Lola the showgirl and the rest of Copacabana crowd are looking for a new home.
The famed nightclub, currently in its third reincarnation on West 34th Street, has been condemned by the city to make way for an extension of the No. 7 subway line to Manhattan's major convention hall, the Javits Center.
Owner John Juliano doesn't have a lease signed yet on a new location, but he has until July 1 before he has to be out.
``We aren't closing,'' he said. ``It's hurting our business, all this talk of us closing. I mean, maybe we have to renovate a new space. That may take some time, but we're coming back.''
The club has always endured change well. Since it first opened in 1941, it has morphed from the glitziest nightspot in a town teeming with celebrities, to disco and the legendary scene of Barry Manilow's signature 1978 song ``Copacabana,'' and now to a catering business and thumping hip-hop and salsa club.
The clientele has drastically changed. The neighborhoods have changed. Even the owners changed once, when Jules Podell died and sold the business to Juliano and two associates.
Really, the only thing that has remained the same in the 60-plus years the club has been open is the name. And the whole palm-tree theme.
``When it first opened it was the most famous nightclub in the world,'' Juliano said. ``And it still is the most famous name in the world.''
The club opened on East 60th Street at just the right time _ shortly before World War II when Americans were freshly out of the Great Depression. Finally, there was money to spend, and people were just itching to have a good time.
``The times were hot,'' said Kristin Baggelaar, author of the nonfiction book, ``The Copacabana.'' ``It was a highly charged atmosphere, almost like the roaring 20s.''
Well-heeled New Yorkers were entertained by the most famous acts of the era, including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jimmy Durante and Sid Caesar. And then there were the Copa Girls. A troupe of leggy, fresh-faced dancers dressed to perfection. Joan Collins and Raquel Welch got their start in the troupe.
In the '50s the club brought in rock acts and tried to roll with the times, but the advent of television was the death knell for the old nightclub ways. People didn't need to leave the house to be entertained anymore.
Its popularity waned. Podell died in 1972 and the club sat vacant for several years until Juliano, Peter Dorn and Ron Hollick took it over in 1976. The three renovated the club and reopened it as a disco.
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