Does Chumley's Road to New Life Begin Monday?

I was in the Village recently and thought I'd swing by the wreck of Chumley's to mope over the tragedy of it all for a while. To my surprise, I found the door leading to the speakeasy's secret courtyard back entrance open, so I went in to cast my eyes on the long-unseen wooden door.

As I loitered there, I was surprised by the sudden entrance of a man who asked if I was looking for Chumley's. "May," he said. Huh? "It will open in May. Work begins on Monday." Assuming he was a neighbor, I asked if that's what he had heard from the owner. "I am the owner," he said. Egads! This was Steve Shlopak.

Shlopak has name a lot of dates for the reopening in the past: October, Thanksgiving, etc. But the mention of Monday as a start-work date was very specific and set my heart a-fluttering with newfound hope. Let's hope there's some truth in it.