Don't let the sun go down on this Brooklyn community institution! SUNNY'S FOREVER is a campaign to secure the future of the what the New York Times called "the glorious dive, music hall, art gallery and oddball hangout on the waterfront in Red Hook." Sunny’s Bar, Revived After Hurricane Sandy, Is Being Saved, Again - New York Times, January 2017
On April 1, we will gather at ATELIER ROQUETTE in Red Hook to launch this campaign and celebrate with performances by a number of artists who call Sunny's home. Confirmed performers include Smokey's Secret Family, celebrated guitar slinger Smokey Hormel's joyful exploration of 1950's African dance music and Simon Chardiet and The Rooftoppers, a smokin' combowho explore the funkier and bluesier side of jazz. More performers to be announced! In addition, DJ Spencer Bewley will be spinning all night long to keep spirits high. Come early for an open bar for earlybirds arriving between 6 and 7 PM.
Sunny Balzano’s Widow is the One-Woman Force Keeping Sunny’s Alive - Brooklyn Magazine, March 2017 This past January, after a three-year long battle in the New York Supreme Court, the proprietress of Sunny's and widow of its namesake, Tone Johansen signed a contract to buy the property, securing its future. The caveat? She has only scant months to raise the funds to secure the loans to insure that Sunny's adorns the waterfornt for the foreseeable future. Rather than simply saving a bar, we are looking to insure the future of one of the true stewards for culture in Brooklyn after years of uncertainty created by natural disaster, legal troubles and encroaching gentrification. Sunny's has become a beacon of all that is wonderful about old bohemian Brooklyn, attracting visitors from around the city and around the globe. With this final push, we will insure that Sunny's is secure for generations to come.
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