It's the last dance for a famed East Village dive bar.
After just under 28 years in business, the original Coyote Ugly bar said it will be closing its doors for good — yet another business that has been shuttered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The First Avenue bar, known for its rowdy atmosphere and bar tenders dancing atop the bar, was the basis for a 2001 movie of the same name. After the success of the film, Coyote Ugly expanded and according to its website, operates 12 locations throughout the U.S. and another 14 around the world.
The owner of Coyote Ugly said that because of the pandemic, she couldn't afford to pay the rent any longer.
“After sitting closed for six months due to COVID restrictions, we simply can’t afford to pay the rent," owner and founder Liliana Lovell said in a YouTube video announcing the closure. "Some of my most treasured memories come from that bar."
However, the bar could make a comeback. Lovell hinted that another Coyote Ugly could reopen in a new location, but didn't give any indication of where or when that could happen. Instead she said that it could be "a little bit nicer, and it's going to have better bathrooms."
The news of the closure comes as a new report said a majority of the businesses that had to shut down because of coronavirus will never reopen. According to data compiled by Yelp, nearly 164,000 businesses have closed as of August 31, a number that includes a 23 percent increase after mid-July.
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The report also said that 60 percent of the businesses that have closed since the start of the pandemic will be out of business for good.
