Earlier, we reported a rumor that Passerby is closing this next Saturday. We’ve now received word from owner Toby Cecchini, whose book Cosmopolitan chronicles a day in the life of the bar, that the last night will actually be March 29, though it will probably be a private affair. Although Cecchini still has seven years left on the lease, he says his landlord is prying him out under a “demolition clause,” since he’s demolishing the building in order to convert another building down the block to condos. Cecchini doesn’t have plans or a space for a new bar yet, and, even if he did, he says, “It could take me a year and a half. What I really want is the bar I’ve nurtured for the last ten years, and that ain’t gonna happen.” It’s undetermined whether patrons will be allowed to pour one out on the bar’s light-up dance floor.
