Ritzy White Street Eyeing Deal To Become Sports Bar The Ainsworth [UPDATE]

The media honchos behind Tribeca restaurant White Street are in talks to bring on a new partner to turn the space into a location of sports bar and restaurant The Ainsworth. Tribeca Citizen reports that Galvanized founder Dave Zinczenko and ABC News legal analyst Dan Abrams sent Matt Shendell of Paige Hospitality Group to a recent Community Board 1 meeting to talk about bringing The Ainsworth to the space. Shendell owns four locations of The Ainsworth, in Hoboken, Gramercy, Chelsea, and Midtown. He would be adding lunch and 17 sports-playing TV screens to the 10,000-square-foot space — a sharp change from ritzy White Street, which opened in 2014 under chef Floyd Cardoz before switching chefs.

Shendell told the board that the 221 West Broadway outpost of The Ainsworth would be a "more upscale version," but the board didn’t want to approve changes to add lunch to the liquor license, anyway, according to Tribeca Citizen. Shendell will have to go in front of the board again next month with a full application before gaining the community’s support, which is advisory to the State Liquor Authority.

Zinczenko and Abrams have toyed with changing White Street’s concept a couple of times this year. In July, they told Eater that they might change it into a members-only wine club, an upscale Italian restaurant, or a private event space.

Update: Abrams says that a change to The Ainsworth is not yet finalized. The post has been changed to reflect the update. "We have been seriously evaluating a partnership with the Ainsworth Group," he says in a statement. "If the community board had signed off on it we would have moved forward with that joint venture and we still intend to return next month with them but regardless of what happens with Ainsworth, we have no plans to close the restaurant."

• White Street Restaurant Is Closing [Tribeca Citizen]