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What's Really Happening To Park Slope's Southpaw?
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 27, 2012
Modified Jan 27, 2012
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 27, 2012
Modified Jan 27, 2012
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As we heard earlier this week, Park Slope's beloved Southpaw is closing (but CBGB is reopening!). We talked to owner Matt Roff today and he clued us in to what's going on over there. He tells us:
Southpaw itself was not sold as a music venue or as an entity. We felt that after an amazing ten years... We wanted to know that the right kind of tenant and business was going to take over our beloved club. It would have been very difficult emotionally to see folks take control of the space if using it in the same capacity as we did. So after much deliberation with a few potential businesses we felt that the children's business would use the space wisely and that the growing neighborhood around the club would eventually get great use from the the kids club and hopefully appreciate the fact that its there and that we didn't give it to Banana Republic or Starbucks.
Plus, you know what they say about Park Slope and strollers. But is it a little bit messed up that Southpaw essentially venue-blocked the neighborhood by not allowing another one to take over the space?
Currently Roff says they have no plans to reopen in a new location, noting that "change is difficult" but they're "focusing on a few other things in our lives" right now. So what's to become of Park Slope's music scene, is it doomed? While there are plenty of other venues in the area (Union Hall, Rock Shop), Southpaw always delivered something a little different. Roff tells us:
I really hope it isn't doomed. The thing that made Southpaw so great was the diversity through the entire life of the club. Being in Brooklyn you have to have diversity. Just hip hop doesn't cut it, just indie rock doesn't cut it... Unfortunately other venues don't see it that way and it's a shame. I'm confident that the other places around the borough and even the city will be able to keep it going another 10 years. I don't feel comfortable saying that no one is gonna do it like Southpaw but... "no one is gonna do it like Southpaw."
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matt roff
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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