What a shame! I bought my 1st Strat from them in Jan/1980. The salesman was Matt, what a gem of a guy, had no issue with me trying out over 20 strats. Manny's didn't want to let me try 1, so I went down the block to Rudy's and spent my money there. Sad news.
I've never been to New York but Rudy's was one of those iconic stores you always heard about. Along with Manny's & Uminov's, it was one of the NYC guitar stores I hoped to visit one day. Sad to hear it's closing.