Wooden Phone Booth Sighting: Capri "Smoke If You Got 'Em" Social Club

The Capri Social Club, on Calyer Street, near Lorimer, in Greenpoint, is one of the few bars left in the city where you can smoke. That's because it is what it says it is: a social club, not a bar, with members et al. (Take that, Bloomie!) However, its private status doesn't prevent lowlifes like me from walking in off the street and copping a brew.

A visit is well rewarded by the untouched interior, which includes two long wooden bars on either side (only one of which is in operation); old, coin-operated peanut and candy machines; walls of aging signage, including advertisements for long-gone beers; an old 1930s-era radio; an ornate wooden partition that separates the bar area from a back room perfectly suited for larger partying; and the Pièce de résistance, an operating wooden phone booth, with wooden seat, overhead light and operated fan.

The place is apparently known locally as "Irene's Bar."



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