Moss, the newest private members club in New York has arrived, covering five floors at 520 Fifth Avenue near Bryant Park. The club seeks to attract members in pursuit of “intelligent leisure and physical culture.” The space includes a restaurant with piano lounge, library bar, sports courts, a recording studio, and an aquatics center with a sauna and cold plunge, among other amenities. Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality will be its food and beverage partner. The building at 520 Fifth is a 1,000-foot tower with over twenty floors of office space and more than 30 floors of luxury condominium residences. Moss is operated by sisters Colleen and Hailey Brooks, and the building was developed by Rabina Properties. Bernstein Redo & Savitsky, P.C. is proud to be a part of the Moss and Rabina team.
Chef Ryan Bartlow, owner of Ernesto’s on East Broadway with its Basque style cuisine, has brought his hearty Spanish cooking to East 4th Street with the opening this summer of Bartolo. He co-owns Bartolo with his wife Davitta Niakani, and her sister Alexandra Niakani in what feels like a secret hideout with a cozy front bar and two intimate dining areas. Chef Bartlow has created delectable dishes such Anchoa y Mantequilla, Bacalao Rebozado, and Chuletilla de Cordero. They also offer specialty cocktails like Butano Afortunado, Refresco Julieta. The décor is heartwarming and the Niakani sisters are welcoming in this new West Village gem. Bernstein Redo & Savitsky, P.C. is proud to be part of the Bartolo team!
Calling themselves your “friendly neighborhood steakhouse,” Swiss Butter just signed a lease for a 3,500 square foot store at 241 West 52nd Street in Manhattan, its first outpost in the U.S. Its menu is based on simplicity, offering steak, chicken or salmon drenched in its secret butter-based sauce made with 33 carefully guarded ingredients. Founded by restauranteur Eddy Massaad in 2017 in Beruit, Swiss Butter now has restaurants in Dubai, Riyadh and other cities in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Madrid and London, for a total of 15 locations. None are franchised. The West 52nd Street location is expected to be just the first in New York with a plan to expand to other cities in the U.S. as well. Bernstein Redo & Savitsky, P.C. assisted with the lease transaction and is proud to be part of the Swiss Butter team.
Babbo, one of New York’s most iconic Italian restaurants at 110 Waverly Place, has been acquired by Stephen Starr and Starr Restaurant Group. Michelin-starred Del Posto’s former chef Mark Ladner has been hired to run the kitchen. Babbo made a splash when it was opened in 1998 by Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. Batali left the business in 2017. Starr Restaurant Group’s New York restaurants include Buddakan, Upland, Pastis, Le Coucou and others. Bernstein Redo & Savitsky, P.C. is proud to be a part of the Babbo and Starr Restaurant Group team.
The New York Court of Appeals issued a long-awaited decision today in a case that has significant implications for commercial lease good guy guaranties. Typically, a good guy guaranty provides for a release of the guarantor upon surrender of the premises – often after a notice period – and payment of all rent and additional rent up through the surrender date. The problem arose when a lease required any surrender to be in writing and signed and accepted by the landlord. Lower court decisions incorporated that lease provision into the guaranty and as a result if the landlord did not accept the surrender, the guarantor was not released and remained liable under the guaranty. That all changed by the decision issued today in 1995 CAM LLC v. West Side Advisors, LLC, 2025 NY Slip Op 05782, with an opinion written by Court of Appeals Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson. The court ruled that tethering the guarantor’s liability to the landlord’s acceptance of surrender “would rent most of the language in the guaranty superfluous.” All of the language in the guaranty, including the notice provision, demonstrated that the parties’ intended the surrender to be unilateral and not dependent upon landlord acceptance. Thus, so long as the guarantor complied with the obligations for release as written in the guaranty, the guarantor would be released without a signed or accepted surrender. Note that if the guaranty on its face does specifically require a written or signed surrender, that will still be enforced.
Kith Ivy at 120 Leroy Street in Manhattan is opening its members only club featuring a restaurant, Café Mogador, three rooftop full-sized padel courts, the first Erewhon tonic bar location outside of Los Angeles, a Giorgio Armani designed full-service spa, and a 1,500 square foot gym. The spa will include a jacuzzi, hammam, sauna, steam rooms and cold plunge. Kith CEO Ronnie Fieg has partnered with Midtown Equities and the Cayre family in launching the club. The project faced stiff opposition by Manhattan Community Board 2 and local residents but was approved for a liquor license in August. Bernstein, Redo & Savitsky, P.C. is proud to be part of the Kith Ivy team.
Following up on our May 20, 2025 post, we are pleased to report that this week the State Senate and Assembly passed the long-awaited bill that allows a private members club in New York to be licensed to a for-profit company. The legislation will add a new section 64(f) to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law and will create a new license class, a “for-profit club,” that can be licensed for a recreational, social, patriotic, political, athletic or benevolent purpose. A for-profit club license may also be obtained for communal workspace and corporate dining rooms, a change from existing law. To qualify for a license under this new section, the club must have at least 100 members. Liquor service will be limited to dues paying members and their guests. The bill still must be signed by Governor Hochul and then has a 180-day waiting period before it becomes effective. Any not-for-profit members club licensees will likely have to file a class change with the New York State Liquor Authority after the law becomes effective on notice to the local community board or municipality. This is a dramatic change in licensing and Bernstein Redo & Savitsky, P.C. is proud to have been involved in its passage.
New York has seen an explosion in private members clubs catering to diverse interests recently. From Tiro a Segno, a club in Manhattan since 1888, to San Vicente Bungalows which opened in the former Jane Hotel in March 2025, the pay-for-play social scene is thriving. Licensing a private members club in New York has challenges. By law, it must be operated by a not-for-profit company and may only serve its dues paying members and their guests. There are restrictions on private events, along with many other rules. We have been helping members clubs obtain liquor licenses ever since Nick Jones and Soho House landed in the Meatpacking District over twenty-two years ago, in 2003. Bernstein Redo & Savitsky, P.C. has developed a particular expertise in licensing members clubs in New York. In addition to Soho House, we are proud to have obtained private members club licenses for Zero Bond, Casa Cipriani, San Vicente Bungalows, ZZ’s, Chez Margaux, The Twenty Two, Casa Tua, Fly Fish, Ned Nomad, Maxwell Social, Neuehouse, Norwood, Seven 24 Collective, Tiro e Segno, and The Wing, to name a few. Other club licenses we are working on are in process, including Stylus, and clubs to be opened at the Gramercy Park Hotel, at 520 Fifth Avenue and at 40 Broad Street. There is a bill presently pending in Albany that would create a new class of private members club licenses that would eliminate the not-for-profit company requirement. Bernstein Redo & Savitsky, P.C. has been at the forefront of working with lobbyists, the New York State Liquor Authority, and club operators to shepherd this bill through the legislative process. We will report next month on its success.
Life Time has continued expanding fitness clubs in New York with a 37,000 square foot athletic facility in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn opened last year. The Brooklyn club is in a 51-story tower at Brooklyn Crossing on Atlantic Avenue and occupies three floors. It includes a café offering food, as Lifetime says, “for health and happiness.” The Brooklyn location opened shortly after Life Time also unveiled its club at One Penn Plaza in Manhattan, which includes a swimming pool in its offerings to members. These outposts are in addition to the Life Time clubs at One Wall Street, and West 42nd St. All of these clubs have food and beverage offerings in addition to the fitness and athletic facilities. Bernstein Redo & Savitsky, P.C. is proud to be part of the Life Time team.
Manhattan’s newest and long-awaited private members club, San Vicente West Village, is now open in the former Jane Hotel at 119 Jane Street in Manhattan. The 1908 building, originally a sailors’ home and which housed survivor’s of the Titanic in 1912, was reconfigured by English designer Rose Uniacke with a roof terrace and café in a turret overlooking the Hudson. The club also has a screening room, sushi bar and dining room. Hotelier Jeff Klein, the creator of San Vicente Bungalows with its flagship in West Hollywood in 2018, purchased the Jane Hotel from Richard Born in 2022. A second club, San Vicente Santa Monica opened in 2024. The West Village club hosted SNL’s 50th anniversary star-studded party and then opened to its members. Bernstein Redo & Savitsky, P.C. is proud to be part of the San Vicente West Village team.