A few images by which to remember the great dive, which shuttered on Saturday, Jan. 28, after 47 years of capably serving drunkards, film mavens, hipsters, visiting Ukrainians, journalists, bartenders, Beatniks and W.H. Auden.
Forty-seven years, past the death of the owner, is not a bad run. But I'm treasuring my visits to the few remaining dives in this city more.
One thing the Mars Bar closing did is that it convinced me that the pre-Bloomberg, or pre-Giuliani (depending on who your main villian is in this process) era isn't coming back. Too many of the locales of the 70s, 80s, and early 90s era are gone, though at least thanks to the landmarks law alot of the look of the city has survived. At some point the hyper-gentrification era will end, all eras do, but whatever version of New York comes after that will still be completely different from earlier versions.
The original, running Jeremiad on the vestiges of Old New York as they are steamrolled under or threatened by the currently ruthless real estate market and the City Fathers' disregard for Gotham's historical and cultural fabric. Est. January 2006. Contact Me
I have lived in New York City since 1988 and earn my bread as a writer. I began this blog in January 2006. Beyond that, don't be so nosy.
"I am not a pessimist; to perceive evil where it exists is, in my opinion, a form of optimism."
—Roberto Rossellini
One of the old book jackets lining the walls of Chumley's. Eternal Shame on Bloomberg, the City Fathers, and the powers that be that this cultural landmark has STILL not been saved and reopened.
3 comments:
It's actually hard to believe it survived as long as it did
Forty-seven years, past the death of the owner, is not a bad run. But I'm treasuring my visits to the few remaining dives in this city more.
One thing the Mars Bar closing did is that it convinced me that the pre-Bloomberg, or pre-Giuliani (depending on who your main villian is in this process) era isn't coming back. Too many of the locales of the 70s, 80s, and early 90s era are gone, though at least thanks to the landmarks law alot of the look of the city has survived. At some point the hyper-gentrification era will end, all eras do, but whatever version of New York comes after that will still be completely different from earlier versions.
Dive bars seem to be an endangered species just about everywhere. It's not just a New York thing.
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