The Not likely Friendship That Stored Lucy’s, a Homey New York Tavern

As the manager govt of Golden Age Hospitality, Mr. Neidich, 43, runs a sublime downtown empire that comes with the Le Dive in Dimes Sq. and the Nines piano bar, the place a caviar potato prices $99. That would appear to position him some distance from Lucy’s — however 18 years in the past, when he was once an aspiring actor, he began dwelling above the bar and changed into a normal.He grew shut with Ms. Mickevicius, in spite of their hugely other backgrounds — he’s a son of Higher East Facet privilege — and he even helped out every now and then, running as her barback in what was once his first gig within the hospitality business.So when he discovered that Lucy’s was once ultimate, he approached the owner and reduce a deal. However as phrase were given out that he was once making plans a renovation, the native grief became to native panic. Some other people in the community anxious that he may fancy where up till it was once tired of all persona. EV Grieve, an East Village information weblog, reported on traits as though masking Watergate. An ordinary commenter predicted that Mr. Neidich would herald “noisy vacationers” and “pretentious buyers.”“I do know what other people say after they pay attention any person like me is taking up a spot like this,” he mentioned.Building paper lined the home windows till the paintings was once completed. On a contemporary night time, a crowd of Lucy’s regulars was once amongst the ones invited to the reopening celebration. Except a couple of touch-ups — a tender mustached bartender dressed in a bucket cap, an overhaul of the water-stained ceiling — the divey-ness of where have been preserved. Dusty softball league trophies nonetheless covered the partitions. The Rolling Stones nonetheless performed at the jukebox. Even the toilet graffiti have been left intact.Kristi Lowery, an established common, sat on the bar nursing a drink. “I moved right here from South Carolina with a couple of girlfriends in 1993, after which some buddies took us to Lucy’s,” she mentioned. “The explanation Lucy’s is particular is Lucy herself. She gave me the braveness to reside in New York Town. She’s been like a mom to such a lot of people.”At 10 p.m., the gnarled door swung open. Dressed in a wintry weather coat and strolling with the assistance of a cane, Ms. Mickevicius entered. Everyone cheered. Mr. Neidich regarded on with a grin as her previous shoppers greeted her with hugs. She ordered a gin and tonic and posed for selfies.

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