A New York judge has said legendary punk club CBGB's cannot be evicted from their current home in the Bowery building, though that doesn't do much for the clubs long term future because the ruling doesn't force the building's owners to renew their lease, which is up for renewal at the end of the month.
As previously reported, the club's owners claimed their landlords, the Bowery Residents' Committee, was suing them over unpaid rent payments that they had never actually been billed for, and which therefore they had never realised they owed. While the BRC claimed that the club's lease clearly stated how much money they should pay, a judge ruled on Wednesday that the club could not be evicted just because of on oversight on rent payments.
On making the ruling, Judge Joan Kenney waxed lyrical about the club and the impact it has had on the local community: "CBGB has proven itself worthy of being recognized as a landmark - a rare achievement for any commercial tenant in the ever diverse and competitive real estate market of New York City. It would be unconscionable for this court to allow petitioner to proceed with its intent to evict CBGB ... because it failed to notice that monies were outstanding for approximately four years".
However the ruling doesn't necessarily change the CBGB club's weak position in bargaining a lease renewal with the BRC - the current lease runs out on 31 Aug. An executive director of BRC, Muzzy Rosenblatt, told reporters yesterday that he couldn't comment on this week's court ruling but added that: "All we're looking for is a responsible tenant".