West Bank Cafe, Storied Hell's Kitchen Venue, Tries To Survive

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — The West Bank Cafe is the type of place that could only exist in Hell's Kitchen: a venerated restaurant with a cabaret club in its basement, having birthed stars and hosted cast parties for the neighborhood's performing arts crowd since 1978.

But now, like so many businesses that depend on foot traffic from the theater community, the cafe is in trouble, and in danger of closing permanently.

"We’re out of money," said Steve Olsen, who has led the West Bank for its entire 42-year run. "So we’re basically counting down the days."

That led Tom D'Angora, a Broadway producer and longtime cafe customer, to launch an online fundraiser this week, seeking to support the West Bank and its downstairs Laurie Beechman Theater.

"The venue is in desperate need of capital to dig out of the debt caused by the pandemic," wrote D'Angora, who said he has hosted 17 opening night parties at the West Bank, as well as his wedding rehearsal dinner and two birthday parties.

The Gofundme has Olsen's blessing, and had raised more than $33,000 by Tuesday morning, with a goal of $250,000.

"So far, it's been unbelievable," Olsen said.

Over the years, the theater has produced thousands of off-Broadway shows. In 1983, it hosted early rehearsals for Stephen Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park with George."

Regulars have included Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, and the Laurie Beechman was a favorite venue of the comedian Joan Rivers, who gave her final performance there in 2014 — one day before she went into cardiac arrest during a medical procedure.

"There are very few places left in New York, that we can whole heartedly trust with our career and life milestones, the way we have always trusted the crew at West Bank Cafe," D'Angora wrote. "So many of us have celebrated birthdays, weddings, opening nights, closing nights, Tony wins, Tony losses, and everything in between."

Olsen told W42ST magazine in March that he hoped the business could "weather the storm" of COVID-19. Since then, however, the picture has grown bleaker for New York's restaurants — in September, a state audit found that more than half of the city's eateries could close within months if they did not get help through city and state funding or a federal bailout.

Find the online fundraiser for the West Bank Cafe/Laurie Beechman Theater here.

This article originally appeared on the Midtown-Hell's Kitchen Patch