Categories
New York’s best liquor stores and bars are closing their doors, leaving tens of thousands of customers out in the cold.
That’s according to a new report from Manhattan real estate site Realtor.com, which found that nearly all of the city’s liquor stores are closing or are on the verge of closing.
The number of locations has dropped from 1,814 in December to 745 today, and the company says that more than two-thirds of the stores are likely to close within a few months.
The New York Times’ The Cut, which first reported the trend, says that it “takes a lot of bad luck to close a liquor store.”
According to the Times, “It’s not just the people who leave; the places that remain open have more staff to manage the crowd and attract more customers.”
One store that’s still open is The Trolley Lounge, which opened in 2011 and had been on the market since 2012.
The Times says that in recent years, The Trolle Lounge’s owner has moved out of the building to take a position at a liquor company.
“This is the last gasp of a dying business,” the Times’ report said.
The Tolle Lounge was known for a number of good things, including its “sunny bar” with an “adult dance floor,” which was a favorite of the late Michael Jackson.
According to Realtor, The Tolle Lounge is expected to close this summer.
One of the bars that’s left open is the Long Island City Pub, which was opened in 2013 and featured live music and a variety of other events.
According a spokesperson for the Long Islanders, The Long Islanders has “been a family owned and operated pub for more than 30 years.
It is closing its doors in a matter of weeks.”
That’s a big blow to Long Islanders who relied on the pub for a great deal of their alcohol, such as James “Big Jim” Lassiter.
According the Times article, Lassito opened the bar in 1995 with his family, but he died of cirrhosis in 2008.
He was cremated in 2013.
