Green Café –– the 24-hour eatery that brought Manhattan-style glitz and glamour to the heart of Collegetown for the past year –– has shut down indefinitely due to apparent legal and financial problems.   

Its glass doors at the corner of College Avenue and Dryden Road are now closed with a bright green lock.  A court order that mandates the premises be secured was posted prominently on the front door.

The sign on the door reads “secured by Edward Y. Crossmore, as receiver, pursuant to Court Order dated April 1, 2010.” It states that there will be a court date on Apr. 23 at the Tompkins County Courthouse.

Green with anger: One student looks into a shut-down Green Cafe. Once a late-night favorite among Collegetown patrons, the restaurant has fallen into recent trouble with landlords. - By: Matt Hintsa

On Thursday, Collegetown Center LLC –– the landlord of the premises occupied by Green Café –– filed a motion in court against Green Café in response to the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

The motion and the subsequent court order comes a day after Green Café’s bankruptcy filing was dismissed by a federal bankruptcy court on the grounds that the company had inadequate legal representation. The judge’s order of dismissal states that Green Café’s attorney, Na-Kyung Kang, “failed to comply with the court’s directives” on “four occasions” and “failed to appear at two telephonic hearings to consider her appointment” as the company’s counsel.

Green Café’s legal and financial woes began as early as February when the company first filed for bankruptcy. 

In a Feb. 18 court filling, Green Café, Inc. President Charles Park said that although Green Café initially “generated more income than anyone had expected,” the company experienced a “sharp decrease in its revenue during the summer of 2009.”

“In the fall semester of 2009, Green Café, Inc. could not recover due to the effects of the swine flu epidemic,” Park wrote in the court document. “However, it is anticipated that the economy will recover soon and since spring is approaching, it is expected that there will be substantial increase in sale which will provide sufficient resources and cash for operation of [Green Café].”

Green Café had nearly $1.5 million in liabilities in February, according to a balance sheet the company filled in federal bankruptcy court. Green Café owed $352,332 in rent, $58,889 in taxes and $25,000 in wages, the document shows. It also listed $1 million as “secured debt.”

Joon Sukman Lee ’10, an employee of Green Café, said that “Green Café is going to be closed for a while.”

“It most likely won’t be open again for the rest of the year,” Lee added.

For now, the café remains closed but cheeses still sit prominently in the refrigerator case and leftover muffins are in the bakery section. The trashcans are overflowing and, aptly, the “Open 24 Hours a Day” sign has been covered.

Neither Green Café's owner, his attorney, nor a representative from Collegetown Center LLC could be reached for comment Thursday evening. 

Cara Sprunk, Ben Gitlin and Michael Stratford contributed reporting to this story.