Park Slope Mourns Bar Closure: 'They Were There For Me'

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Fifth Avenue is mourning the impending loss of a bar they say is unlike any other in Park Slope, New York City, or the world.

Lizzie King's Parlor, the cozy watering hole at 75a Fifth Ave., announced that their last day of hosting a bar where the barkeeps seemed to know everyone's name will be Dec. 11.

"Due to unforeseen circumstances beyond our control, we were forced to make the gut wrenching decision to shut our doors and move on," Lizzie King's wrote in an instagram post this week.

"Although, it will be the end of Lizzie King’s at this location, it will not be the end of the relationship we forged with you all!"

The owners for Lizzie King's declined to comment, but neighbors and patrons say the new building owner decided not to renew the leases of the beloved bar or Hiroto Sushi next door.

City Finance department records show that new owner is tech entrepreneur Rich Ziade, who bought the building for nearly $5 million in September. Ziade told Patch he is not the sole owner of the property and is an "owner representative," but declined to comment further.

The loss comes as a sad surprise to several Brooklynites that Lizzie King's — named for a local nineteenth century murderess who claimed to carry her victim's blood in a locket — was a place where all were welcome.

Musician John Mazlish, 62, lives in Carrol Gardens, but said he gladly made the 10 minute bike ride to Lizzy King's to play guitar and enjoy the company of his fellow patrons, as well as the owners and employees, who became a crucial lifeline during the pandemic.

"They really got a lot of people through the pandemic," Mazlish said. "They stayed open —and basically just became a center of support for people."

When a new person walked into Lizzie King's for the first time, Gerry, one of the owners, would immediately start introducing them to other people in the bar, Mazlish said.

The bar was also extremely kid friendly and welcomed parents who needed to break the stifling isolation of raising children during a global pandemic, he added.

"It's just become like a community center," Mazlish said. "They're just really good people that are running a business for the right reasons, like, out of love. And they just filled a real place in the community."

Mazlish said when he heard the news from Gerry recently that the bar was facing its impending closure, he was in shock.

"I'm still struggling to wrap my head around it," Mazlish told Patch.

The news also came as a "big blow" to Justin Williams, 38, a salesman turned stay-at-home dad, moved back to New York City in August of 2020.

Since then, Williams was hospitalized with COVID-19 and his wife went through a difficult pregnancy.

But Lizzie King's, Williams said, "really helped me through a rough spot."

"Those guys were just really there for me," Willams said. "And as a community spot, it's kind of one of those places that no matter when you go there, you're gonna have somebody to talk to. There's a ton of regulars. We all kind of know each other."

Williams's older child, a 14-year-old, loved going to the Open Streets at Lizzie King's, where the bar would host live music to a crowd of Park Slopers of all ages dancing in the street.

"It's been a great bonding experience for the two of us, which is not easy at this age," Williams said. "There's a big group of people that are really upset about this and not wanting to see this place go."

Among those disappointed Park Slopers is a local attorney who liked to take her Boston cop brother to Lizzie King's when he came for a visit.

"It was such a special and unique place during COVID," said neighbor and attorney Jacqueline Cornell. "A true neighborhood place, welcoming of the entire neighborhood, also of families and people with kids."

Months passed between her brother's first visit to the bar in December and his second months later, yet when Cornell and he walked in, they got an immediate greeting from a barkeep named Chris

"Oh, hey, man, how's Boston? What's going on?" Chris said. Added Cornell, "It's that kind of place."

Cornell started a petition to try and convince Ziade to offer a new lease to the beloved bar, but even with almost 600 signatures, there doesn't seem to be much hope.

At the sushi restaurant next door, owner and chef Dennis Liu said it was "pretty sad for me."

Liu has owned Hiroto for five years, and had been a sushi chef ever since he came to New York City from China 20 years ago. He hopes he can find another place to operate nearby.

"Customers are asking me if I will reopen," Liu said. But he wonders if "this store can continue."

Update 12/3: A comment from Ziade was added after he reached out to Patch to say he is not the sole owner of the property, but an "owner representative."