RIP: The Bottom Line

Subject: RE: RIP: The Bottom Line
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 06 Dec 03 - 06:47 PM

I think that you may have it a bit wrong---it is not "...the usual rock & jazz acts".   What they have offered for some 30 yrs. is an eclectic mix of folk (predominantly),classic (Aaron Copeland),Pop, and all stops in between. And within the next week or so the annual Downtown Messiah---a newer tradition in the Big Apple.

In any case the RIP is premature. They have the support-- financial and moral of the likes of: Springsteen, Sirius Radio, ATT---only not the support of their landlord --NYU.

Now--NYU. Think of the tuition and all the property it owns in NYC. It seems the aim is to become the owner of much of the city to the detriment of any cultural venues that made NYU a desirable place for education.

A note I sent to the Pres. of NYU follows:

Given the reasonable solutions offered by The Bottom Line, given the fact that has been endorsed by many of the iconical status of the venue, and given the fact that a University that allegedly teaches film, communications, and history is willing to make the community it lives in more sterile than it has ever been it seems that we are about to lose another venue (or artifact) that makes NYC what it is---NYC.   

Jackie Kennedy saved Grand Central Terminal. No one save Penn Station --now we have a bland piece of---I shall leave out the expletives.   Greenwich Village was a vibrant community with a wonderful arts following.   Let us not leave it as memorialized street names--Dave Van Ronk, etc; It can still be vibrant and a place that NYU students can feel that they are part of a campus that has no equal in the country.

The building that The Bottom Line is in is not a landmark. Granted!. The Bottom Line is--an Icon. NYU used its name to its benefit in other years---now the University is becoming the Corporate real estate hungry gobbler of land and business just like any other major profit making company. Should a university now be teaching higher values? Or am I --like Miniver Cheevy born 100 years too late.

But--back to basics---NYU owns or receives income from some wonderfully profitable places. Restaurants, stores, and many more. I am sure that their tax status does not reflect that.

The Bottom Line pays an exorbitant rent as it is---ask someone in Iowa or Nebraska--even NJ. Yet, they pay NYC taxes---this will be another blow to the NYC tax base---and to the employment of many who will also be ---perhaps---on the NYC dole.

When universities become so large and so involved in real estate transactions perhaps it might be a good time to suspend their tax status and perhaps their standing as places of learning of anything but the chasing of the almighty dollar. The dollar that pays truly exorbitant salaries to the highest ranking officials and a pittance to the lower echelons. NYU is not alone in this. Check Harvard and Yale among others. The only problem is that NYU is trying to change the face of the greatest city in the world. This is not New Haven or Princeton, NJ or, even, Cambridge. It is NYC.

Bill Hahn

The above is a note sent to the Pres. of NYU--John Sexton

His address---should you care to forward it---as the owners of the Bot Line would like everyone to do is:

[e-mail]

You might also check the following websites: www.bottomline.cabaret.com
www.savethebottomline.com


The Blue Clicky thing did not seem to work===so---yhou make a blue clicky yourself.

Subject: RE: Obit: The Bottom Line
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Dec 03 - 06:09 PM

Ebarnacle: yeah, that was a great show. I remember watching this guy come on stage with a tray of autoharps and thinking "hey, I came to see Doc Watson, who's this guy?" and then being totally blown away by Brians performance.

They had the best home-made sangria in those days, too.

Subject: RE: Obit: The Bottom Line
From: Peg
Date: 05 Dec 03 - 10:15 AM

oh no! I never went to a show there but I always looked at the line-up and thought I'd like to one day...
what a shame. Too bad they could not throw a few fundraisers to raise that back rent...maybe they'll open in another space?

Ironic that a club called The Bottom Line is closing because of financial difficulty...

Subject: RE: Obit: The Bottom Line
From: EBarnacle
Date: 05 Dec 03 - 08:24 AM

Steve, I was there for the same show and learned "The Dogs they had a Party" from Brian's performance that night.
I have been waiting for the end for a while. It was also a great place to take a date, back then, when we were all younger and more impecunious.
Ars longa, vita brevis. It survived much longer than most of the famous venues. It was unique and will be missed.

Subject: RE: Obit: The Bottom Line
From: Mark Ross
Date: 05 Dec 03 - 12:56 AM

I got to play there in the '70's opening for Tracy Nelson. Classiest club I've ever played. RIP. Allen and Stan who owned the joint were class A gentlemen.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Obit: The Bottom Line
From: Leadfingers
Date: 04 Dec 03 - 09:09 PM

And I played a few Open Mike evenings there in April 1974 on my way home from Bermuda.

Subject: Obit: The Bottom Line
From: RangerSteve
Date: 04 Dec 03 - 07:24 PM

It's a club in NYC, or it will be until tomorrow, when the landlord, NY University, kicks them out. They have no lease, and they're behind in rent by $100,000.00. Aside from the usual rock and jazz acts, they had some great folk acts, too. I saw Doc Watson and Bryan Bowers as a double bill, also New Lost City Ramblers with Martin, Bogan and Armstrong. I haven't been back to the city in a long time, so I don't know if they had the same high standards in recent years, but I'm sad to see it go.