The Press Release:
When Knitting Factory Brooklyn closed in August with a performance by Hannibal Buress, they promised to return to their roots in Manhattan for the first time since the original venue closed in 2009, but remained coy about the details. Now it can be told: Hospitality entrepreneur Nick Bodor and Knitting Factory Entertainment (KFE) are excited to announce their first collaboration to bring a new neighborhood café, bar and performance space to the East Village, New York City and to the world: Baker Falls (pop.298) at the legendary 101 Avenue A, on the site of the former Pyramid Club. Baker Falls’ performance space will house Knitting Factory Manhattan. The entertainment complex is scheduled to open in February 2023.
Nick Bodor has a proven track record creating and operating beloved, long-running spots in New York’s East Village, including Cake Shop, The Library bar and alt.coffee, as well as Bruar Falls in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Bodor will serve as the managing partner and creative director of the enterprise. Combining all his previous projects’ respective ethos into one gathering place that will cultivate its identity based on the long, illustrious history of 101 Avenue A, and Nick’s love for the neighborhood he has called home since 1992 (and he has been loving the East Village since 1985!).
“With this joint venue, Knitting Factory and I are excited to explore the importance of creating a safe, fun, all-inclusive environment for everyone to gather morning, noon and night,” Bodor says. “Baker Falls will have café service all day, happy hour drinks, great performances and even some late-night dancing. Can’t wait to see you there.”
With the current structure built in 1876, 101 Avenue A was purpose-built as a gathering space for the neighborhood. As the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation stated, “its ground floor long served as a hall where locals would gather to eat, celebrate, mourn, or discuss labor issues and neighborhood gossip.” Many years later it gave birth to the all-inclusive East Village performance scene and was the birthplace of WigStock as well as the first NYC performances by Nirvana and RuPaul in the heyday of The Pyramid Club under manager Brian Butterick. Before 1876, the site housed a small single-story warehouse where Peter Dolger opened a brewery that brought Pilsner beer to America. The Pyramid announced it was closing its doors after 42 years on the site on October 31.
For its part, Knitting Factory opened its first location in a small, nondescript storefront on East Houston Street in 1987. A category-defining—and defying—venue, Knitting Factory both established a new standard for audacious, courageous, alternative programming and set the tone for small indie neighborhood spots that defined “downtown” to follow where Knitting Factory had dared to tread. That original Knitting Factory closed in 2009 and decamped to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where it held forth until this past August; the Knitting Factory Entertainment has since grown into a 360-degree entertainment company with a diversified portfolio of concert houses, bars, venues, restaurants and theatres, as well as divisions for management, recording label, booking and tour support. Earlier this month, Knitting Factory and partner Moon Block presented the tenth annual Desert Daze alternative music festival in California. Earlier this week, KFE announced it was opening a Knitting Factory-branded venue in Los Angeles for the first time in 13 years.
Knitting Factory Entertainment CEO Morgan Margolis added, “Of course it was a difficult decision to close our doors in Brooklyn due to rent escalations. However, finding a partner in Nick Bodor, former owner/operator of the iconic Cake Shop music venue, to team up and collaborate with us has been fantastic. And, having personally grown up in East Village and planting our flag back in Manhattan where it all started brings a lot of things full circle for us and for the brand.”
Following the formal closure of The Pyramid on Halloween night, 101 Avenue A’s existing facilities will undergo a thorough renovation, including improved staging and massively upgraded audio-visual production. Reprising their roles from Williamsburg, the venue will be booked by Knitting Factory’s Carson Ehlert with support from Senior Talent Buyer James Irvine. Ehlert says, “Although closing the Williamsburg location was difficult, I couldn’t be more excited about putting together interesting shows, developing new artists, bringing communities together, and continuing Knitting Factory’s unique legacy in the East Village. It’s been a delight to work with James and Morgan thus far and I’m looking forward to collaborating with them and Nick in making the new Knitting Factory a pillar of music and nightlife culture in Lower Manhattan for years to come.” Programming is set to begin in February 2022.
About Knitting Factory Entertainment:
Founded in 1987, with its first venue opening in New York City, Knitting Factory Entertainment (KFE) is a creative producer, manager and distributor of universal music content, film/TV and theatrical events. Today, KFE comprises: The Federal Bar; El Tejano; Thirsty Merchant; and Cantiki Bar in Los Angeles in partnership with Buckhead Hospitality, as well as numerous venue and restaurant units in Denver with Fillmore Capital Partners; multiple Knitting Factory concert venues; and partnerships with Boomtown Brewery, The Regent Theatre, and Arrive Hotel Palm Springs.
KFE has ownership with Brooklyn-based indie label Partisan Records, Knitting Factory Management, Left Music Publishing, Selby Artist Management, Giant Step Marketing and Media, TBA Agency, Fandiem digital platform, and culinary marketing agency Sweet Management/Connect Group. KFE owns the tastemaker web and podcast property, The Talkhouse.
KFE’s national touring and promotions arm Knitting Factory Presents (Bravo Entertainment) has expanded its footprint, booking national acts across multiple states including, but not limited to: Outlaw Field in Boise, ID and Big Sky Brewery Amphitheater in Missoula, MT, serving thousands of fans outdoors annually. Knitting Factory Presents also services Alma Mater/Fawcett Hall in Tacoma, WA; Slowdown in Omaha, NE; Elevation 27 in Virginia Beach, VA; and Hop Springs in Murfreesboro, TN as a talent buyer. Other partnerships have included: Pappy and Harriet’s in Joshua Tree, CA; Rachel Ray’s Feedback in Chicago, IL; Horton’s Hayride in San Pedro, CA; Maha Festival in Omaha, NE; Desert Daze in Moreno Valley, CA; Wine Country Amphitheater in Walla Walla, WA; CMoore Concerts in the Pacific Northwest; and many others.
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PiercingMetal Thoughts: As we live in a city with no more Roseland Ballroom, B.B. King Blues Club, Highline Ballroom and might I even add in The Marlin Room at Webster Hall and The Studio at Webster Hall, I am stoked to see a new venue coming to be in this metropolis. Now you might argue that Webster Hall still has shows but the two rooms I mentioned were smaller and offered fans of our kind of music the chance to see many groups that just weren’t going to fill the massive hall. Though I was an active musician for a number of years, I don’t recall ever going to or performing at the Pyramid Club over the years. Hopefully this will continue the kinds of shows that were happening in Brooklyn and bring some other unique ones to the assembled masses. I don’t have too much more to add about this so I will wrap it up at that notion and wonder what you folks out there in the readership think about it all. Chime in down below in the comments section and I will see you next time. Have a Happy Thanksgiving if you’re celebrating and signing off the Internet for a few days.
Official: http://www.knittingfactory.com
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