The Facebook Post:
Blackthorn 51 has permanently closed its live music venue in Elmhurst Queens NY; But Blackthorn has announced that they do expect to reopen at some point and at a new location.
“The reason we are closing is we think it will be a long time – possibly as long as 1-2 years – before Live Music returns to 2017-2019 levels. In the interim, for us to continue to occupy this space would be too expensive. Better to wipe the slate clean, not accumulate a mountain of debt, and sign a new lease when the dust settles. Many other venue owners agree. In addition, the notion that we should operate under a government-mandated limited occupancy is unworkable. The Live Club business is hard enough when you’re at 100% occupancy!
On a positive note, a word about our staff: we have the best staff in all of NYC. A big NYC round of applause to Kevin “Castle”Scondotto, John “The Doorman” Mangan, Alexey Menkov, John Rup, Mike Borgia, Tommy Reynolds, Mike Lawler, Liza Lasser, Carlos Aguilera, Sebastian Peludo, Anthony Wilson, Jessics Ilm, with honorable mention to all the others who worked with us throughout the last 9 years to make Blackthorn the best live music venue in NYC. A special shout out to all the great Local bands and performers that graced our stage and all the great fans that supported our venue over the last 9 years. All the great promoters that used our venue to host their events. Jett Cybertron, Adrian Eternian, Danny Maldito, Ahmed Rodriguez, Afton Shows, DeShawn Oakman and too many others to mention.You guys are the best and we love and respect each and every one of you. This made closing – even temporarily – a difficult, but necessary decision. But we simply couldn’t afford to stay “open” indefinitely under the current circumstances.”
While it’s impossible to know when things will return to normal for clubs, bars, restaurants and other retail businesses, let’s hope it’s sooner rather than later. We look forward to a brighter future and will work hard to bring the quality that people expect from us in the live music industry.
*** end of statement ***
PiercingMetal Thoughts: This kind of news sure does suck. Though we didn’t manage to get there too many times for live shows over the years based on our chaotic scheduling, we always made sure to list the acts that would be stopping by BT51 to help keep the live music scene as vibrant as was possible. Many of the bands, managers and of course the fans appreciated this very much and helped keep our calendar one of the more reliable resources for our region. The times that we did get there we enjoyed ourselves and I look forward to being able to announce a new location when that news comes to pass and of course listing the most relevant of events to the readership. We wish all those parties involved the very best during these trying times. We have lost far too many venues in New York City already before this virus became a way of our lives and I am speaking of B.B. King Blues Club, The Highline Ballroom, Brooklyn Bazarr and The Playstation Theater. All of these establishments sit empty at last update with nothing similar filling in the gap. Considering the price of rent in NYC it makes sense that the BT51 owners would shut it down since as they pointed out, there is no possible means of keeping the bills paid at limited capacity. What do you readers think about this news and what were some of your favorite shows at Blackthorn 51? Chime in down below in the comments section and I will see you next time.
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackthornQueensNY