Achilles Heel (180 West St.), a popular Greenpoint bar from Marlow Collective, the owners of Diner, Marlow & Daughters, and She Wolf Bakery, has abruptly closed.
After serving quality cocktails and small plates to the neighborhood for 13 years, the bar’s last day of service was on Sunday, February 8.
Achilles Heel surprised many by announcing the closure on Instagram yesterday, February 9. The post started by saying, “It’s with tremendous sadness that we announce the closure of Achilles Heel. Last night was our final hurrah.”
The announcement explained that there has been a “protracted period of financial hardship” and it was “no longer viable to continue operating.”
Achilles Heel’s post ended by thanking a long list of people who came in contact with the bar, including suppliers, chefs, staff, and both Greenpointers and out-of-towners who visited.
After seeing the news, several Reddit users opined that Achilles Heel’s closure was because the staff recently unionized (Achilles Heel also turned off comments on the Instagram post, after users left comments calling them out for it). This thought was seemingly substantiated with a GoFundMe campaign that was set up yesterday by a former employee.
Sylvia Scahill, a former employee of Achilles Heel, created a GoFundMe campaign to “support workers fired for organizing.” Scahill explained that she and her coworkers presented their intention to unionize to the Achilles Heel’s general manager on Friday, February 6 (their sister business She Wolf Bakery successfully unionized a couple of years ago).
“Our desire was to bargain in good faith with the Achilles Heel and the Marlow Collective management. Two days later, we were all terminated and the business was permanently closed, both effective immediately,” Scahill wrote on the GoFundMe page.
The former Achilles Heel employees are now left without jobs and facing the challenges of paying for rent and basic needs. The money raised through the GoFundMe campaign will “make a real difference” in assisting the Achilles Heel team to “cover essential expenses” while they look for new employment.
The GoFundMe campaign’s goal is $14,000, and as of publication, $5,531 has been raised. You can donate here.
We tried reaching out to the Marlow Collective for comment but their email address bounced back. Instagram DMs went unreturned.