[UPDATE BELOW] Manitoba's, the East Village punk dive that's inhabited its Avenue B home since 1999, is in danger of closing thanks to a pesky—but apparently quite hefty—settlement it's being forced to pay. Its owner, Handsome Dick Manitoba, is attempting to raise $25,000 to save the bar from being turned into a baby SoulCycle. Here's a portion of the plea from its Indiegogo page:
Due to a small wrinkle in the interplay between State and Federal law, Manitoba’s was recently forced to reluctantly settle a case with a private individual for a cumbersome amount that threatens the future of the establishment.
Our backs are against the wall. Our ONLY choice, after being advised by several very competent lawyers, was to settle.
Manitoba’s, its proprietors and patrons, are the very fiber of the East Village - The same East Village that is now being commoditized at an alarming rate and manifesting itself in the form of tenants in expensive apartments levying noise complaints at 8pm.
This is a battle cry for help. Please don't let Manitoba’s meet the same fate as other business institutions that have recently been forced to close.
A call to the bar for more information—such as, why was the bar sued in the first place?—provided no answers, and we were informed that contacting Handsome Dick would not be possible. "You don't call him, he calls you," the happy hour bartender intoned.
We'll update as information becomes available. In the meantime, Dictators' fans and followers of punk in general should note that $25 will get you an "autographed iconic photo of Handsome Dick Manitoba grabbing his girl's butt in front of CBGB, circa '77," and that $75 will get you the same thing plus a Manitoba's bar t-shirt. Which might be worth something when the place gets turned into a Container Store.
(h/t Brooklyn Vegan)
Update, 5:20 p.m.: It would appear that the plaintiff was one Luigi Girotto, a handicapped man who has filed a passel of similar lawsuits against businesses that he finds in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Girotto sued Manitoba's for $500, plus associated attorney's fees, for the bar's apparent failure to provide an exterior ramp, in addition to having a too-tall bar. Read the full complaint below.
