lonnie-sobel
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NYC's oldest arcade re-opened as 'a cross between a Dave & Busters and a Chuck E. Cheese'
When Chinatown Fair suddenly closed early last year, the prospects for a re-opening were slim. A variety of owners of the arcade weren't able to agree to a lease negotiation with the property's owner, and the doors to Chinatown Fair in its original form closed for good in late February 2011. This past weekend, those doors re-opened, and what The Gothamist saw inside wasn't quite the same as the Chinatown Fair that shut down last year. For one, the ownership changed."We're kind of a cross between a Dave & Busters and a Chuck E. Cheese," new owner Lonnie Sobel said. "We're trying to do the best of both worlds." While a handful of classics were spotted – Dance Dance Revolution and Terminator: Salvation, for instance – the changes were apparent: Guitar Hero and Fruit Ninja machines sit next to skee-ball and air hockey, all dispensing redeemable prize tickets.Sobel promises more fighting game fare in the future, and pins the current lack to "no really great fighting games" being out at the moment. We ... don't agree with that statement, but our disagreement won't change things, unfortunately.[Image credit: Gothamist]
