Sunny's Bar In Red Hook Is 'Officially' Saved

RED HOOK, BROOKLYN — We usually take to these pages to tell you about neighborhood institutions shutting down after rents skyrocket or locals abandon them in favor of larger, cheaper chains. But for now, we have some good news to share.

Sunny's, the legendary Red Hook watering hole that underwent a massive fundraising effort to stave off a family sale, will stay in the neighborhood.

After hitting its fundraising goal of $65,000, the bar posted on Facebook that owner Tone Balzano Johansen has signed the deeds needed to keep the bar in her hands.

"Tone signed the deeds, down to the deadline, the split end of the hair, it's officially official!!!" the jubilant Facebook post said, next to a picture of Johansen sipping a drink. "We love you Sunny & so happy you're here forever, peacefully forever ever!!!!"

The bar's future was thrown into uncertainty after the death of its long-time owner, Sunny Balzano. Johansen, Sunny's wife, said the bar was owned by a group of family members, all of whom wanted to sell it. Except for Johansen, who fought tooth-and-nail to keep a neighborhood institution from leaving. She struck a deal with her family to buy the place outright if she could raise enough money.

"I feel like I'm a steward of New York and Brooklyn culture," she told Patch earlier this year. "Somebody has to say, 'I’m tired of hearing about places like this closing.' Somebody has to say, 'Stop' and 'No,' and that’s what I’m doing. What is that culture? It is that you can go to a place where people know your name."

A fundraising page was set up, and several charity events were held.

Johansen sees herself as more friend and psychologist than bartender. And now she'll get to keep that role for years to come.

"It’s old fashioned psychology, where you are just like, 'Dude, talk about your life,'" she told us. "But then also you connect with other people and you heal and you inspire and you build good energy. You can’t do that on your own. Life as a hermit doesn’t really work in the long run.

"I think it’s just really sad that so much of the way we live these days, it’s not really conducive to human nature. You can live in a big city in a little box in a house where nobody actually knows where you are. You’re surrounded by people, but there’s no connection. This is all about that connection."

Image via Google Streetview