EMM Group Pitches Nightlife Intentions at 199 Bowery

The Bowery is calling bullshit on team Abe & Arthur’s.

A few months ago, we broke news that Meatpacking mavens EMM Group, who also run Tenjune and SL, were looking to open a drinking establishment inside the months-vacant 199 Bowery.  Not long after we ran the story, their PR machine denied all such intentions to Eater. Today, however, we can report that this was a ruse, as sources close to the situation reveal that top brass will appear before Community Board 3 in January to secure an on-premise liquor license.

Word on the street is that the proprietors recently met with the condo owners at 199 Bowery to pitch (nay, sweet talk) the ambitious project, but were met with a less-than-enthusiastic reception.  Residents of the building reportedly detect some deception with the possible nightlife invasion from the western flank, and plan to rally against the license application next month.

Apparently one element of the pitch, much like the Stillmans before them, includes a loosely-defined “bakery” component.  A calculated move many fear is simply a bait-and-switch tactic. Make no bones about it, this establishment could very well be the nuisance to dread.  You know, velvet ropes, lines, bottle service, and everything in between.

It’s worth reiterating that two other potential tenants were steered away from 199 Bowery.  Indeed, even before Quality Meats was a contender, the Pittsburgh-based Andy Warhol Museum was eying the space for a Lower East Side annex-slash-boutique. And a deal was reportedly on the table, but the landlords didn’t want to play ball.  So they settled with the Stillmans.

With the meat hooks of the BD Hotels firmly embedded in the long-stalled Hotel Ludlow a few blocks away, an EMM Group establishment would lend further credence to the neighborhood designation, Lower Eastpacking District.