(New York Jewish Week) — After 38 years on the Upper West Side, the legendary comedy club Stand Up NY has moved downtown — to Times Square.
The venue on Broadway and 78th Street, which has hosted the likes of Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Robin Williams, Pete Davidson and Amy Schumer, along with many other hundreds of other comedians, is decamping to a new spot in partnership with the Italian restaurant Bond 45 inside Hotel Edison at 221 West 46th St.
“Times have changed since COVID,” said Dani Zoldan, who has owned Stand Up NY since 2008. “I was just itching for a change and to refresh the brand.”
Stand Up NY Times Square had its grand opening on March 14 with headliners Ari Shaffir and George Wallace. The Upper West Side location hosted its last performance on Thursday night, featuring comedian Judy Gold, and will vacate the premises by Sunday, Zoldan said.
Zoldan, who was a New York Jewish Week “36 to Watch” honoree last year, is also the creator of the annual Chosen Comedy Festival at the Coney Island Amphitheater, which has drawn thousands of fans for lineups of mostly Jewish comedians. Stand Up NY is currently in the midst of a 27-city North American “Stand Up for Israel” tour featuring Jewish comics that raises money for Israeli charities and Friends of the IDF.
“My Jewish identity influences my work in many ways, including having worked with comedians to create content and promote multiple Jewish causes,” Zoldan told the New York Jewish Week in 2023, adding that the Chosen Comedy Festival “unites Jews from all backgrounds over a shared experience.”
Dani Zoldan has owned the comedy club Stand Up NY since 2008. (Alex Mendoza)
Zoldan said the Upper West Side venue was losing out on foot traffic in the neighborhood’s quieter, post-COVID era. Plus, it was becoming harder to convince performers to travel to the Upper West Side for a gig when most of the comedy scene takes place downtown, he said.
Zoldan said he was excited by Times Square, which he considers the epicenter of the New York entertainment scene — as well as the tourist dollars that it attracts. “I like being in an area where there’s more energy,” Zoldan said. “There’s so much going on in Times Square — we’re right across from ‘Hamilton,’ ‘Sweeney Todd’ is next door and there’s a Marriott across the street. There are endless opportunities. It’s much more accessible, there are more ways we can fill the seats.”
“Especially since Caroline’s closed, there’s been an opportunity to bring stand up to Times Square,” he added, referring to a popular club that shut down in 2022. “We’re finding ourselves learning from the Broadway folks and trying to tap into that audience, which is a little different than other comedy club strategies.”
Zoldan added that even though the club is moving out a heavily Jewish neighborhood — where it is just around the corner from Zabar’s — he still plans to book Jewish acts and hopes Jewish crowds will continue to come out to shows. He noted that the new location is close to the upscale kosher steakhouse Le Marais as well as the kosher bakery Patis. It will also be serving kosher wine.
In addition to the Times Square location, Zoldan said Stand Up NY will still cater to the Upper West Side crowd on the weekends at a location in the Lincoln Center area, which he hopes will open in May.
“It should be easier to fill the seats in Lincoln Center because that’s where our existing audience is,” Zoldan said. “There’s Lincoln Center, there’s dance, there’s opera, there’s Juilliard and across the street is the New York Film Center. It feels natural to have comedy there.”
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