Williamsburg’s Trophy Bar will close for good this Sunday Aug. 30 after more than a decade of serving beers, cocktails, and grub on Broadway beneath the JMZ line. The bar’s owners said in a social media post on Aug. 24 they couldn’t keep the business afloat with the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.
“We should be posting about burgers and margaritas but instead we have to share that Trophy Bar will permanently close on Sunday August 30 at 11pm,” read a Monday Instagram post signed by owners Mandy Misagal, Farika, and Jim Rowe. “We are one of thousands of Brooklyn-NYC small businesses who will forever shut their doors due to the detrimental effects of Covid 19 on our ability to operate profitably,”
The taproom, which opened between Rodney and Keap streets in 2008, had to run at only one-fifth capacity due to COVID-19 health guidelines, and the owners said it was too expensive to stay open under those circumstances.
“Before March 15 we were a 13 year [sic] old, successful business with 19 employees,” the post read. “Now we are operating with capacity reduced by 80% and it’s actually costing us a tremendous amount of money weekly to keep the doors open.”
Like many bars and restaurants, Trophy Bar launched an online fundraiser at the onset of the pandemic in hopes of raising funds for its out-of-work staff, garnering $3,205 as of Friday afternoon.
The coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the city’s small businesses and roughly one third of them may never reopen, according to a July report by the business advocacy nonprofit Partnership for New York City.
Bars and independent venues have been hit particularly hard, with East Williamsburg’s The Well announcing a week ago it wouldn’t reopen.
Trophy Bar will be open for one more run this weekend, and the team signed off thanking its patrons.
“Thank you for falling in love here, dancing here, eating here and just being here so we could be here with you. We won’t ever forget you and we will always be grateful for the time we got to have with you,” they wrote.
