They Got the Number Right

The world is still waiting for Greenwich Village's classic speakeasy, Chumley's, to come back from the dead. But here's a good sign. The joint's iconic address is back up!

Many theorize that the term "86"—as in scram, nix that, lose that, get rid of that, cancel—derived from Chumley's address of 86 Bedford Street. Whenever the cops would raid the speakeasy, the bartender would get a heads up, and the patrons would quickly file out the back door into a courtyard that led to Barrow street. The customers were "86"'d.

I spoke to the new owner a few weeks ago. There had been various reports that the bar would open this fall. He told me the reports were inaccurate and that there was no guarantee that he's open for business by Dec. 31, although he wished he would. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was doubtful he would, though.

However, seeing the old number 86 back where it belongs warms the heart.

Chumley's Looking Like It Might Actually Return Someday

I kinda, sorta, secretly gave up on the idea of Chumley's rebirth sometime in early 2010. The collapse of the historic, wonderful old speakeasy in 2007 tore my heart in two, and the subsequent indifference of the City and the utter perfidy of the scurrilous landlord killed me. Then the 19th-century brick building was torn down and a horrid pile of cinder blocks started rising from the ground in fits and starts. We were supposed to pretend this pretender was Chumley's back from the grave? I didn't even believe the ugly facsimile would ever see the dawn of day. Chumley's was gone. That was that.

Still, I have to admit I was surprised and hopeful when I turned the corner at Bedford Street and found this. It looks rather like a building, doesn't it? The cornice is plastic and crappy, the windows no great shakes, and it's half way to disguising itself as a brownstone. But it's something; enough to make me partly believe that a functioning building will actually one day soon stand on the site where Chumley's was. It still won't be Chumley's, even if they stuff the joint full with the original booths and pictures and bric-a-brac that used to make up the interior of the original bar. It will be a fake. But it will no longer be a complete failure, a despair-inducing hole in the ground.

I noticed something else cheering while I was checking out Chumley's. The building to the right of it—which was also in bad shape after the collapse, and under construction for a long time—now seems to be up and running. There's a light in the window, a newly refurbished doorway (albeit padlocked and covered in plastic), a fresh look to the old bricks. It's been brought back from the dead.

Chumley's OK'd for Booze, Should It Ever Open

Chumley's, should it ever rise from the ashes of Bedford Street, will be allowed to serve liquor, just as it had, legally and illegally (Prohibition) for nearly a century before the building bit the dust in 2007.

Eater has filed a report of the recent Community Board 2 meeting:

What could have been a contentious application ended up being pretty nice and smooth. The only bump came when a community member spoke out against the owner’s proposed weekend closing time of 4AM, something the board seemed ready to sign off on. Dude spat measured, logical, and respectful fire, explaining that the old Chumley’s management was always receptive and reactive when neighbors filed complaints, but that it would be unreasonable for them to ask for this when the old hours were 2AM, and when a destination spot such as this one generates so much traffic in such a quiet neighborhood. It was the sort of thing that reminds you why these meetings exist, and everyone in attendance seemed more than surprised. The dialogue continued until the owner agreed to operate under the old hours, with the committee inviting him to return to make his case after a one-year trial period. NB: according to the lawyer, they “have no idea” when the space should be ready to go.

"Have no idea." Yup.

Chumley's Applies for Liquor License?

Eater has uncovered the curious fact that Chumley's, the Village landmark now closed for two and a half years, has applied for a liquor license.

Encouraging news, I guess. And strange. You'd think they might want to get around to finishing the new building first. Or maybe they've given up on ever having a real roof again, and have opted for a beer garden thing, with people drinking in the open air. Very 19th century. Whatever.

UPDATE: Aha! Eater has a spot report that workers have resumed labor at the long-dormant Chumley's site. Still another year to go, apparently.

This Week on Lost City

Carroll Gardens' Basil War Came to a Bitter End; While Carroll Gardens' Bike War Raged On; the Situation at Chumley's Got Worse; The Former Brothers Bar-B-Cue Continued to Decline; City Council's Land-use Committee Approved The City's Rezoning of Coney Island That Nobody Likes; Bloomberg Polluted the City With His Idling SUV; I Went to La Sevilla.

What's New With Chumley's?

Absolutely nothing. Unless you count the odd bit of netting which is now draped like a canopy over the long-suffering construction site of the all-but-dead-and-buried former speakeasy. Otherwise, progress on the rebuild is at the same standstill is was three months ago.

There are also some gaps in the plywood now, so I was able to fetch the below shot of the inside.

Who's Mike? And What Was He to Chumley's

I went by Chumley's recently, because a reader sent me a disturbing note saying that she had "inside news" that the former speakeasy would never reopen, at least not in that location.

I didn't find out anything new, except to spot a couple recent notices (May 4) from the DOB stating they had tried, and failed, to gain access to make an inspection.

But while walking away, I stumbled upon a mystery I couldn't fathom. At the corner of Bedford and Barrow, scrawled in chalk and marker on the brick wall, are a great number of messages to one Mike. Based on the tenor of the notes ("Have a good journey. We will meet again"; "Whatever will become of this space, we will never forget you"; "For 40 years we talked and walked about being vets"), Mike appears to have passed away. He also seems to have something to do with Chumley's. The longest message reads, "Mike, you and Chumley's have come and gone from here, but it is you that I miss."

A former bartender? A longtime patron? Anybody out there know?

Chumley's Grinds to a Halt Again

Six weeks ago the blogosphere was cheerfully reporting that, after months, nay years, of sitting idle, the Greenwich Village site that once held the legendary speakeasy Chumley's was showing signs of rebirth. Walls were rising. The skeletons of dormer windows were being built.

The world suddenly looked a little less bleak.

So I popped by old 86 Bedford today, expecting progress on the building to have doubled over again. And....nothing.

It looks just like it did in early March. Why? Well, a Stop Work Order might have something to do with it. The DOB issued one on March 19—less than a week after the news cycle that heralded the progress at Chumley's. Said the report: "EGRESS - LOCKED/BLOCKED/IMPROPER/NO SECONDARY MEANS. NO FDNY PERMIT PROVIDED FOR STORAGE & USE OF COMBUSTIBLE COMPRESSED GAS."

Work appears to have resumed late in March, but two more complaints of illegal work were issued on March 27 and April 16. Whatever's going on, there's not much to show for it on the outside. C'mon, guys. The weather's good. It's time to work!

Some Stuff That's Interesting

Andrew Berman gets some things off his chest. [The Villager]

Coney Island scourge Joe Sitt is working his charm again, this time frightening clowns away. [Curbed]

Chumley's has a new predicted opening date—fall 2009! We sorta believe this one a little more than the previous nine predictions. [The Villager]

Why couldn't they have just let the roof cave in? [NY Post]

A nice film of the interior of the RKO Keith in Flushing. [Queens Crap]

Details magazine thinks Park Slope's O'Connor's is a dive (correct), as well at Times Square's Jimmy's Corner (wrong). Dives are on the decrepit side and are home to sad boozehounds. Jimmy's is simply a nice, well-kept, modest bar. It's old and unfancy, not down and out. [Details]

Queens is Pinko. [Restless]

There was a road called Bloomingdale. [Harlem Bespoke]

Some nice photos from near the Hudson. [Greenwich Village Daily Photo]

Abraham and Straus, "Brooklyn's Greatest Retail Store," remembered. [Forgotten New York]

Can It Be?

Yes it can. Chumley's, the former speakeasy that has been dead for two years now since its chimney collapsed, and has been in a state of snail-paced construction every since, is actually starting to look like a building again.

Curbed shows JVNY's pictorial evidence that the cinder-block walls now hold up the wooden skeleton of a roof, with dormers (!). (The above comparison shot is Curbed's.) A Curbed commenter notes that work has really stepped up on the place in recent months. I still suspect it will be 2012 before the place is serving beers again, but I'll what good news I can get.

Chumley's: Not Much Doing

I swung by Chumley's the other night to see what was doing. Answer: nothing much. Doesn't look like anything's been done since the Times wrote an update on the old speakeasy back in August. The dispiriting new cinder-block facade looks to be at the same state of construction it was them. I guess the fact that people are still trying to resurrect the place at all after all this time is a sign of something hopeful.

Meanwhile, people are still discovering that the bar is closed and dismantled. A guy walking by me said, "Chumley's is gone? Man, that sucks. Gone? Wow. What a great place. That really sucks. I can't believe Chumley's is gone. That really sucks." Yeah. That about says it.

Somewhat Encouraging News About Chumley's

Work has gone on so long on Chumley's, and so many promises of a coming reopening have come and gone, that many of us have given up all hope that the former Greenwich Village speakeasy, which collapsed and closed in April 2007, would ever see the light of day again.

However, The New York Times, which hasn't paid the attention it should, published an article on Aug. 29 that is slightly encouraging in that the parties involved don't seem to have cried "uncle" just yet. According to the story, the job has taken so long because, every time they think they've got all the structural problems covered, another ugly difficulty surfaces. Here are some excerpts:

The landlord, Margaret Streicker Porres... said the most recent timetable called for the work to be completed in "midfall of this year." But the contractors discovered still more problems earlier this month, and she said the architects and engineers had been conferring with the Buildings Department. [Partner] Mr. Miller said he now hoped Chumley’s would reopen early next spring — "or, if we’re lucky, late winter."

"They were always going to put up a new facade," he said, standing across Bedford Street, looking at the new front wall. The old facade "was always in bad enough disrepair that it needed to go down and come back up."

But far more work turned out to be necessary, including a new roof and a second wall...

There was also asbestos that had to be removed, Ms. Streicker Porres said, and a part of the basement that that had to be rebuilt. The foundation in the front, below the new facade, had to be replaced. And that was just in the front of the building. Ms. Streicker Porres said structural integrity had turned out to be a problem in the middle and the rear sections. "The conditions there are as bad or worse than what happened in the front of the building," she said.

More Sad Pictures of Chumley's

Eater today displays the latest pictorial evidence that Chumley's will not be taking any summertime trade. Sigh. I recognized that brick arch well. I passed under it many a time. Ah well. At least they're trying.

Some Stuff That's Disappearing

Revised "Amity Street Horror" gets conditional approval from CB6 and, hey, we don't like to kick a developer when he keeps trying.

Chumley's is disappearing before our eyes and I have no idea what it all means.

The late great Revere Sugar refinery is now IKEA's overflow parking lot.

More evidence nobody cares about landmarked buildings.

The Armando's sign in Brooklyn Heights has been taken down. I wonder who got it, if anybody.

No Chumley's For May

Here it is my sad duty to report that the latest touted reopening date for Chumley's—May—is not to be. Not unless they draft a few superheroes on to the construction crew between now and the end of the month.

Steve Shlopak, the owner of the famed bar, back in February told Lost City itself that the place would open for business again in this Merry Month. Of course, he's made promises before. Work does continue on the building. There's a new piece of scaffolding in the inner courtyard that wasn't there when I last looked. But this saloon is nowhere close to being ready to accept customers. And I don't see how it will ever open with just a few guys puttering around inside from time to time. A near wreck like 86 Bedford Street needs an army of workers buzzing around it 24 hours a day to have a hope in hell of rising up from the ashes.

April 5, 2008, passed with barely any recognition that the City has been without Chumley's for one whole year. Does anyone care out there? Is there no one with money and a mind who will step up to the task of saving this landmark? I hear there's a guy who lives on the Upper East Side and works in City Hall who's fairly well off and has a lot of influence. I hear he gives aways millions of dollars a year to worthy causes Maybe he's be a good guy for the job.

Works Continues at Chumley's

Not much of an update here, except to say that work continues on the restoration of Chumley's. As of yesterday, the back door was open, various dumpsters were in evidence, work lights were on and people were inside. Construction commenced on Feb. 25. So that's nearly a month's worth of labor. Still plenty of work to do, but this tiny flame of hope is not yet snuffed out.

Some Stuff That's Interesting

The New York Times pays a little attention to the great JJ Hat Center. (Smashing photograph above.)

Citizens participated in a rally at St. Savoir's; local politicians did not.

A coffee tree grows in Brooklyn.

Bloomberg can't get past the idea that he belongs in The White House.

Wikipedia is fatalistic about Chumley's. According to its entry, the speakeasy has closed "forever."

Rumblings at Chumley's

Well, whaddaya know. What I reported turned out to be true. Construction did begin at Chumley's on Monday, just list owner Steve Shlopak said. Eater posted evidence of the activity and the sight cheers my heart. I think the predicted opening date of May is pretty damn optimistic, but at least the building's not sitting there silent.

Does Chumley's Road to New Life Begin Monday?

I was in the Village recently and thought I'd swing by the wreck of Chumley's to mope over the tragedy of it all for a while. To my surprise, I found the door leading to the speakeasy's secret courtyard back entrance open, so I went in to cast my eyes on the long-unseen wooden door.

As I loitered there, I was surprised by the sudden entrance of a man who asked if I was looking for Chumley's. "May," he said. Huh? "It will open in May. Work begins on Monday." Assuming he was a neighbor, I asked if that's what he had heard from the owner. "I am the owner," he said. Egads! This was Steve Shlopak.

Shlopak has name a lot of dates for the reopening in the past: October, Thanksgiving, etc. But the mention of Monday as a start-work date was very specific and set my heart a-fluttering with newfound hope. Let's hope there's some truth in it.

Chumley's: A View Inside, Finally

Curbed has posted the first glimpse in some time into the interior of the Chumley's, the landmark speakeasy that fell to grief last April. It's a sad sight. This is all that could be accomplished in eight months time?

It's hard to tell much from this shot, but one can at least perceive the arch which separated the dining room from the bar area, and the area where the brick fireplace used to be. What I want to know is: where are the countless framed book jackets that lined the walls just above the booths, and the many framed photographs of the authors who wrote those books and frequently the tavern? Where are they being kept? Are they safe? Or where they destroyed beyond repair when the wall collapsed? Those artifacts, after all, were a great part of what made Chumley's special and historical.

And who's got the freakin' wooden phonebooth!?