A new music venue apparently named after the storied Greenwich Village club Gerde’s Folk City is coming to the Meatpacking District, according to a liquor license application filed this week with Community Board 4.
Folk City aims to open at 409 W. 15th St., formerly home to the nut-free kosher bakery Eleni’s Cookies. Its name hearkens back to the bar-turned-nightclub that anchored the Greenwich Village folk music scene of the 1960s and ‘70s. Bob Dylan made his New York debut in 1961 at Gerde’s Folk City, which closed for good at its second location at 130 W. Third St. in 1987.
According to the application filed by owner Michael Ginsberg, the subterranean space with capacity for 249 guests will operate seven days a week, from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m., hosting live or DJ music every night. Visitors will buy their tickets at a booth on the ground floor, then take the stairs to a basement level where musical acts will perform on an almost 23-foot-long stage to the right of a 25-seat bar.
A tentative menu attached to the application indicates the kitchen at Folk City will serve lighter fare: salads, kebabs for all tastes, snacks like sun-dried injera chips and bacon-flavored cracker jacks, and French bread-style pizzas with traditional Italian toppings.
Ginsberg, the owner of two other New York City establishments, wasn’t immediately available for an interview.
According to his application, he runs The Tippler, a tavern beneath the Chelsea Market that started serving cocktails in 2011, and El Original, a Tex-Mex restaurant that opened its doors in Hell’s Kitchen in 2015.
Ginsberg has yet to apply for a cabaret license, a spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs said, although his application says he intends to apply for one.
It’s unclear when Folk City will open its doors, but according to the application, its owner has already met with community stakeholders including 10th Precinct Det. Mike Petrillo and Meatpacking District BID executive director Lauren Danzinger.
