New Piano Bar Opening On Upper East Side: Report

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Start practicing your showtunes, Upper East Siders: a new piano bar is opening within weeks in the former home of a popular cigar bar, according to a report.

The bar, Melody's, will open April 1 on Lexington Avenue near East 73rd Street, the New York Post reported this week. The previous tenant, Lexington Bar & Books, closed during the pandemic amid a dispute with its landlord.

Patch first reported last May on the new bar, helmed by brothers Tom and Anthony Martignetti. Details were scarce, however: it was listed under an LLC, and Tom told the board simply that it would serve as a cocktail bar — and not allow indoor smoking.

Though they are best known for their Lower Manhattan enterprises like Brinkley's, the Martignettis are no strangers to the Upper East Side, where they arrived in 2013 with the opening of The East Pole on East 65th Street.

That was followed by Eastfields on York Avenue and Cafe Americano on Lexington Avenue, though both have since closed.

Having already been friendly with the landlord of the Bar & Books space, "When the time came, I sort of raised my hand and said I'd love to take it over," Tom Martignetti told Community Board 8 last year.

According to the Post, the new bar will feature a working fireplace, art deco furnishings, a skylight and a black lacquered wood bar. Though small bites will be sold, drinks will be the focus.

Previous coverage: These New Restaurants Are Coming To The Upper East Side