Amato Opera House Lettering is No Longer on the Bowery
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The disheveled, remnant evidence of the Amato Opera House at 319 Bowery is now wiped from public view. Within the last month or so, onsite renovations ahead of luxury conversion resulted in the removal of the iconic lettering.
Controversial landlord Steve Croman obtained permits from the Department of Buildings in October to transform this haunted beauty into a mixed-use nightmare. The property – originally erected in 1899 – had been jailed behind a stop-work order for the previous year. Plans on file call for three family dwellings across 3,591 square-feet of real estate. That’s one home per floor. The former theater itself is being converted to “use group 6” retail.
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Meanwhile, Croman and/or his 9300 Realty business continues to fish for suckers tenants on Craigslist, not budging from the $34,995 rent price for the ground floor space. We’ve been seeing a consistent flow of listings in recent months.
Amato’s swan song was on May 31, 2009. Company founder Anthony Amato died two years later in December 2011.
Steve Croman, on the other hand, is currently under investigation by the State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
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