James McGown, the bar owner, restaurateur and real estate developer who has left a trail of bankruptcy petitions across New York in recent years, has taken a legal hit, and a judge on Thursday denied his request for an injunction that would have stopped his landlord from terminating his lease and evicting him from Brooklyn's oldest bar, Crains New York Business reported on Saturday. Earlier this year, McGown filed for chapter 11 protection for P.J. Hanley's and initially said that he would be auctioning off the business, but eventually rebranded the bar as Goldenrod. As part of the rebranding, he reportedly renovated the space into an 1890s revival alehouse. However, according to legal documents filed by his landlord, McGown did not have permission to make changes or modifications, nor did he obtain the correct permits for such construction. The ruling allows the legal team for the Hanley family to move forward with lease-termination proceedings and eventual eviction. This new lawsuit is just one in a string for McGown, who recently filed six bankruptcy petitions on his business ventures over the last four years.
