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Advice for CBGB: Sit Back and Watch the Show

Speaking of east side nightlife gone bad, blogger Manhattan Offender thinks it's time for CBGB owner Hilly Krystal to give up the fight and let his landlord, the Bowery Residents' Committee, dig its own grave:

With CBGB gone BRC will most likely have a new 'trendy' client (there's already a Starbucks nearby). The trendy client (let's call it 'Chaise') will require much construction and renovation as it is highly unlikely that they would set up shop in the space as is. Chaise will attract a trendy clientele, much more high-maintenance and much less likely to tolerate the occasional madness of the BRC's transient tenants upstairs. Drama ensues. Someone will inevitably be stabbed outside of Chaise and, although the CBGB clientele would have found this a draw, the Chaise crowd will dwindle. Chaise will close, leaving months of unpaid back-rent.

Meanwhile, CBGB will either sell out their name with CBGB's becoming the next House of Blues/ESPN Zone chain restaurant or they will move themselves to a more 'rock-and-roll' type neighborhood, say Avenue D or Red Hook. Krystal will go on.

· CBGB: Just Let Go [Manhattan Offender]
· CBGB Update: Back Rent Resolved; Forward Rent Looms [Curbed]