A tip came in that there were eviction papers on the front of the old Lenox Lounge just north of 125th Street and we did not want to believe that it was true. The lower photo shows part of the paperwork attached to doorway which has the landlord petitioning because of back rent due from downtown restauranteur Richard Notar. Like a Greek Tragedy that nobody in Harlem wanted to be a part of, it seems that the landlord who increased the rent while displacing the previous lessee did not get to see the returns expected. Then the former lessee who destroyed the historic site at the end of his lease in hopes of opening up another bar a couple of blocks north failed to find investors. Finally the notable downtown investor who had good intentions in restoring the original legend in a quick manner might now face another fate since so much drama has unfolded and stalled the renovation process in the past two years. Read more about the situation leading up to this week's events in our past post:
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Some enterprising individual with money and foresight will snap that up quickly. In a couple of years, once the lot is developed across the street, that block will be as heavily trafficked as the 125th-126th across the street and a new Lenox Lounge will be a beacon on the block just as Red Rooster has become.
ReplyDeleteThe landlord knows he can make a lot more money by renting it out to a chain. Starbucks here we come!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of Harlem's saddest "Solomon" tales. Instead of one party sacrificing and setting aside their avarice to allow for the possibility of retaining one of the city's great and last neighborhood bar exterior and interiors both "mothers" preferred to cut the baby in two, gutting the interior and defacing the façade. What remains after two years of battling parties are two sad empty shells, both claiming to be the future home of the "Lenox Lounge," when the old one would have suited us just fine!
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