Thanks, Mary. Here's more... The following article originally appeared at: http://www.nynewsday.com/news/education/nyc-bott0916,0,5189994.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-education

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Bottom Line' Hits Its Bottom Line
By Monty Phan, Staff Writer
September 16, 2003


The Bottom Line may be done in by its bottom line.

The Greenwich Village club -- which helped launch Bruce Springsteen nearly 30 years ago -- is close to shuttering after falling behind on years of back rent to its landlord, New York University, which has begun eviction proceedings, the venue's owner said yesterday.

Allan Pepper, who opened the club in February 1974 with partner Stanley Snadowsky, said the Bottom Line owes about $185,000 in rent going back about 16 months, when the business, already hurting from the economic downturn, was further walloped by the effects of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It has been without a lease for about three years, and although Pepper is hopeful that a payment plan can be worked out, the owners refuse to agree to one unless a new lease is drawn up. A hearing on the case, which was filed in New York City Civil Court, will be next week.

"It makes it impossible to go forward with plans for the future without even letting us know if there is a future," said Mark Alonso, Pepper's attorney.

A New York University spokesman didn't return calls for comment.

Pepper, 61, doesn't dispute the club's debt and the school's duty to collect it, but he laments the passage of a time when NYU's relationship with the Bottom Line was more than merely landlord-tenant. In the 1970s and '80s, he said, NYU boasted of the club's proximity to campus (the Bottom Line is at West Fourth and Mercer streets) in recruiting materials. Now, the administration's attitude is that the club's rent, about $11,250 a month, is only about half the going rate, Pepper said.

"Now they view us as undervalued real estate ... which is very unfortunate and disheartening," Pepper said.

Its lease limbo has made performers wary of committing to any fund-raisers or big events, including what would be the Bottom Line's 30th anniversary in February. For now, the best the owners can do is rely on its patrons; the owners have outlined the situation on the Bottom Line's Web site -- www.bottomlinecabaret.com -- and encourage fans to write NYU.

"If enough people indicate to them how important this place is in their lives," Pepper said, "then maybe they'll rethink their position."