Carolines on Broadway, legendary NYC comedy club, closing after 40 years

Carolines on Broadway, one of NYC’s comedy club institutions, will close after 40 years at the end of this year. Owner Caroline Hirsch told The New York Post, “I did not renew my lease. New Year’s Eve will be our last night.”

The original Carolines, a cabaret in Chelsea, opened in 1982 but soon became a comedy club and had Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen, Billy Crystal, Rosie O’Donnell, Jay Leno and Paul Reubens as regular performers. It then then moved to South Street Seaport in 1987 where it served as home for A&E’s Caroline’s Comedy Hour which ran for six seasons. It moved to its current Times Square home (750 Seventh Avenue) in 1992.

“This is heart-stabbing for me,” Hirsch told The Post. “I love my staff. I love my comedians. I’m on to something new. I see this as not the end of Carolines, but a new chapter continuing to produce world-class comedy.” Hirsch is also a producer of The New York Comedy Festival which she co-founded with Jarrod Moses, and which held its 2022 edition in November.

Thanks for the laughs, Carolines!