Bowery Presents Themselves
There is an article in the New York Times about the booking prowess of the good folks at Bowery Presents with a nice history of the little club empire they have build. They have gradually expanded their size of their clubs they own with the idea that once you find a band with huge potential, you might as well try to keep them in the family as they move up the ladder of New York venues.
Supposedly there is a war going on for midsized venues with new ones popping up all over town. Location is an important factor. Any small club open every day would have major problems surviving in Manhattan above 14th street and west Union Square. Brooklyn is another story.
But ultimately, the booking is what determines whether a venue lives or dies. Some of those venues are destined to fail but I think Bowery Presents will be around for a while.