The Rock Shop Bar Closing At The End Of The Month

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — The Rock Shop, a neighborhood sports bar on Fourth Avenue and President Street, will close at the end of the month.

Brendan Niles, the bar's general manager, told Patch the bar is closing because the "Rent’s too high. Taxes are too high. Too much development happening on Fourth Avenue."

It's a familiar story for businesses in the neighborhood, especially on Fourth Avenue, where condo towers and apartments spring up constantly.

Niles said he saw some of that evolution during the Rock Shop's 7.5-year run on the Park Slope street corner.

"Oh for sure. The main thing is all the new development that's going up," he said. "Which is a good thing. But it increases everything else. Property tax goes up, rent goes up. Now it’s more expensive."

Niles said that the "aura of the Rock Shop" will move to The Saint Catherine, on Bergen Street and Washington Avenue in Prospect Heights. That bar is under the same ownership as the Rock Shop.

"It won’t be called the Rock Shop. But it'll be more like the Rock Shop," Niles said. "It’ll be a neighborhood sports bar-ish-type vibe."

As for the current Rock Shop, Niles said they'll be throwing a going-away party on Friday, July 28, and will be open on the 29th. It's unclear if they'll be open on the 30th or 31st before shutting down for good.

"Depends on how much booze we have to sell," Niles said.

"For me, the best thing and the thing I’ll take away from it is the people I’ve met and the memories we’ve made here together," he said.

Matt Hoy, a regular at the bar, learned the news of the closing at Wednesday night's trivia.

"At the news of the closing, bar regulars and trivia team Health Packs Are For Zoey paid silent tribute to the bar that they have come to call 'home' by finishing their beers, holding each other close, and slow-dancing the night away," Hoy said.

Image via Yelp