The Creek & The Cave Comedy Club Among NYC Coronavirus Casualties

QUEENS, NY — The coronavirus economy has claimed another business in Queens: The Creek & The Cave. The comedy club will not be reopening, its owner announced in a Facebook post on Friday.

Rebecca Trent, owner of the Long Island City-based club said she was forced to shutter The Creek & The Cave several months after it was made to close to the public amid the pandemic.

"I simply wasn’t in a strong enough position going into the pandemic to sustain the Creek without going into insurmountable debt. (Most would say I’m already there)," Trent wrote on Facebook.

The club was known for playing things a little faster and a little looser than its Manhattan counterparts. Several comedians took to social media to thank Trent for creating a no-pressure space where comics could workshop new material.

Stand-up comedian Tim Dillon addressed the closure in a Tweet thanking Trent for running the club for over a decade.

"The [Creek & Cave] allowed comics to master their craft without spending money or bringing people to do so. It was a unique venue and remained true [to] the vision of its owner," Dillon wrote. "She backed comics even when it was unpopular to do so. Many of them didn't return the favor."

In her Facebook post, Trent described the club as more than a bar where comics performed. For her and many others, it was a place for friends and family members to gather, share meals, enjoy holidays and feast "like royalty."

The Creek & The Cave, for Trent, was also a place where careers, marriages and entire lives were made.

"I watched Jessica T go from having her quinceañera to becoming a nurse. I saw Rojo go from behind the bar to on TV," she wrote. "Cassidy & Joseph Roberts met here and fell in love, James & Jaime Lyn were married here by Ed, Lupe found the love of his life. So many forevers were started here."

Comparing the club to a church-like experience, Trent said she viewed running the club as a sacred duty that ended far too soon.

"When someone has a stage it becomes their sacred duty to say yes to the artists that grace it, to give them time and space and permission to fail so that they can become great," she wrote. "That was my sacred duty for 14 years and I only wish it could have been 14 more."