Career Timeline

Career Timeline2020-02-12T19:52:11+00:00

February 1987

Opens Knitting Factory on Houston Street in Manhattan

When I started the Knitting Factory in 1987 with Louis Spitzer, we had no idea what we were doing! We had found an old, dilapidated Avon Products office on Houston Street between the Bowery and Broadway. The rent was $1,800 per month for 2,000 square feet on one floor in a four-story walkup. The place was really a mess: yellow painted plaster chipping off the walls, a rotted wood toilet, [Read More]

February 1988

Sweater Ceiling

In 1988, I had the idea of sweaters on the ceiling to cover up the ugly square tiles we inherited. My friend, the artist, Dan Bodner, helped buy 100 sweaters at $1 each from Goodwill, we cut in half to double the surface area, and he knit them together and hung them. The NYFD made us fire retard them so they would not burn.

March 1990

Produces 1st Knitting Factory Festival in Gronigen, Holland

June 1991

April 1994

Moves Knitting Factory Club to Tribeca, NYC. Lou Reed plays.

I’ll never forget Hal Willner bringing Lou by the construction site of the new Knitting Factory in Tribeca in the fall of 1993. I was both nervous and excited to be giving a tour of our upgraded venue to a musician I had many records and was so important to the history of music. Somehow, I convinced him to play a show there soon after opening–which we overly packed the [Read More]

April 1996

July 1996

Produces Intel NY Music Festival and Plug-in conference

August 1996

Closes 1st 3rd-party investment into Knitmedia, parent of Knitting Factory venues

May 1997

Writes business plan and co-founds Digital Club Network

June 1997

Produces 1st Texaco NY Jazz Festival and presents a compilation CD to President Clinton

January 1998

I had drunk the Kool-aide

On a trip in 1998 to Burgundy in France, I tasted a Montrachet Le Montrachet in Montrachet and the fireworks went off. I started a cellar immediately after that trip realizing how great aged wine, white or red, could be….I had drunk the Kool-aide.

June 1999

Produces Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival

July 1999

Sells co-ownership in DCN to fund Knitting Factory Hollywood

November 1999

Knitting Factory Hollywood opens for business

May 2000

Last investment round in KnitMedia, Internet bubble bursts

May 2001

September 2001

9/11

March 2002

Resigns as Chairman and CEO of KnitMedia / Knitting Factory

September 2004

Starts Tribeca Hebrew, Makes 1st custom barrel of wine in CA

February 2006

Produces Joni Mitchell tribute concert at Carnegie Hall

May 2006

Produces Grand Opening concert for 7 World Trade Center

May 2008

Produces Israel’s 60th Anniversary Celebration at Radio City Music Hall

December 2008

Opens City Winery NYC

March 2009

Produces R.E.M Tribute Concert at Carnegie Hall

March 2010

Awarded Humanitarian Honor by Young Audiences NY

June 2010

Serves wine to Mayor Bloomberg and Paul Simon

September 2010

Writes embarrassing list of accomplishments for website

March 2013

Lou Reed participated in his last Seder at City Winery

October 2014

City Winery’s 4th location opens up in Nashville

January 2015

City Winery serves over 1,000,000 glasses of tap wine produced in New York City

March 2016

Produces David Bowie tribute concert at Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall

May 2016

Presented Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award

July 2016

Opens City Vineyard, a rooftop wine bar on the West Side Highway in Tribeca

October 2017

Honored by Little Kids Rock alongside Bonnie Raitt and Elvis Costello

January 2018

Brings 125 of his staff to Puerto Rico to rebuild farms and pastures destroyed by Hurricane Maria

April 2018

City Winery opens its sixth location in Washington D.C.

September 2019

City Winery will be opening in Philadelphia, PA

October 2019

Debut Book Release: Indulge your Senses, becomes #1 Music Business best seller on Amazon

May 2020

New Flagship City Winery New York City opens at Pier 57

June 2020

City Winery Hudson Valley opens in Montgomery, NY

March 2021

Forerunner in creating a safe place for shows during the Covid-19 pandemic

March 2022

Purchases The Milk Factor, an old milk condensery to be adapted as a luxury hotel

November 2022

Opening of City Winery Grand Central

March 2023

City Winery St. Louis Opens

May 2023

City Winery Pittsburgh Opens