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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
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City's Oldest Bowling Alley to be Demolished for Development

 The city's oldest bowling alley closed July 7.
The city's oldest bowling alley closed July 7.
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DNAinfo/Andrea Swalec

GREENWICH VILLAGE — Bowlmor Lanes' Greenwich Village location closed on Monday after 76 years in business, to make way for a new development, according to staff and reports.

The bowling alley at 110 University Place — the longest-running bowling alley in the Northeast, according to Bowlmor's website — was forced to shut down after landlord Billy Macklowe bought a controlling stake in the building in 2012 and revealed plans to demolish it, the New York Post and EV Grieve reported.

"That's what we've been told as a company," said Colie Edison, Bowlmor's vice president of marketing. "All we know is [Macklowe] did not want to extend our lease no matter what we did."

Several other businesses on the block, including Vive la Crepe, Stromboli Pizza and Bamboo Tori have shuttered in recent months as well, according to EV Grieve, and those spots are slated to become part of Macklowe's new development on the site as well, Edison said.

A spokeswoman for the William Macklowe Company declined to comment and said she did "not have any information at this time on what is being planned for the block."

Edison said everyone at Bowlmor refers to the Greenwich Village location “the heart and soul of our company.”

"We're all really heartbroken," Edison told DNAinfo. "It's sad to see [the place] where everything started from close down."

No demolition permits or plans for a new development had been filed with the Department of Buildings as of Tuesday, records show.

The bowling alley franchise's three other New York City locations at Chelsea Piers, in Times Square and on 34th Avenue in Queens will remain open, Edison said.