12-year-old Eldridge Street dance bar and performance venue Fontana's will shutter sometime this spring, with the owners citing economic woes.
The Lo-Down reported on the impending closure today—owners Holly Ferrari, Mary Finn and Deannie Wheele offered the blog the following statement:
We would like to thank our loyal customers, the bands that have played and our family of employees for an amazing 12 year run. As proprietors it’s been wonderful to serve the community in which we’ve lived, worked and played for over 23 years. It has become increasingly hard to be an independent business in New York city without compromising your vision. Choices get made due to economic strain and we are no longer willing to bend to that pressure. We set out to operate a neighborhood rock bar and that has become economically unfeasible. It’s been a wild ride. Please stop by so we can say goodbye.
Fontana's was a popular bar with locals, and once hosted a number of regular events, including the Feeling Gloomy dance parties—a weekly U.K. import featuring sad songs from the likes of The Smiths, Pulp, and The Cure—and it was a swell spot for a birthday party, provided you started off with shots and ended by raging on the dance floor.
Still, the owners say rent increases on the multi-level space are pushing them out, and now they'll join a list of dearly departed LES stalwarts that includes the original Max Fish, Lolita Bar, Motor City Bar, and Pink Pony. But at least we have...this?
