Greg Stouall, a 15-year bowler at Van Wyck Lanes, packed his gear last week after seeing the notice below.
Queens bowlers better get another hobby.
The borough's pin-pushers are in the gutter amid news that one local alley has closed, another will close soon and others may follow.
"It's becoming more and more inconvenient for us to love this sport," said bowler Marilyn Watkins, 53, of Jamaica.
"An era of the sport we all love is basically being taken away. It's very, very frightening."
On Friday, the fate of Woodhaven Lanes in Glendale was sealed when a businessman who wanted to keep it running as a bowling alley said he had lost out to a retail store.
A week earlier, scores of bowlers arrived at Van Wyck Lanes in Richmond Hill only to find the premises shuttered.
Experts said the Queens bowling alley closings are part of a national trend marked by diminishing ranks of competitive bowlers and soaring payouts for land the alleys occupy.
Some 82 bowling alleys across the country - including 14 in New York - closed between July 2006 and July 2007, according to the U.S. Bowling Congress, the sport's national governing body.
The large sizes of the alleys make them desirable targets to developers. "Getting that 5-acre tract in Queens is probably pretty hard to do," said Jeff Bojé, president of the U.S. Bowling Congress.
The future of Queens bowling became very dim in recent weeks, starting with the closing of Van Wyck Lanes on April 25 after 48 years in operation.
The operator, AMF Bowling Centers, sold its long-term lease to a clothing store, said AMF spokesman Merrell Wreden.
"That leaves a lot of people who enjoy the sport out there with possibly nothing to do," griped Van Wyck Lanes regular Jerry Dumpson, 51, of Howard Beach.
The news got worse when John LaSpina, a bowling alley operator who was trying to purchase Woodhaven Lanes - open since 1959 - learned Friday his bid had failed.
"It's like you ask someone out on a date, and you don't get the date," LaSpina said.
The alley's operator, Brunswick, is leaving as part of a strategy to cluster its alleys in areas where it already has a strong presence, said company spokesman Dan Kubera.
The final day for Woodhaven Lanes is May 18.
"This is very devastating," said bowler Gerard Montuori, 49, of Maspeth. "It feels like someone actually stabbed me with a knife and is twisting it."
