Cake Shop is Officially Erased from Ludlow Street After 11 Years
Cake Shop has gone dark. Lights out. Any evidence of its presence is now blocked by butcher paper in the windows.
When the Living Room relocated to the pastures of Brooklyn three years ago (where it later died), we felt that at least Cake Shop still held the mantle of indie live music on Ludlow Street. Especially since its neighbor, Pianos, hasn’t been relevant in years (it’s now an annoying college frat house).
Not anymore. The Cake Shop that survived through through a decade of peaks and troughs officially ceased operations after a final New Year’s Eve show.
Owners Nick and Andy Bodor decided to end the dream. For real this time. Business on Ludlow Street was struggling, that was no secret. “Location and sustainability in our current and long running model have been an issue for more than a long time, as I’m sure you’ve heard me whine about for years,” ownership noted in a communique last week to supporters. “As beloved to you and me as it is, we are failing to keep up with the bills, we have been for years.”
In its place, they’ll reportedly install another bar without any connection to the predecessor.
There is also talk, meanwhile, that a new location could potentially open in Brooklyn. Lower East Side music scene is pretty much dead, save for Bowery Presents venues.
One of Cake Shop’s many parting shots was this image of the bathroom upon opening in 2005. Looking quite clean.