Ludwika “Lucy” Mickevicius is one step closer to again serving customers at her eponymous dive in the East Village, after shutting down under the threat of eviction earlier this year.
Manhattan Community Board 3’s liquor license committee approved transferring Lucy’s liquor license Monday to the bar’s new operators — the powerhouse Golden Age Hospitality group that also runs hotspots including ACME, The Nines and Le Dive.
Though the restaurant group is taking over operations, it plans to leave everything at Lucy’s the way it is — with Mickevicius herself behind the bar, attorney Max Bookman told the board. Golden Age only plans to make Lucy’s bathroom ADA compliant and upgrade the soundproofing, he said.
Bookman said that in nine years of representing bars and restaurants before the community board, he had rarely seen a client as passionate about preserving an institution as Golden Age CEO Jon Neidich is about Lucy’s.
“[Neidich] doesn’t want to change anything,” Bookman said. “He just wants to put in the time capsule Lucy’s as it’s always been.”
Approval from the local community board, which hears input from the public, is the key step before the New York State Liquor Authority approves a new or transferred license.
A representative for Golden Age said via email that the group had no further details to share about the bar’s reopening.
Lucy’s closed in February after nearly 40 years on Avenue A, when a new landlord sought to raise the rent from $8,000 to $25,000 a month, Mickevicius told EV Grieve at the time. As the bar faced well-publicized financial troubles last winter, Mickevicius’ granddaughter reached out to Neidich to see if he could help, Bookman said.
In April, Golden Age submitted its application to take over the liquor license.
“This is a real feel-good case,” Bookman said at Monday’s meeting. “Jon used to live in the apartment right above Lucy’s. He’s close with her and her family. Lucy refers to him as her other grandson.”
Neidich previously managed the Wythe Hotel and the Boom Boom Room at The Standard Hotel in Chelsea.
Laura Sewell, executive director of the East Village Community Coalition — an advocacy group that describes its mission as working “ to preserve the unique vibe of the East Village” while encouraging retail diversity and sustainability — said the organization was happy Mickevicius would “be able to continue in whatever capacity she can in the space”
“Some of the other operations that are run by this group are quite exclusive, but we felt confident Lucy’s will continue to operate as it is and won’t turn into something different,” Sewell said.
Mickevicius could not be reached for comment, and the phone number listed for Lucy’s was not in service.
“Lucy is staying there,” Bookman said. “This allows her to cement her legacy instead of going out of business.”