Lafayette Bar and Grill follows its dearly departed owner into oblivion

With the recent passing of restaurateur Dino Bakakos, the former proprietor of the now-defunct Lafayette Bar and Grill in Tribeca, many in the dance and performing arts community worry that the climate for live performance downtown may be forever changed.

Bakakos, 63, who passed away a little more than two weeks ago as a result of complications from a brain hemorrhage, had been trying up until “the day he died,” friends says, to find another suitable location to resurrect the venerable Lafayette, Bakakos was forced to shut it down a year ago due to a lost lease and rent hike.

Located at 54 Franklin St. and open since 1996, the Lafayette came to be known as much more than a neighborhood restaurant. Due to its proximity to the nearby courts on Centre Street, it was a frequent stop for police, judges and court officers.

But it was Bakakos’ support of all manner of artists, from dancers and painters to musicians and writers, that helped transform the Lafayette into something of a United Nations for performing artists across the city and beyond.

On any given night, one could hear music, instruments and influences from Greek, Armenian, Israeli, Turkish, Arabic or other Middle Eastern cultures.

Dancers in particular—whether belly, tango or salsa—held a special place in Bakakos’ heart and at the Lafayette as well.

“If you were an artist, Dino would give you a chance to perform,” said Chris Bakakos, Dino’s son.
Chris also recalled that traffic at the restaurant grew steadily along with the rhythmic drumbeat of music and performers.

“I remember when the tango classes started and then they picked-up steam. The Lafayette became part of the tango circuit,” Chris said. He added that Dino gave many performers their very first opportunities to perform.

One performer who got her first shot at Lafayette was Cristine Andriopoulos, a veteran patron and performer under the stage name Athena Najat, who now lives in Istanbul, Turkey.

“Several generations of dancers, artists and musicians have memories of the Lafayette,” Andriopoulos said via phone. “I started as a baby belly dancer there and so did other generations. Everyone has stories about the place.”

Bakakos was almost uniformly described by those who knew him best as being honorable, generous and giving to a fault, creating a nurturing, supportive environment that thrived for the better part of 15 years.

A former Lafayette patron, writing to Bakakos’ son Chris, said, “The Lafayette bar was my port, my shelter and my home because of Dino Bakakos. He was infinitely loving and kind. I was there so many years that my butt-print is on the barstool. I will forever miss him.”

Such was the type of devotion and reverence that Bakakos evoked from his customers.

“Dino Bakakos is and was a gentleman with a kind and thoughtful heart that is rarely found today. If I ever in my life meet another person with one third of his redeeming value and generosity I will consider myself more than blessed,” wrote Roz Nixon, a former patron, on the Lafayette’s Facebook page.

Mike Stoupakis, Bakakos’ son-in-law, recalled the Lafayette as “pretty much a belly dancer hangout.”

“All the dancers would stay at the place after their performances and have a drink or dinner,” he said, noting that because the dancers all knew each other, it was like a supportive community instead of just a place to come and work.

“The loss of the Lafayette is already creating a hole in the arts and dance scenes in the city,” said Stoupakis, who played the bouzouki, a Greek instrument, and was also in charge of the club’s Greek night. “The place will be missed. There’s not another one like it.”

There are still live music places left in the city, said Andriopoulos, “but not in the way the Lafayette had their tango, Greek and Mediterranean nights. You didn’t have to check a listing to know if something fun was going on there … you always knew there was.”

Chris recalled the Lafayette’s star-studded history, noting that during the 1990s, several episodes of NBC’s Law & Order were shot at the bar, and movie companies would routinely rent out the bar for location shoots.

Celebrities spotted at the Lafayette included NYC newscaster Ernie Anastos, actress Olympia Dukakis, actor John Stamos and actor Matthew Broderick.

While the Lafayette survived many different crises through the years, including Sept. 11 and the blackout of 2003, the venue couldn’t survive a steep rent hike.

The new landlord nearly doubled the rent, Chris said. “It wasn’t economically feasible to stay in the place.” He said many businesses in the area went out due to rising rents.

Morocco, a legendary belly dancer and dance researcher, who at age 73 has been dancing for more than five decades, called Dino a “marvelous person,” who didn’t have a mean bone in this body.

“The Lafayette was one of the most welcoming places I’d ever performed in,” said Morocco, who was born in Transylvania and now teaches dance out of a studio in Chelsea. “Dino made friends with everyone… Nothing bad I could ever say about him.”

Dino’s brother, Billy, said he’s thinking of trying to reopen another incarnation of the Lafayette as a way to carry on and serve as a tribute to his late brother.

“I’m going to see if I can find the right partner,” he said. “We had such good times at the Lafayette. There were better shows there than on Broadway.”

Actress Edie Falco with Sponge Bob

By Paul Bisceglio

New York’s tubbiest tabby has a new home.

Sponge Bob, the 30 lb. feline media sensation, made his debut with his new owners last week on the purple carpet at Animal Haven’s second annual Performance for the Animals benefit concert and auction at City Winery in Tribeca.

Two months ago, Sponge Bob’s previous owner went into hospice and left the nine-year-old cat with Animal Haven, a non-profit cat and dog shelter on Centre Street in Soho. The shelter started a blog about Sponge Bob to aid his adoption that won him instant fame last week, including press coverage in the UK and an appearance on the Today Show. He is likely the world’s largest living cat.

Sponge Bob now belongs to Courtney and Matthew Farrell, a young newlywed couple living on the Upper East Side. They hoisted Sponge Bob up for the cameras on the red carpet – no easy task, for sure – and shared hugs and kisses with the cat and each other while expressing their enthusiasm for the new member of the family

Mrs. Farrell said that she and her husband started to play with the idea of getting a cat once they were married, but did not want to bother with a kitten or anything too out of control. When she first read about Sponge Bob, she sent Mr. Farrell a picture as a joke. A few conversations later, they knew they had found the perfect match. They were amazed that he had not yet been adopted.

“We’re gonna whip him into shape,” promised Mr. Farrell when asked about the cat’s health. He and his wife both exercise regularly and believe in promoting healthy lifestyles.

“He’s already on a no carb diet,” Mr. Farrell added with a smile. “Catkins.”

Courtney and Matthew Farrell, the proud new parents of Spongebob the cat, pose on the purple carpet.

Kendra Mara, Animal Haven’s Associate Director, said that blood work done on Sponge Bob showed that he has no current health complications beyond obesity. Dangers of diabetes and arthritis persist, though, so it is essential for Sponge Bob to maintain a healthy weight loss routine, with the target of shedding about one pound per month.

Ms. Mara noted that Animal Haven had been careful not to over-sensationalize Sponge Bob’s Garfield-esque physique, and believes that his sudden fame has helped raise much-needed awareness of feline and pet obesity, a serious issue in the city.

The Farrells enjoyed their moment in the spot light, but packed Sponge Bob into his baby stroller and hit the road before the evening’s concert and auction began.

“He’s been through a lot,” they agreed while scratching his portly chin. “We just want to get him home.”

Follow Sponge Bob’s progress on his blog, spongebobthecat.com, and learn more about Animal Haven, its mission and pet ownership in the city at animalhavenshelter.org.

However, residents will continue their fight to stop unbridled commercialization, particularly in opposing a proposal by mega real-estate developers to establish an unnecessary and unwelcome Business Improvement District (BID) on Broadway from Canal to Houston streets. The developers’ BID proposal met with dogged resistance in 2011 from Soho’s residents, businesses and property owners, as well as the community board, two local newspaper editorial boards and elected officials. The prediction is that it will die in 2012. R.I.P.

Soho’s traffic problems and failing transportation infrastructure will be addressed, like the crumbling crosswalks along the length of Greene and Mercer streets and the potholes that have never been repaired in well over a century on Wooster and Crosby streets.

Clueless tourists will continue to block the sidewalks in 2012.