25 June 2007

Chumley's Update


I hadn't heard anything about the status of the shuttered Chumley's since an early May report that the building might be sold to the speakeasy's owners. So I decided to pay a call on 86 Bedford Street to see if I could learn anything.

It's still all boarded up in the most unsightly manner possible, and there was no sign of construction that I could see. Upon close examination of the Department of Buildings permits, however, I discovered something interesting/disturbing. There were two permits, side by side. One was issued April 23, 2007, and expired May 4. The second was issued May 25 and is set to expire.....May 4, 2009!

2009. Two years from now? To shore up the building and rebuild the collapsed chimney and whatnot? Are we now talking years before this landmark reopens? Maybe this is standard City procedure and signifies nothing. But two years does seem like a long time. Does anyone out there know anything about this? Please tell.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can tell you that you have too much time on your hands and maybe your rope necklace and baseball hat are on too tight.

Brooks of Sheffield said...

Too much time on my hands? You're the one reading the blog, dude. And "rope necklace"? Umm...

Anonymous said...

I think that the expiration dates on DOB work permits are fairly arbitrary, i.e. they do not necessarily relate to the estimated duration of construction. 2 years does seem like an awfully long time for a permit to be valid, though.