We tweeted this earlier but wanted to catch up with this afternoon’s flurry of reports on Max Fish’s temporary reprieve. Paper had the exclusive: owner Ulli Rimkus signed a one-year lease extension, keeping the legendary bar on Ludlow Street while she searches for a new location. More from the New York Times:
The extension, which maintains the terms of the current lease, is the result of an agreement between Arwen Properties and the bar’s owner, Ullie (sp?) Rimkus. The lease now ends Jan. 31, 2012… She plans on remaining in the neighborhood, an area that has increasingly become a raucous entertainment district. “We can find a place, build it out, and move on in,” she said. “Hopefully it’s that easy.” The extension also applies to the Pink Pony, a restaurant on the same piece of property. Since Max Fish’s imminent closure was announced in early December, crowds have swarmed in to pay their last respects. On one night in mid-December, Yelawolf, a rapper from Alabama, gave an impromptu performance from a tabletop.
Grub Street tells a somewhat different story — reporting that Rimkus will be paying more than she’s paying now:
She tells us the agreement was a simpler, “no strings attached” version of the one she first balked at, and the rent was much lower than the original $20,000 per month she says she was first offered. “They came down, but we still have to pay more,” says Rimkus. “It’s not unreasonable, but it’s more.” Rimkus won’t wait till the end of the year to search for a new location; she’s already scouring south of Houston and on the Bowery, and says “there’s possibilities — the list is long.” She doesn’t yet have a timetable but tells us, “I just hope we have a smooth transition and can carry our things from one place into the other.”
