Carolines, Famed Midtown Comedy Club, Closing After Decades

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The famed comedy club Carolines on Broadway is permanently closing its location near Times Square after 30 years in business, the venue announced Tuesday.

Owner Caroline Hirsch opted against renewing the club's lease on Broadway between West 49th and 50th streets, making Dec. 31 its final night of shows.

"We want to thank the comedians, our incredibly talented staff and all of the comedy fans who have visited the club throughout the years to help make Carolines the success it has been for the last four decades," reads an Instagram post by the club.

Hirsch founded Carolines in Chelsea in 1981, where it began its life as a cabaret. A subsequent move to South Street Seaport was followed by a relocation to Midtown in 1992 — an era "when many New Yorkers and businesses had written off Times Square and NYC overall due to record high crime and a lack of proactive government solutions," the Instagram post added.

Instead, Carolines thrived, hosting comics like Jerry Seinfeld, Rosie O'Donnell and Jay Leno, and booking early-career gigs for Dave Chappelle, John Mulaney and Tiffany Hadish. It got a critical boost when Leno mentioned Carolines on David Letterman's talk show, according to the New York Post, which first reported on the closure.

Hirsch told the Post that the club has bounced back from the pandemic. But she learned recently that its 10-year lease was due for a rent "reset" from her landlord, prompting her to jump ship.

On Instagram, the club said it remains "excited about the future of the Carolines brand," and Hirsch told the Post that she sees the closure as "a new chapter."