2 min
Max's on Main to Close Highlands Current Audio Stories
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- Daily News
Beacon building sold; last day is April 21
Richie Kaplan, the proprietor of Max's on Main, has sold the building that hosts what he contends is "Beacon's oldest bar."
Kaplan plans to close Max's, at 246 Main St., on April 21. The well-worn establishment's future is unclear; a former restaurant and bar owner from Brooklyn identified as the buyer did not immediately respond to an email or text asking about plans for the 1870 building.
Regardless, Kaplan, 71, said it's time for a change. Day and night, he scrambles with a stooped gait to bus tables and tend to customers. Soon, he will take down the whimsical wall decorations and babysit his grandchildren.
"I hear Foreigner needs a drummer," he said, with a laugh.
A wooden phone booth sits in the lobby for the upstairs apartments. The tenants must leave by mid-June, according to one resident. Only six people occupy the 20 rooms, she said, adding that some pay $500 a month.
Setting up the gear for a gig at Max's, Steve Mittelstadt said he was disappointed to hear the building has been sold. "It's a great place to come in, watch football and see people you know, but gentrification is unavoidable," he said.
"This is one of the last remaining community-based, family run gathering spots, and it's going to be hard to replace," he said. "A lot of people will sorely miss it, but we can only hope that whoever comes in keeps it the same."
During some downtime just before midnight on April 6, Kaplan and Shirley Hot, the owner of Pandorica restaurant, another mainstay on Main Street, reminisced about Joe's Irish Pub (now Momo Valley) and the crime that once plagued the city.
"We stayed open until 4 a.m. - we were crazy," said Kaplan, referring to his brother and partner, Harvey, who died last year. Max's, named for their father, opened in 2006. "There was an army of drug dealers; we escorted people to their cars at night."
Hot, who blames her hearing loss on the bands at Joe's Irish Pub, remembers when "no one wanted Beacon. It was a depressed city and now, 25 years later, we can't afford to stay. There's been so many changes and so much turnover on Main Street, it's incredible."
Max's on Main, at 246 Main St., is open through April 21 from noon to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, noon to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday. See maxsonmain.com or call 845-838-6297.
Beacon building sold; last day is April 21
Richie Kaplan, the proprietor of Max's on Main, has sold the building that hosts what he contends is "Beacon's oldest bar."
Kaplan plans to close Max's, at 246 Main St., on April 21. The well-worn establishment's future is unclear; a former restaurant and bar owner from Brooklyn identified as the buyer did not immediately respond to an email or text asking about plans for the 1870 building.
Regardless, Kaplan, 71, said it's time for a change. Day and night, he scrambles with a stooped gait to bus tables and tend to customers. Soon, he will take down the whimsical wall decorations and babysit his grandchildren.
"I hear Foreigner needs a drummer," he said, with a laugh.
A wooden phone booth sits in the lobby for the upstairs apartments. The tenants must leave by mid-June, according to one resident. Only six people occupy the 20 rooms, she said, adding that some pay $500 a month.
Setting up the gear for a gig at Max's, Steve Mittelstadt said he was disappointed to hear the building has been sold. "It's a great place to come in, watch football and see people you know, but gentrification is unavoidable," he said.
"This is one of the last remaining community-based, family run gathering spots, and it's going to be hard to replace," he said. "A lot of people will sorely miss it, but we can only hope that whoever comes in keeps it the same."
During some downtime just before midnight on April 6, Kaplan and Shirley Hot, the owner of Pandorica restaurant, another mainstay on Main Street, reminisced about Joe's Irish Pub (now Momo Valley) and the crime that once plagued the city.
"We stayed open until 4 a.m. - we were crazy," said Kaplan, referring to his brother and partner, Harvey, who died last year. Max's, named for their father, opened in 2006. "There was an army of drug dealers; we escorted people to their cars at night."
Hot, who blames her hearing loss on the bands at Joe's Irish Pub, remembers when "no one wanted Beacon. It was a depressed city and now, 25 years later, we can't afford to stay. There's been so many changes and so much turnover on Main Street, it's incredible."
Max's on Main, at 246 Main St., is open through April 21 from noon to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday, noon to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday. See maxsonmain.com or call 845-838-6297.
2 min