Save Our Bars (SOBs)

[Wilfrid]

Good God, Siberia is back. And Tracy still runs it.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/06/as-siberia-gets-another-round-fallons-a-no-show

In the words of Alex Russo, "Did not see that coming."

[Wilfrid]

I just saw this: Jimmy's Corner under threat.

I don't know where I would begin to share memories of that place.

[small h]

That would be a huge loss. 

[Wilfrid]

Opened 1971. Jimmy passed away during the first round of COVID. Almost 50 years there; his son re-opened it. One of his sons.

[MitchW]

Robert Simonson writes a blog called The Mix.

Here's his latest piece, Lost City - How the Soul of a City Vanished.

Quote

I began to learn that New York could do without anyone or anything in 2006, when the powers that be in the Theater District decided it could do without McHale’s. McHale’s was an old corner bar that had fed and watered generations of actors, stagehands, writers and PR flacks for decades. In 2006, with nary a tear, the landlord pulled the plug. McHale’s closed and a tall glass tombstone, masquerading as a high-rise, went up in its place.

 

[Wilfrid]

Right, picking some old spots to revisit in the Theater District recently, I thought of McHale's, knowing it was gone.

Nearby Smith's is still there, but transformed from the dive it once was. Back in the day, a few theater-goers but mainly Local something union workers and al fresco sex workers taking a break.

The two Irish bartenders could keep order because they had a baseball bat behind the bar. The tiny guy in a waistcoat and bowtie bussed dishes like Broiled Fresh Waterfront and it was not unusual to see people drinking there with open wounds.

Old New York.

[small h]

Vaguely related - I've stopped into Mudville on Chambers a couple of times this past winter to wait for the bus, and it's pretty fancy. Was it always? I seem to remember a sketchy place on that same block.

[Wilfrid]

Although the name Mudville always drew my attention, I don't think I ever walked in.

[Wilfrid]

And I now see Smith's closed in 2024. 

This made me think of Holland Bar, a short walk downtown from there and across to 9th. That was a classic, narrow dive, the wall decorated with old beer mats and patrons in states of disrepair. I think it was spruced up a little in its later days.

I have stories about Port 41 too.

[small h]

58 minutes ago, Wilfrid said:

Holland Bar

Been there a bunch. I did not see its spruced up later days.

[cinghiale]

More from the Guardian on Jimmy’s Corner.

Edited April 11 by cinghiale

[Wilfrid]

Thank you!