Bruce Springsteen offers to save NY's 'Bottom Line' club!

NEW YORK (Bruce Springsteen Fans Website) - Bruce Springsteen wants The Bottom Line to relive its glory days - and he's offering a river of money to get the club rising again, the nightspot's lawyer revealed yesterday.

The rock icon and Viacom president Mel Karmazin have offered "several hundred thousand dollars" to help keep the club alive, Mark Alonso said.
"They want to save The Bottom Line," Alonso said. He said it was unclear at this point whether the money would be in the form of a loan or gift or buying a piece of the 29-year-old Greenwich Village rock institution.
"I'm tremendously grateful," club co-owner Allen Pepper said of the high-powered, big money help. He called Karmazin, who's the former head of CBS, "an old friend who has strong feelings about the club."

Miles Davis, Tony Bennett, Billy Joel and Lou Reed have all played at the West Fourth Street club, and it's where Springsteen earned his reputation as one of the all-time great rock performers with a legendary 10-show stand there in 1975.

A rep for Springsteen didn't return a call for comment about the financial help, but The Boss posted a message on savethebottomline.com earlier this week calling The Bottom Line "a central part of New York City culture."
"When I think of the most memorable nights in my own career, few match the week of shows we did there," he wrote.
"As a musician, as a citizen, and as one who loves New York City, I truly hope that a solution can be found that allows The Bottom Line and [its owners] to continue their important, valuable work for many years to come."

The help may have come too late, however. Landlord New York University had the club in court yesterday for non-payment of $190,000 in rent, essentially the first step towards eviction proceedings. Judge Donna Recant is expected to issue a ruling on the case within the next month.