End Of The Line For Ny's Famed Bottom Line?

[DudeAsInCool]

NYC judge orders Bottom Line eviction

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By Samuel Maull

Dec. 3, 2003  |  NEW YORK (AP) --

A Manhattan judge has ordered the eviction of the Bottom Line nightclub from the Greenwich Village space it has occupied for the past 30 years.

Civil Court Judge Donna Recant found that the club, which had no lease and admittedly owed more than $190,000 in back rent, must relinquish its space to its landlord, New York University.

The Bottom Line's lawyer, Mark Alonso, said Wednesday that he expected the ruling, but hinted that the club could reopen at another site.

‘‘What makes the Bottom Line is not the building," he said. ‘‘It's the people who run it."

The Bottom Line hosted many legendary music nights over its three decades, with performers from rocker Bruce Springsteen to jazz trumpeter Miles Davis playing the intimate room.

In June, the club faced eviction after falling behind 17 months in rent. But attorneys for the club and the university agreed to postpone eviction proceedings with an eye to signing a new lease. The nightclub was operating by month-to-month agreement.

NYU spokesman John Beckman said the university was pleased that the judge had ruled in its favor but saddened that the Bottom Line would close.

He said ‘‘it is simply not right to have a not-for-profit educational institution