn in the economy. Our business, along with so many other small businesses, has not been able to recover since the tragedy of September 11th. Attendance to shows has declined. In addition, our customers are feeling economic stress, our bills have been multiplying, and we have found ourselves substantially behind in our rent. Our landlord, New York University, has started eviction proceedings.
During our negotiations with New York University to resolve this situation, the Bottom Line has presented several different proposals to pay our past due rent, while at the same time keeping current with a new, higher rent proposed by NYU. Unfortunately, NYU has not been open to negotiating a long-term solution to our mutual problem. We want to pay off our debt to NYU, but to do so we need to remain in business. To stay in business, we need a promise from NYU that, if we pay off the rental arrears, they won't evict the Bottom Line.
This is awful. I don't know the whole story, because I no longer have cause to do business with the Bottom Line's owners (like I did in my old job), but regardless of the details it would be an enormous tragedy if this venue were to close. Co-owner Allan Pepper might be an abrasive curmudgeon, but he's a lovable, ethical, and hard-working abrasive curmudgeon who has spent the last thirty years dedicating his life to the betterment of humanity through transcendentally great music. That should count for something, but of course it won't. There are few enough good places to see music in New York while seated without the Bottom Line going the way of the dodo.
Article comments
1 - frost@work
no doubt that this is bad... but you forgot to mention that they are $180,000 behind in rent. That's prolly more gracious than most landlords would be. Plus, NYU isn't made of money. They have to pay their bills too.
2 - Craig Lyndall
I understand the economics of it, but at the same time, if the situation is anything similar to the Rathskellar (the rat) in Boston, NYU couldn't wait to get rid of the club.
I started at Boston U in 1997 and got to go to the rat one time before Boston U shut it down completely. Boston U owns pretty much everything from Kenmore Square to Fenway to a majority of the streets that border Comm ave. Anyway, they hated the "element" that the rat drew to Kenmore square so they couldn't wait to get rid of it. If they could justify it monetarily it would just be icing on the cake.
I can't speak for the NYU place because I have never been there. It's always a shame when these great places shut down. The Euclid Tavern in Cleveland shut down a couple years ago, and the Grog Shop lost it's lease and had to move out of their legendary, if not dirty space this year.
I hope it works out, but $180,000 in rent is no small amount. They would need some sort of nostalgic investor to come in probably.
3 - Johno
"Nostalgic Investor"... I like that. I don't understand why somebody like Springsteen, who played some career-making shows at the Bottom Line, can't pony up a few ten grand to help out (for that matter, why's he letting the Stone Pony go away?). Or Simon & Garfunkel. Or Joni Mitchell. Or Dr. John. Or any one of a million great artists whose names are linked with the room. I completely understand that change happens, tempus fugit and all that, but it's still a giant shame.
$180,000 is a lot of money, and I'm not wishing for all that debt to be forgiven, but in an ideal world I would wish for NYU to work out a payment plan with the club so that it may remain open.
As for the Rat in Boston, it's true. The city itself didn't give a, erm... rat's ass for the place, and let BU hold the axe, but the loss of the room was keenly felt by the music scene. People still bitch about it, in the same breath that they assure each other that this year will be the Sox' year.
And I had NO IDEA the Euclid Tavern was gone!! I saw the Reverend Horton Heat there back around '96 (was it?) and it was amazing. Damn, damn, damn.
PS, "eeeevil" was only meant in half-seriousness. If someone owed me almost 200 large, I'd be breaking kneecaps.
4 - Steve Rhodes
The owners of the Bottom Line say they will pay all of the back rent, they just want a promise from NYU not to evict them when they pay off the debt.
There was an interview with Pepper on NPR the other day.
NYU is a wealthy institution. They have an endowment of over a billion dollars. I wouldn't be surprised if some profs. make that much (which is a good thing - more teachers should be paid well).
If the Bottom Line closes, important cultural history is lost and plus all those potential performances.
Just some of the people playing soon include Rambling Jack Elliot, Dan Bern, and Robyn Hitchcock.
5 - Eric Olsen
Thanks Johno, very important story, and welcome!
6 - Steve Rhodes
This NPR page has realaudio of the interview and a bunch of links.
7 - Jim Carruthers
The New York Times has a piece by a former usher at The Bottom Line.
The bottom line, the venue sucks, the bands they are booking suck, and the pay sucks.
It reminds me of the furor here in Tronna over the El Mocambo, which was despite The Rolling Stones playing there 30 years ago was a toilet. The room layout was terrible, and the place kept going in and out of solvency.
If it was a really good venue like The Spectrum in Montreal, I could understand, but nostaglia for grotty clubs is really stupid.
8 - MT
I'm not surprised at all. The Bottom Line had its moment and that moment came and went. Their booking policy is outdated and they play the same old tired acts constantly. I'll say it ... the Bottom Line is boring today and that's why their business is off. Pepper and cohorts deserve a tip of the hat but don't over-rate or glorify them. In terms of rock history they were meaningless.