Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Café des Artistes, an Upper West Side haunt of New York painters and literati, filed for bankruptcy after closing down last month.

The restaurant listed debts of $494,657 against assets of $84,490 in its Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. Café des Artistes owes a union benefit trust $116,471 and is facing a lawsuit from the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union Welfare Fund, it said in court papers.

Federal law halts lawsuits and blocks creditors from taking actions without court permission against a debtor that has filed for bankruptcy. No judge had yet been assigned to the case.

Café des Artistes, on West 67th Street, attracted people attending theater, music and dance events at nearby Lincoln Center. The restaurant, open since 1917, was run by George Lang and his wife, Jenifer, who signed the bankruptcy petition. On the walls are murals of naked nymphs and satyrs by the American artist Howard Chandler Christy.

The closing is the latest blow to New York’s restaurant industry, which has endured an 11 percent sales decline over the past three months. This year, 512 New York restaurants have closed, according to NDP Group, a market research company.

In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy a court-appointed trustee takes over stewardship of a business’s assets and sells them to pay creditors.

The case is In re Café des Artistes Inc., 09-15437, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Scinta in New York bankruptcy court at cscinta@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 9, 2009 16:40 EDT