The Vagabond is gone.
After six years, the NE 14th Street nightspot will be shuttered. And the closing isn't next year, next month, or next week.
The club is closing today, according to co-owner Carmel Ophir.
See also: The Vagabond Miami: Five Classic Memories From the Fifth Anniversary Party
Glancing at The Vagabond's website, Facebook, and Twitter, it seems as if Ophir and crew are continuing about business as usual, hyping its Retro Thursdays party and even offering some suggestions for New Times' Best of Miami 2014 poll.
But in an interview with Miami.com, Ophir confirms: "It's with a heavy heart that I'm announcing that the time has come to bid farewell to The Vagabond.
"It's been a little over six years, and this chapter is coming to a close," the club's co-owner adds. "That doesn't mean that the book is over, but this particular chapter is."
For the last several months, even the last year, it's been apparent that The Vagabond had slipped into a lull, booking fewer high-profile bands and DJs than usual.
But as Ophir tells Miami.com, the club's closure is purely for personal and not business reasons.
"There's been a need for more assistance for my parents, and I have chosen to be there, basically," he says. "I absolutely love everything that is and was The Vagabond, as a club and as an atmosphere. I adore the incredible staff and everyone that came with it, most importantly the audience and the patrons.
"But, you know, I love my family more. You gotta do the right thing."
Another surprising revelation: Ophir and his partners, Rodney Mayo and DJ John Digweed, have sold the building where The Vagabond has been housed (and where he once planned to open an adjoining club, Barfly) to new owners who intend to launch a different nightlife venue on that near-hallowed ground.
R.I.P. The Vagabond Miami.
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