UPDATE: Photographer Nick McManus has reached out to Bushwick Daily with photos of Lone Wolf’s last night in business on October 31, and provides the following details:
“On the evening of Sunday, Oct 31, Lone Wolf closed its doors quietly for a two week hiatus while ownership of the bar transfers to the folks who own the Lower East Side watering holes Iggy’s and Local 138.
The bartender on the final shift said that Lone Wolf had been bought with the intention of keeping the whole business model intact—the new owners plan to keep the name as well.
While some friends, including the staff of Greenpoint’s Tender Trap, did come by for a final drink, most of the other patrons had no idea of Lone Wolf’s changeover, and were relieved to hear it would reopen.”
Lone Wolf, the Bushwick dive that was located at 1089 Broadway Avenue off of the Kosciuszko Street stop on the J train, has ceased operations, to the dismay of many locals who patronized the bar during its tenure.
At the beginning of November, regulars at the bar observed that the place hadn’t been maintaining its usual hours.
The bar had programming scheduled as recently as October 21, when a DJ set was supposed to take place there.
Lone Wolf employees told some patrons that the bar’s lease was up for renewal and the business was facing a huge rent increase.
A rent increase of this kind was was what shuttered the doors of Lone Wolf’s neighbor, Goodbye Blue Monday, at the end of 2014, when its landlord reportedly requested “triple the rent.”
But other regulars received different information. Bushwick bartender Richard Solinger tells Bushwick Daily that a temporary closure of the business in August was due to a change in ownership and staff restructuring.
Lone Wolf’s owner Jessica Lee Wertz, who is a member of the Greenpoint Board of Directors and also owns Greenpoint’s No Name bar, did not respond to requests for comment. 1089 Broadway’s owner tells Bushwick Daily that the bar is still officially leasing the space.
Another one of Wertz’ establishments, live music venue Black Bear Bear, announced its closing to Facebook a couple months ago on September 1st, months after the bar came under fire for booking bands with neonazi affiliations. Black Bear Bar’s closure was also abrupt: the music venue had reportedly scheduled shows through the month of September.
Lone Wolf’s closure is one of several recent changes in the landscape of its immediate vicinity. In May 2015, bar and venue The Looking Glass replaced Goodbye Blue Monday next to Lone Wolf, and just this past month wood-fired pizzeria Santa Panza opened on its same block.
Many of us have had our share of good times at Lone Wolf, including this Bushwick Daily writer.
On my first Thanksgiving in New York, I paid the bar a late night visit. To my surprise, the bar was serving steaming catered food from Williamsburg’s Peter’s Since 1969.
My friends and I asked the bartender what the deal was with all the food and if we had to pay to eat it. The bartender responded that it was free, and to dig in. To this day, no other bar has swept me off my feet quite like Lone Wolf.
Photo courtesy of Lone Wolf.