Because the chief government of Golden Age Hospitality, Mr. Neidich, 43, runs an elegant downtown empire that features the Le Dive in Dimes Sq. and the Nines piano bar, the place a caviar potato prices $99. That would appear to place him a great distance from Lucy’s — however 18 years in the past, when he was an aspiring actor, he began dwelling above the bar and have become an everyday.
He grew shut with Ms. Mickevicius, regardless of their vastly totally different backgrounds — he’s a son of Higher East Facet privilege — and he even helped out once in a while, working as her barback in what was his first gig within the hospitality business.
So when he realized that Lucy’s was closing, he approached the owner and lower a deal. However as phrase acquired out that he was planning a renovation, the native grief turned to native panic. Some folks within the neighborhood frightened that he may fancy the place up till it was drained of all character. EV Grieve, an East Village information weblog, reported on developments as if covering Watergate. A typical commenter predicted that Mr. Neidich would herald “noisy vacationers” and “pretentious patrons.”
“I do know what folks say after they hear somebody like me is taking on a spot like this,” he mentioned.
Development paper lined the home windows till the work was performed. On a latest evening, a crowd of Lucy’s regulars was amongst these invited to the reopening celebration. Other than just a few touch-ups — a younger mustached bartender sporting a bucket cap, an overhaul of the water-stained ceiling — the divey-ness of the place had been preserved. Dusty softball league trophies nonetheless lined the partitions. The Rolling Stones nonetheless performed on the jukebox. Even the toilet graffiti had been left intact.
Kristi Lowery, a longtime common, sat on the bar nursing a drink. “I moved right here from South Carolina with just a few girlfriends in 1993, after which some pals took us to Lucy’s,” she mentioned. “The rationale Lucy’s is particular is Lucy herself. She gave me the braveness to dwell in New York Metropolis. She’s been like a mom to so many people.”
At 10 p.m., the gnarled door swung open. Carrying a winter coat and strolling with the assistance of a cane, Ms. Mickevicius entered. All people cheered. Mr. Neidich seemed on with a smile as her previous prospects greeted her with hugs. She ordered a gin and tonic and posed for selfies.
