Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club Is Closing After 20 Years

Tori Latham
·2 min read
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Jay-Z may be one of Brooklyn’s finest, but the rapper is calling it quits in Manhattan—at least temporarily.

The artist’s 40/40 Club in the Flatiron District closed at the end of July, Eater NY reported on Wednesday. While the bar and lounge has plans to reopen in a new location in February, according to its website, the closure marks the end of the club’s 20-year run in New York City.

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After the 40/40 Club opened in 2003, it quickly became a hit with celebs: LeBron James celebrated his birthday there, while J. Cole held a mixtape release party in the space. Following a $10 million renovation, the club reopened in 2012 with a launch party attended by the likes of Swizz Beatz, Warren Buffett, Spike Lee, and Russell Simmons. “I wanted to retain the feel of a clubhouse, a relaxed place to interact with friends,” Jay-Z told Rolling Stone in an email at the time.

At its height, the club’s influence even expanded beyond N.Y.C. Along with an outpost at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, there was a 40/40 sports lounge in Las Vegas, a club in Atlantic City, and a bar at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The Vegas location closed in 2008 and the Atlantic City one shut down in 2013, following a lawsuit that claimed the company owed more than $115,000 in unpaid rent and other charges, according to Eater. The 40/40 Club at Barclays will remain open, a spokesperson for the arena told Eater, and the Atlanta airport location also seems to still be operating.

Over the years, Jay-Z has invested in other hospitality projects throughout his hometown. He was involved with the Spotted Pig before it closed in 2020, following the settlement of sexual-harassment claims by its principal owner, Ken Friedman. Hov’s real-estate company, SCC Greenwich Realty, sold the restaurant’s former home last year for $7.5 million, Eater noted.

When the 40/40 Club closed briefly for renovations in the 2010s, it was in part to help modernize the space and bring it in line with hot spots like 1 Oak and Greenhouse. So perhaps when it reopens early next year, the 40/40 Club 3.0 will have been updated for this decade, too.

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