Kristal family sells CBGB to people opening new club (or something like that)

Riverboat Gamblers @ CBGB in 2006 (more)

As discussed, Gothamist revealed the other day that a new CBGB was in the works. People have since run with that news and more information is surfacing. The East Village Local (at the NY Times) writes:

The CBGB brand — and the merchandising empire that comes with it — changed hands three months ago, a representative of the new owners told The Local.

“We bought the entire estate, the physical assets of the former club. They dissembled it as a theatrical unit so in theory they could put it back together — say, 80 percent they salvaged,” said the spokesman for the new owners, who wished to remain anonymous in anticipation of an announcement in the coming weeks regarding the return of the legendary club. “There are all kinds of tapes, photos, and the global trademarks and licensing.”

The spokesman added that his group bought the CBGB estate from Lisa Kristal, the daughter of the founder of the club, Hilly Kristal. A man who answered the phone at Ms. Kristal’s number had no comment regarding the transaction.

That said, the Local’s article was also later updated to include this update:

Dana Kristal has now commented on the sale. “We don’t know that it was completely sold, or whether my sister is part owner,” he said. “Whoever says they’re the owner says they have a partner and they’re not saying who it is. My sister and her lawyer say they made a deal where only my sister can use the name in a film for up to seven years. I asked him, ‘Do you mean I can’t use the canopy?’ and the lawyer said, ‘Yes.’ If there is a new owner – I don’t know – I would like to find out from the actual owner if we can use the canopy or not.”

Huh who what?

In related news, that tweet I linked to about the CBGB festival has since been deleted