Break Down: Rififi

As promised, we called in a nightlife and hospitality guru to Break Down the asking price for Rififi. Without further ado, Guru! "Check my math, but $72/sf. Not a great deal. Danny Meyer's deal at Gramercy Tavern is $20. So is Batali's at Del Posto. Those are below market. Looking for top restaurant real estate now? $200/sf. $72 is okay, but not great deal for a bar. As far as the $300k key money, depends on what they are leaving in there. Should have no problem transferring the liquor license in that neighborhood. You could do some bargaining and a total face lift and get something open for less than half a million." We like a good bargain, but we love having fun more than hard work. This may not be the spot for us.

Oh No, Not Rififi

Could Rififi's days be numbered? Is the famous Friday night Trash party coming to an end? The answer, unfortunately, seems to be yes. A Little Birdy writes, "Rififi's is closing! Their liquor license expires Oct 31 2007, they haven't applied for a renewal, and they just got hit with some heavy fines (30 grand?) and a license revocation by the SLA. The cops and the fire department busted them for all those crazy parties promoted by Shaw. And it's been on the market for at least six months here. Where are all the underaged NYU hipsters going to dance now?" Why, they will just go to Lit of course. But this is still bad news. Everyone has had a list "one of those nights" at Rififi, and now it seems this year's freshman class will be the last. And that's sad.:(

More on the listing later today.

Very special thanks to ZackeryMichael/Flickr for photo!