By Katarina Hybenova
It was almost exactly a year ago when we informed you that The Morgan, a cool new music venue, restaurant and a bar was opening on Bogart Street in Bushwick. Today Bushwick twitters were buzzing about The Morgan being shut down….
Last year we rushed to interview The Morgan’s a co-owner Richard Guishard about this promising new venue. Richard told us a lot good stuff and created a lot of expectations among the Bushwick folk:
[box]Bushwick Daily: Do you plan to have weekly events?
The Morgan: Yes, definitely, we will have concerts… We want to target Bushwick and Williamsburg people, maybe also people from Manhattan. Depending on the type of the event and on the promoter.
Bushwick Daily: What will be your music preference here?
The Morgan: I don’t have a particular music inclination, but I want this place to be a reflection of the neighborhood. I want people to contribute. I want local bands, but also performances, lectures… I want this to be a community center. I see you have art hanging on the walls… Yes, we will be having rotating exhibitions.[/box]
Soon after BushwickBK.com [RIP] brought a less than stellar review of the place titling it Swanky But A Little Sloppy.
Anyway, long story short: The Morgan experienced several drastic changes through its history. To name a few, let’s remember the surprising tranformation of the menu from a sort of a burger place to a Thai restaurant; or the change in vibe from an indie music venue to a kind of Manhattan company party venue. The force behind these changes was, according to Richard Guishard, the management he hired for the place to make the venue financially sustainable. Today we spoke with Richard on the phone about the reasons for closing The Morgan. “People felt alienated there. I was receiving too many complaints about the people who ran the place,” he said. We have to agree. The Morgan wasn’t really on the radar of too many Bushwick locals on a Friday night. Richard also told us that he plans to re-open the place in a couple of months but with the vision he originally had. He wants the place to be ran by local people from the neighborhood as opposed to the Bronx crowd. We couldn’t agree more with the decision! In words of Bushwick Nation….
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About Katarina Hybenova
Proud founder of Bushwick Daily. She writes, takes photos, and sometimes video. Born and raised in Slovakia, she has studied in Prague, Leuven and New York, traveled the world only to find home in Bushwick or should we say Ridgewood :) She is interested in yoga, running, human & cat friends.
the restaurant had all the charm of an airport restaurant…robertas: packed. morgan: empty. there’s a message there…
RICHARD all about the money no heart ……
the venue space is still open because we still throw bushwick burlesque there!(http://www.facebook.com/BushwickBurlesque)
and i will go on record saying this! Richard Guishard is a liar! there are really great shows, djs, and bands that play there every week at the venue space! the entrance is on 250 varet.
This place was everything wrong with this neighborhood. From richard, the owner who was trying to run a neighborhood establishment on autopilot, I the crowds of hyper-uneducated suburban fools who litter the streets in front of the venue all weekend long (really? These parties for idiot drug addicts really new I last for DAYS??) this place is singlehandely ruining the block. If this vibe seeps into the rest of the neighborhood we are all doomed.