One of New York’s most iconic comedy clubs will soon be home to a sporty new concept.
Spin is well known in New York as “the original ping pong social club”. The company was established in 2007 when co-founders and best friends Jonathan Bricklin and Franck Raharinosy had the crazy dream of joining the USA Olympic ping pong team. They set out to practice every day and night they could – and have a blast doing it. Soon, the two friends became well known in their circle for hosting regular ping pong parties and eventually began drawing in an eclectic range of artists, musicians, bankers, and of course – professional ping pong players.
In 2009, the two partnered with retired investment banker and tennis pro Andrew Gordon to develop Spin’s flagship location on Park Avenue. Since then, the brand has expanded to fabulous new heights and can be found across the country in major cities like Chicago, DC, Boston, Seattle, Toronto, and of course – New York. With an avowed mission to have fun and foster human connections, Spin has set out to become your next offline social club.
Now, as the popular ping pong club continues to expand, they have just set their sights on one of Midtown’s most iconic pieces of real estate. As recently reported by the New York Post, the Spin team is now looking to acquire the space at 1626 Broadway, home of New York’s legendary comedy club Caroline’s on Broadway. Established in 1981 by founder Caroline Hirsch, Carolines launched countless comedians to mainstream success over the past 30 years, including notable acts like Jay Leno, Paul Ruebens, Gilbert Gottfried, and Jerry Seinfeld. While Caroline’s was known worldwide as one of the city’s premiere comedy institutions, the combination of a pandemic-induced tourism decline and an unexpected “rent reset” left Hirsch unable to keep the club afloat with the new parameters. After closing at the end of 2022, fans and performers alike took to the internet to express their grief at the loss of such an iconic comedy club, and many are still taking the news personally.
Thankfully though, the space will not remain vacant for too long. As The Post reports, while Spin has not yet officially signed the lease, the company is “super excited” about the space and has already applied for a liquor license. Spin VP of Brand & Culture Gregory Godfrey told The Post that the team is “looking to open in midtown this year at some point”. Additionally, Spin’s website already lists the Times Square location as “Coming Soon”.
At the moment, Spin currently operates one other location in the Flatiron District. They also used to have a location on 54th Street, but the location is currently closed down and is “moving Times Square” according to the Spin website. For more information on all of Spin’s latest endeavors, you can follow Spin on Instagram.
