A small bar in a shopping center which often hosted bands on its stage, Ground Zero opened in the late 1990s and was located at 1894 Newbridge Road in North Bellmore, New York. As noted by a Village Voice article penned by Under The Volcano founder Rich Black, Ground Zero leader Eric Weiss was "a seasoned veteran of the music industry" who had worked with "bands like Electric Frankenstein and The Misfits," "run the Florida punk label Kado from his Bellmore home, published a fanzine" and also fronted and played guitar for the band Rocket Blast Fury. The venue "regularly" allowed "kids of all ages to see hardcore and punk bands."
Among the notable artists who had graced the stage of Ground Zero, which appears to have closed in 2001, were Allister, New Found Glory, Brand New, Bayside, ASOB (featuring Jeff Rosenstock), This Year's Model (featuring Neil Rubenstein), Poison The Well, From Autumn To Ashes, Keepsake, Stretch Armstrong, Glassjaw, The Casualties, Shutdown, Piebald, Hot Rod Circuit, Showoff (Maverick Records-signed band), On The Might Of Princes, Blood Red, The Reunion Show (later signed to Victory Records), From Autumn To Ashes (later signed to Vagrant Records), Radio 4, and Errortype:11 (featuring Arty Shepherd).
Still from the filming of the documentary Bellmore: The Unscene:
Brand New live at Ground Zero:
Flyers related to the venue:
Sources:
https://bellmoretheunscene.blogspot.com/2010/05/ground-zero-closes-72801.html
https://www.setlist.fm/venue/ground-zero-bellmore-ny-usa-43d75f8f.html
https://www.villagevoice.com/making-noise-in-bellmore
https://www.tourdatesearch.com/tourdates/artist/1127/taking-back-sunday?p=78
https://www.reddit.com/r/brandnew/comments/1n31w4/brand_new_partial_set_ground_zero_2000/?rdt=64224
https://www.longislandrap.com/2021/08/bellmore-unscene.html
https://www.instagram.com/waterpistolmusic/p/DBdug2GJQNV
Researched by Darren Paltrowitz on April 13, 2025. Updated on June 23, 2025.
Guy Lombardo's East Point House was located at the foot of South Grove Street (now Guy Lombardo Avenue). Visuals and more information related to this space can be found here, courtesy of Regina G. Feeney and the New York Heritage Digital Collection.
Guy Lombardo reportedly purchased Liota's East Point House from John Liota in 1948 and renamed it. Lombardo was a bandleader famous for his New Year's Eve performances of Auld Lang Syne with his band The Royal Canadians. Lombardo was born Gaetano Alberto Lombardo in London, Ontario, Canada. His father had immigrated to Canada from Italy.
Below is an image from the Long Island History Project showing the East Point House as an outlet for purchasing tickets to a Lombardo-related event:
Content related to the space hosting live event was obtained from Facebook:
An interior photo of the space and a related postcard can be seen here. A 1970 New York Times article about the burning of the restaurant can be read here.
Researched by Darren Paltrowitz on November 25, 2025.