NEW YORK, NY April 07, 2007 —The historic Greenwich Village bar Chumley's will remain closed indefinitely.

REPORTER: The Buildings Department says engineers are working to stabilize the building after an interior wall collapsed Thursday. The onetime speakeasy dating back to 1922 was a favorite among writers such as John Steinbeck and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Thomas Hoover lives across the street from Chumley's and is a writer himself.

HOOVER: I moved to the village 30 years ago because of all of the literary tradition. Only I didn't realize that was another generation ago. There's nothing now but T-shirt shops where there used to be these cafes of people writing great american novels. So I got here a little bit late.

REPORTER: Chumley's is housed in a three story building that has been up for sale since January. The list price for the property is $3.75 million.