NP Update (2/19/10 at 11:29 a.m.): We just received the following (uncorroborated) email from a tipster:

Just heard a tip that Starlite was served with a 72 hour Notice to vacate on Tuesday!!!!  They could be forcibly removed today.

But the tipster also noted that court records indicate that Starlite still has a pending case in front of the court, which might mean that they actually have some time before the landlord can try to make them vacate.

Interestingly enough, we were walking by Starlite last night around 6:30 p.m. or so and stumbled across another demonstration that they were having in front of the establishment.  With loudspeakers ablast, Starlite’s advocates were adamently yelling “Starlite stays”.  But across the street a handful of detractors retorted “Starlite goes”.    Inside, the bar full of patrons seemed to be enjoying themselves – we detected no sense of imminence about a potential closing.  So we are left unsure of where Starlite’s fate currently stands.   Either way, it seems that we may have an answer soon enough.  Does anyone have any additional information? 

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Not only does Starlite Lounge have the distinction of being one of the oldest shops on Nostrand Avenue, it also has the distinction of being the oldest  black-owned non-discriminating bar in Brooklyn.

Credit: Shawn Rosvold

Crown Heights’ Cheers

Starlite Lounge.  It’s been a neighborhood bar – Crown Heights’ Cheers. It’s been a safe haven and  it’s been karaoke nights.  It’s been a laugh with a friend.   It’s been on the corner of Bergen and Nostrand Avenue for 51 years.  But now it’s in danger of being shut down.  What happened?

To let the landlord tell the story,  Starlite’s owners have been repeatedly late with rent payments, there are severe structural issues with the building and Starlite has stubbornly refused an offer of an alternative space **.  To let Starlite’s proprietors tell the story, the landlord engaged in suspicious underhanded dealings and sold the building right from under them, without given them proper notice.   The truth is likely somewhere in between.  In either case, the landlord is now looking to sell this little plot of history to the highest bidder, and among the options its courting – a 99 cent store.

Can Starlite Lounge be Saved

So what is the recourse for a neighborhood institution such as Starlite?  Giving up is off the table for  its owners and longtime patrons.  At one point Starlite had a strong glimmer of hope by way of the city council’s proposed Small Business Survival Act, which was a rent control measure to protect long-time mom and pop shops like the Starlite from being closed because of an excessive rent hike.   But that legislation – laden with controversy – never even made it to a vote.

Another option, which Starlite has explored, is protection as a historic landmark.  But realistically historic preservation gives more weight to architectural significance than to contextual significance, so this approach is unlikely to yield any success.

So what’s left?  Media attention is a powerful start.  Indeed the story of Starlite is compelling and has attracted a flurry of media attention, from the NYTimes to the Gay City News.   And people have mobilized around this attention – there is another protest tonight – Tuesday February 9th – at 6:00 p.m. in front of Starlite.  But particularly in light of what happened with Legacy Awards, another long time Nostrand establishment that closed due to escalating rents, its difficult to envision a determined landlord caving to intermittent neighborhood protests.  After all he owns the building, not the store, so as long as someone is willing to pay the rent. the landlord will have a tenant.

Landlord’s are gatekeepers of community change.  Yet it is completely within their prerogative to maximize their own investment interests irrespective of community sentiment.    But the community does, in fact, have the power to align a landlord’s interests with its own.  For example, a preemptive boycott – where residents resolve not to patronize any business in that location other than Starlite – would force the landlord to think of protesters as not only people seeking the Starlite, but also as people determined to stifle his profits indeterminately.  In the end, the same forces that threaten to upend the Starlite are what could also save it – good old fashion market based capitalism (supply, demand, and the influence of people power).

But then there is the other question, how much do residents who aren’t Starlite patrons want to save it?  Is the prospect of yet another 99 cent store on Nostrand enough to mobilize community members to action, or is it possibly the case that for all of its merits, the Starlite may not be the candidate on whose behalf a broad swath of residents will advocate.

What say you Crown Heights?

** Research credit: Shawn Rosvold

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