Aspen in Flatiron Shuttered By The Tax Man

A tipster happened by Aspen Restaurant and Lounge, Greg Brier's effort to bring the "mountain chic of an Aspen ski lodge" to the Flatiron, and discovered that it has been closed. The reason? Our tipster says there are "signs saying it was seized for nonpayment of taxes." Aspen's rep Steve Kasuba confirms the report but says the entire thing is just one big misunderstanding. Kasuba explains that Aspen "was indeed temporarily closed for business on Wednesday after some paperwork misfiling and a late tax payment. An accountant for The Brier Group, parent company to Aspen, inadvertently let the eatery's liquor license lapse which in-turn came to the attention of the tax-man looking for a past due tax payment." That cannot be good for business.

Kasuba also says that "Greg Brier is confident that he will have these issues worked out within a day or two, with Aspen open again for business by the weekend. The accountant, incidentally, has been shown the door." Because everyone, especially accountants, need to be held accountable for their mistakes. The other interesting wrinkle is that a search of the SLA's website reveals that there hasn't been an active license at the 22nd Street address since 2005. There just may be a bit more to this story than a simple misfiling of paperwork.

UPDATE: The most recent liquor license for the space was active until October 31, 2009, but is currently inactive, part of the license and tax snafu discussed above.
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