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August 11, 2005
CBGB wins round in court
BY GLENN GAMBOA
STAFF WRITER
August 11, 2005
CBGB's battle to stay alive received a major boost yesterday, as Manhattan Civil Court Judge Joan M. Kenney ruled that it does not owe its landlord, the Bowery Residents' Committee, any back rent and declined a request to evict the club. However, the club's future is still uncertain until the BRC grants it a new lease.
In her decision, Kenney wrote that granting an eviction would be "unjust and harsh especially when, for over three decades, this tenant has been a pillar of the community." She also made a point of singling out CBGB, the birthplace of punk rock, as "the anchor of what has become the 'renaissance' of the Bowery."
"CBGB has had both a local and worldwide impact that continues to reverberate today," she wrote.
Officials at the club said they were pleased with the decision. "As we've said all along, the lease negotiations have nothing to do with these issues," said CBGB spokesman Scott Goodstein. "Now that these issues are fully off the table, we hope that we can move on to a fair understanding and get a lease signed."
Muzzy Rosenblatt, executive director of the not-for-profit homeless aid group BRC, said he had not seen the judge's ruling and declined comment last night. He has said previously that before his group would consider offering CBGB a new lease, the club would have to pay its back rent and settle any building code violations.
The judge's ruling does not guarantee the club a new lease, however. The BRC has the right to set its own terms in a new lease. And CBGB's owner Hilly Kristal is worried the BRC will seek to more than double his current $19,500-a- month rent to $40,000 in the new lease - an increase he said he cannot afford.
Save CBGB Coalition, a group headed by Steven Van Zandt, of "The Sopranos" and the E Street Band, issued a statement saying they "see no reason as to why talks should be stalled any longer."
"This is far from over," Goodstein said. "The problem is that we're running out of time and that for months, the BRC has been unwilling to negotiate with Hilly."
CBGB's 12-year lease expires on Aug. 31. Talks with the BRC are continuing, as the club works on offering a new lease proposal that addresses issues raised in the BRC's counterproposal last week. Supporters of the club are in the middle of a month of concert benefits to raise funds and awareness of its fight for a new lease.
Posted by andrewanissi at August 11, 2005 01:01 AM