Luca Lounge Closed for "Renovations"
Posted at 09:07:28 AM in Bar closures, East Village nightlife, Newsby Justine Goodman
In other construction-related closing news, it seems that Avenue B spot Luca Lounge--owned by the same group as nearby Luca Bar and something called Masso in Long Island City (what, you've never been??)--is the latest casualty.
I live two blocks away, and I quite liked the spacious, more-shabby-than-chic Luca Lounge, but I always wondered how a place that big, which only drew a bar crowd on weekends, managed to stay alive. As of Thursday night the following sign was posted on the gate:
Luca Lounge is closed for renovations. We will reopen Spring [word blacked-out] 2008. Please join us at Luca Bar ... Thanks for your understanding, we look forward to see[ing] you in the near future.
So, what was under the blacked-out portion of the sign? Closer inspection revealed the word "summer," as in, "We will reopen spring/summer 2008." Maybe it's not permanently shuttered, but as we all know, when a bar suddenly closes for renovations and leaves open the possibility that it may remain "under construction" indefinitely, usually it's not because business was booming.
(Photo courtesy of Luca Lounge via LucaLoungeNYC.com)
In the case of Luca Lounge its more a dispute with the landlord than bad business which caused the closure. Business was actually so good that the landlord became very nasty with owners. This is how New York rolls, you open up a joint in a not so chic area, as soon as rental market value increases, you are out for the benefit of hipsters who would have never rented in the area 10years before.
Posted by: NasRibery | May 22, 2008 at 05:20 PM
Luca Lounge is now re-opened at 222 Avenue B, right next store. It's open for now on Friday and Saturday nights. You'll see a huge neon beer sign in the front and the bar is in the back room.
Enjoy!
Posted by: AriStudio | February 06, 2009 at 06:26 PM