Local music venue Our Wicked Lady (153 Morgan Ave.) will shut down next week, on July 21, the same week it would have otherwise been celebrating its tenth anniversary.
The venue announced in May that it would have to close for good, and that day now approaches on Monday. Though the owners successfully raised $42,000 from a GoFundMe campaign, it wasn’t enough to cover the increased cost of doing business in New York City these days.
Co-owner Zach Glass told Gothamist that the rising costs, coupled with patrons not going out like they used to, led to the closure.
Compounded with classic landlord issues (the space almost sold to a different owner, but the landlord thwarted the sale), it’s a tale unfolding for far too many beloved local businesses. Not to be too much of a Debbie Downer, but the Pencil Factory (142 Franklin St.) closes later next week; the bar said the landlord refused to renew their lease, even though they have been a successful business for 25 years.
Glass founded Our Wicked Lady alongside Keith Hamilton. The venue quickly became a local favorite for up-and-coming indie musicians.
“ It’s been one of the great privileges of my life to open and run Our Wicked Lady and be a focal point for this community,” Glass told Gothamist, “I know that I’m really gonna miss it. I know the scene is gonna miss it and I hope that it stays in people’s minds as an example of going for your dreams.”