Keenan House Announces Abrupt and Unexplained Closure

With no explanation, Keenan House, atop Ossining's Main Street, has closed only a few short months after it celebrated an official grand opening. 

Owners simply posted the above on their Facebook page, illiciting a stream of shock and surprise from patrons and even employees. 

Apparently the staff, of which there are about dozen members, were no more in the know of what was coming than patrons. 

One employee, who spoke to Patch anonymously, said there had been a spat between two staffmembers on Saturday night, a night he described as the busiest they've seen there yet. A waiter walked out, so owner Steve Vascio was reportedly down one staffmember in an already slim crew. 

He and his wife attended to guests to keep the place open that night but this one employee speculated that the place was proving "too much work for him at the moment." 

Vascio has a full-time job with a construction company and two small children. Employees say he bought the building and spent all the money to renovate it into Keenan House with the intention to turn it around and resell it. 

But, certainly, this employee wonders, an open, and thriving business sells better than a closed one. "Why not perservere for a few months? In my view it's unfair to the workers and the community who supported it and worked so hard to make it as good as it is."

"It's a sad thing for everyone and the community," he said. "It was the rock of that street and the hope of the new Ossining." 

This employee said some staff are interested in saving the place, or at last hoping that someone will step up with the financials to do so, and save their jobs in the process. "I just love the place so much."

Vascio has not yet been reached for comment.