By Alison Fischer via AZBILLIARDS.COM |
In New York City, and Manhattan in particular, the number of pool rooms have been steadily declining over the last few decades. With ever-rising rent prices and increasingly-competitive markets, it could be said that opening a venue for pool in present-day NYC would be a bold move. When factoring in the added challenges of operating a small business amidst a global pandemic, bold might be considered an understatement.
Despite these seemingly daunting conditions, lifelong pool enthusiast and NYC native Aaron Ho opened the doors of a new space for pool called Sour Mouse NYC, in October of 2020. With its location in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, one of New York’s top neighborhoods for nightlife and entertainment, the concept Ho created for Sour Mouse combines pool and other social games with a space for live music, stand-up comedy, and art.
“We are not just strictly a billiard hall,” Aaron Ho explains, “We also have live music, and like a lot of other places, we also have ping pong tables and foosball. Our focal point is really the combination of everything. It’s the live music that creates the ambience… so it’s more of a lounge than a traditional pool hall.”
However, pool has always been a passion for Aaron, and he has had a longstanding interest in the game. “I grew up playing a lot of pool and going to Steinway, my cousins brought me there at a very young age. When I was in high school, we played hooky and went to Amsterdam. I was living in Staten Island and my friends would drag me out there… it was like a three-hour commute, but it was always worth it. We always had fun playing pool,” said Aaron.
To bolster the quality of their in-house leagues and tournaments, Aaron enlisted former Brooklyn pool room owner and longtime player Gerard Kammerer to take the reigns as director. Bringing his decades of experience in the industry to the table, Gerard has become an asset to the business through his knowledge of both pool equipment and players’ interests.
Although he has an old-school background in the NYC pool scene and experienced the era of the likes of Cicero Murphy, Gerard Kammerer recognized the need to modernize pool spaces and bring in a variety of offerings for patrons, in order to make a viable business model. “What attracted me was the mixed entertainment environment, that’s what you need,” Gerard stated.
While discussing the types of leagues and events that would be hosted there, Gerard pointed out some aspects that would set Sour Mouse apart from other options in NYC. “What Aaron is doing, which is tremendously generous, is that there will only a be a $10 weekly fee for the league, and he covers all the green fees, so it’s a 100% payout. I don’t take any money, he doesn’t take any money. I want to attract players to his room and get players to be comfortable in the environment and on the equipment, to make them regular customers,” he explained. Additionally, their goal is to make the leagues and tournaments accessible to players of all levels, from beginner to advanced, and foster an environment for learning and advancement.
With the recognition that pool halls and other spaces for both competition and social interaction have been dwindling in NYC, Aaron is seeking to create a fresh platform for pool that would also engage a larger audience through a range of other activities and opportunities to socialize.
“My idea was really to help revive the sport a bit. But we know that it needs to be more than just pool. There needs to be another element, otherwise we would suffer the same fate as a lot of these traditional places,” Aaron said...
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