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West Village’s Cornelia Street Café to close after 40+ years
Owner blames high rent for neighborhood fixture's demise
West Village fixture Cornelia Street Café will shutter its doors next year.
The bohemian hot spot, which opened in 1977, will close January 2, Time Out NY reported. For years the café helped nurture the neighborhood’s culture. In 1996, playwright Even Ensler debuted her “Vagina Monologues” in the venue’s basement space.
Bistro owner Robin Hirsch said his rent has risen from $450 in 1977 to $33,000, which he said got worse after investor Mark Scharfman bought the building at 29 Cornelia Street.
Earlier this year, The Real Deal mapped the vacant storefronts plaguing the West Village. [TONY] — Rich Bockmann