Help Save The Bottom Line

[Lois Gilbert]

Lets not let another Greenwich Village Music Landmark go the way of the Village Gate!

HELP SAVE THE BOTTOM LINE:
A note to friends of the Bottom Line from
Allan Pepper and Stanley Snadowsky:

The doors may soon close on a thirty year legacy.

Lets not let another Greenwich Village Music Landmark go the way of the Village Gate!

HELP SAVE THE BOTTOM LINE:
A note to friends of the Bottom Line from
Allan Pepper and Stanley Snadowsky:


The doors may soon close on a thirty year legacy.

The Bottom Line has been presenting live music since February 12,
1974, and is owned and operated by Allan Pepper and Stanley Snadowsky, who have
been friends since childhood. The Bottom Line is unique because it is
a "mom & pop store" amidst a crowded field of conglomerates and
corporations. Our main commodity in the club has always been and will always be the
music.

The Bottom Line has always been, and still is, run by Allan & Stanley,
who take a great pride in what they do. They always have and still
love the music.

The problem is as follows:

Even before the terrorist attacks on the World Trader Center, the
nation was already feeling the downturn in the economy. Our
business, along with so many other small businesses, has not been able to recover since
the tragedy of September 11th. Attendance to shows has declined. In addition, our
customers are feeling economic stress, our bills have been multiplying, and we have
found ourselves substantially behind in our rent. Our landlord, New York
University, has started eviction proceedings.

During our negotiations with New York University to resolve this situation,
the Bottom Line has presented several different proposals to pay our past due rent, while at the same time keeping current with a new, higher rent proposed by NYU. Unfortunately, NYU has not been open to negotiating a long-term solution to our mutual problem. We want to pay off our debt to NYU, but to do so we need to remain in business. To stay in business, we
need a promise from NYU that, if we pay off the rental arrears, they won't evict the Bottom
Line.

Unless we can sway NYU to give us this basic assurance, we won't be able to take the steps necessary to save the Bottom Line. If you'd like to help, here's what you can do.

Let NYU know how important the Bottom Line is to the metropolitan area
and what a loss it would be if the city was downsized by another
landmark - particularly if you are an alumnus/a of NYU. Send a note to John
Beckman assistant vice president of the Office of Public Affairs at
john.beckman@nyu.edu or Lynne Brown,
the VP for University Relations and Public Affairs at NYU at
lynne.brown@nyu.edu

Please send us a copy at
SaveBLT@aol.com - and please forward this
message to your friends.

Please support The Bottom Line now. Do not put off seeing a show today
because we may not have a tomorrow.

You can e-mail us at: SaveBLT@aol.com
Thank you for your support.


Allan Pepper and Stanley Snadowsky
The Bottom Line

[bluenoter]

from the New York Times (online):

September 15, 2003
Village Club May Face Swan Song Over Rent
By JIM DWYER

The Bottom Line, the Greenwich Village cabaret where a little-known New Jersey guitar player named Bruce Springsteen danced across tabletops at age 25, and where the venerable composer Aaron Copland played piano at age 79, has fallen into a deep financial hole and is facing eviction from the West Fourth Street corner it has occupied for nearly 30 years.

New York University, which owns the building, says that the club owes $185,000 in rent back to 2000, and that the school needs both the money and the space. The university has filed papers in New York City Civil Court seeking to take possession of the club. The case is scheduled to be heard next week.

After three decades as the city's premier showcase for a broad sweep of popular music, from Miles Davis and Dolly Parton to Jerry Garcia and Norah Jones, the club's prospects are dire.

"It's about to be executed," Mark Alonso, a lawyer for the club's owners, said. "There's basically 10 days or so for a reprieve. There's a very real possibility that this may not be salvageable — it depends on whether the university will be flexible."

Allan Pepper, who opened the Bottom Line in February 1974 with his partner, Stanley Snadowsky, says that the club was scraping by in the late 1990's, but that business collapsed in the days and months after the attack on the World Trade Center, two miles away. Insurance and emergency aid provided about $50,000, which helped him cover his payroll, taxes and utility bills. The club has paid the monthly rent of $11,000 since June, Mr. Pepper said, adding that he is determined to find backers who would satisfy the university and keep it going.

"They're entitled to their rent," Mr. Pepper said. "They're not wrong. We're not looking for free lunch."

Yet to get new backers, Mr. Pepper said, he would need to have at least the prospect of a new lease, which the university has been unwilling to offer.

With good reason, says a spokesman for the university, John Beckman. He said Mr. Pepper and Mr. Snadowsky are being charged only about half the going rate for space in the area, but even at that, could not keep up with what they owe. The university is also being financially squeezed, Mr. Beckman said, with contributions shrinking, wages frozen and tuition increasing.

"No one was looking to see the Bottom Line closed," Mr. Beckman said. "If they had paid their rent, there wouldn't be an issue." He said the university does not plan to use the space for commercial purposes and will probably convert it to large classrooms.

The Bottom Line, with seating for 400, dwarfed an earlier generation of Village bars, restaurants and coffeehouses that had served as incubators for young musicians.

At the time the Bottom Line opened, the Village was fast losing any lingering charms of its bohemian past and was sliding into a seediness that could seem downright sinister. The club sits at the corner of West Fourth and Mercer Streets. Just to the west, Washington Square Park had become an open market for a rampant drug trade and prostitution. To the east, Broadway seemed to be pocketed with lifeless shadows.

On opening night at the Bottom Line, Dr. John was joined on stage by Stevie Wonder and Edgar Winter. Among those in the audience, Mr. Pepper recalled, were Mick Jagger, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Charles Mingus, John Hammond Jr., Rip Torn and Geraldine Paige. Within weeks of its opening, the club was packed every night. Very quickly, 7,000 or 8,000 people a week were coming to Mercer Street, Mr. Pepper recalled. Not only did the club survive the neighborhood difficulties, it thrived.

While bigger than most of the older Village clubs, the Bottom Line provided a downright cozy and less-expensive alternative to stadiums and arenas. Even today, its ticket prices are around $20. There is no cover or minimum. Until Mr. Snadowsky retired to Las Vegas in the early 1990's, both owners had been in the club nearly every night since it opened.

A five-night run of shows by Mr. Springsteen in August 1975 still inspires awe among those who saw them. Over the bar is a series of color pictures of performers on the vest-pocket stage: Mr. Springsteen, the Roche Sisters, Peter Allen, Janice Ian, Gregory Hines, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed and David Johansen. But neither echoes nor memories can pay the bills. Mr. Pepper said his audiences tend "to skew older." His lawyer, Mr. Alonso, said that it might be time for Mr. Pepper to have "reverse mentoring — young people to remind Allan and his partner of what the market wants."

Mr. Beckman said that officials at N.Y.U. recognized that the Bottom Line had a long history but that it could not ask its students to subsidize the operations of a for-profit club. "You ask, `Will closing the Bottom Line mean the next Bruce Springsteen won't be discovered?' " Mr. Beckman said. "I ask, `Will keeping it open mean that the next Albert Einstein might not get educated here?' "

On Saturday evening, Wishbone Ash, a British rock band popular in the 1970's and 80's, was performing two shows at the club. Mr. Pepper stood on the sidewalk outside the door, and a friend arrived with a cake to celebrate his 61st birthday.

A young woman walked up with a camera, asking Mr. Pepper to take her picture against the club's billboard. The woman, Yasuko Uto, 22, who was visiting from Japan, pulled out a New York guidebook that touted the Bottom Line for its good sight lines and diverse acts. She had just seen the first show. "I did not know the band, but it was great, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere," Ms. Uto said.

Standing in line for the late show were Ken and Marla Levine of Westchester, alumni of many Bottom Line performances. Mr. Levine, 47, recalled an evening when Talking Heads opened for Bryan Ferry. "That may not top Springsteen, but that was as big as it gets in what was then New Wave and British avant-garde," Mr. Levine said. "There was a night when Peter Gabriel played, a freezing February night, and people were lined up halfway down Mercer Street. Had to be 20, 22 years ago."

Mr. Levine said that with the passage of years and the arrival of children, it was harder to get into the city for an evening out. "I wanted to get to the early show, but we couldn't work it out," Mr. Levine said.

"Now we're falling asleep," said Mrs. Levine.

To bring in younger crowds, the club has paired up with WFUV, the public radio station at Fordham University, to sponsor nights of new music, Mr. Pepper said. He is proud to have run what he called "a mom-and-pop" operation without corporate backing for so long, and sees irony that during the 1980's, N.Y.U. used the presence of the Bottom Line on its campus in student recruiting materials.

Mr. Pepper sees the viability of the club as standing for something larger than the cash flow of one business. His older crowds, he says, are worried about mortgages, college tuition, their own safety. "We deal with an audience that has become very much aware of their own mortality," Mr. Pepper said. "In the long run and big picture, as every other small business in this city after Sept. 11th, our future is directly related to people's sense of well-being, which at this moment in time is very tentative."

[Lois Gilbert]

Please respond to this even if you don't live in NY, the jazz I saw at Bottom Line - well a double bill with Dexter Gordon and Stan Getz, Chick Corea, Pat Martino, the list goes on and on

Stanley and Allan have always been there... I don't want to see them go

[Uli]

I know the Bottom Line has some history. What I don't know if they have booked some jazz much more recently.
(Not livin in Nueva York).

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Lois Gilbert
Please respond to this even if you don't live in NY, the jazz I saw at Bottom Line - well a double bill with Dexter Gordon and Stan Getz, Chick Corea, Pat Martino, the list goes on and on

Stanley and Allan have always been there... I don't want to see them go

I saw, among others, Stephane Grappelli, Count Basie, Sonny Rollins, Betty Carter (when she recorded Droppin' Things). Not to mention, more recently, Bo Diddley, Eliades Ochoa, Chris Smither. Not too much jazz there these days, but I always adminred the eclectic mix of programming.

The rudest, most offensive management I have ever experienced. They became so bad that I eventually refused to take a reviewing assignment at the BL.

Sorry to see another spot bite the dust, but if it had to be....

[Chris D]

"The Bottom Line is proud to present...
RICHARD THOMPSON!"

[Lois Gilbert]

I always found the management wonderful there, esp when Big Jack was at the door. Obviously, Chris A, you had different experience, BUT I and alot of other folks don't want to see this club have to shut their doors. Allan and Stanley started the BL out of their love for jazz and they were really pioneers in presenting eclectic programs. Musicians always got paid whether there was one person in the house or none. Please take a moment and do the email thing

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Lois Gilbert
they were really pioneers in presenting eclectic programs.

You want eclectic? I saw this triple bill in the mid- or late-70's:

Franklin Ajaye (stan-up comic)
Robin Williamson (of Incredible String Band)
Count Basie Orchestra

[Gary Sisco]

It'd be a shame to lose another Village club. I played there years ago with Michael Hurley.

[Dr Dave]

Somebody get Paul Allen on the phone. If he's got all this dough for a Jimi Hendrix Museum, he can spare a little change for the Bottom Line.

I think I saw NRBQ about a dozen times there....including the night Terry Adams pretended to fall asleep while singing "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald."

[bluenoter]

Originally posted by Chris D
"The Bottom Line is proud to present...
RICHARD THOMPSON!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Bottom Line is proud to present . . . Impulse recording artist GATO BARBIERI!"