Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Telephone Bar. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Telephone Bar. Sort by date Show all posts

Friday, March 21, 2014

Whatever happened to those British call boxes outside The Telephone Bar on Second Avenue?


Hard to believe that The Telephone Bar & Grill on Second Avenue near East Ninth Street closed a little more than four years ago. The 22-year-old bar was later replaced by (glug! glug!) The 13th Step.

The front of bar was adorned with those old-timey phone booths (or, rather, British call boxes!).

In case you were a fan of the bar, this is for you.

An EVG Facebook friend came across a post yesterday on Messy Nessy Chic featuring a Harlem-based company called The Demolition Depot, which "makes it their business to go in and salvage the irreplaceable pieces of a building’s architectural heritage."

And at the Demolition Depot, you will find these booths for sale...



Now if we could only find some of those old Mars Bar stools...

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Telephone Bar and Grill closing after 22 years

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Sell phones

Back in February we wondered how long before the old red booths were removed at the now-shuttered Telephone Bar on Second Avenue...



Now East Village Feed (via Eater) has the answer... they were removed today as work on the new frat bar continues.... a reader said the booths will be sold at an auction.


Previously on EV Grieve:
Ringing in the 13th Step: Old Telephone Bar will lose its Telephones

The Telephone Bar and Grill closing after 22 years

What's coming to The Telephone Bar space? Some fratty debauchery, perhaps

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The Telephone Bar hangs it up



As I first reported on Jan. 13, The Telephone Bar & Grill on Second Avenue near Ninth Street, an EV mainstay the last 22 years, was closing at the end of the month... there was an "end of the era" farewell Sunday night for regulars...and today, the bar was papered over...awaiting its new tenant, something from the owner of Down The Hatch, among others...

My post on Jan. 13 solicted several reader comments...an outpouring that took me by surprise...

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Telephone Bar and Grill closing after 22 years

What's coming to The Telephone Bar space? Some fratty debauchery, perhaps

Monday, March 15, 2010

Tearing up the Telephone

If you were a fan of the Telephone Bar and Grill on Second Avenue, then you may want to avoid looking at this photo... I caught a glimpse inside the bar, which closed at the end of January. Looks as if the new owners are doing a complete gut renovation of the space... they've already auctioned off most of the old fixtures and equipment....



The bar is still there, but little else remains. And on the right is a pile of what can be best described as rubble...

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village to somehow get frattier: What's coming to the former Telephone Bar

Ringing in the 13th Step: Old Telephone Bar will lose its Telephones

Monday, March 22, 2010

Another interior shot of the former Telephone Bar

Last Monday we posted a photo that we quickly took of the former Telephone Bar's gut renovation on Second Avenue... Since then, an EV Grieve reader got inside for a much better photo of the work being done...



Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village to somehow get frattier: What's coming to the former Telephone Bar

Ringing in the 13th Step: Old Telephone Bar will lose its Telephones

Thursday, July 29, 2010

13th Step owner discusses frat rap, telephone booths and bar names



On Tuesday, Billy Gray had a piece at Guest of a Guest titled, 13th Step Vs. Billy Hurricanes: Which Will Be The East Village's Most Hated Bar?

As Billy wrote, "The 13th Step is part of a massive evil empire whose leaders, unlike Billy Hurricanes', haven't even feigned interest in preserving neighborhood character. But the locals have already taken the all-important first step and admitted they have a problem with (decreasingly) out of place new arrivals."

I've been pretty tough on the 13th Step too... so, in fairness, I asked Michael Asch, one of the two senior co-owners of the 13th Step, and its sibling bars Down the Hatch, The Stumble Inn, Off the Wagon, et al, for his reaction to Billy's article...and other topics... we exchanged messages via Facebook (Michael previously invited me to the 13th Step's opening on July 6, which I did not attend) ... here's, in part, what he had to say ...

"[I found the piece] completely obnoxious ... and immature. The fact that we are being labeled frat bars and bad for a neighborhood's character is totally uncalled for and, for that matter, just plain ignorant."

On the Telephone's legacy:

"How many times are people going to say how upset they are about the removal of telephone booths and for that matter, the Telephone Bar? Has it not occurred to them that the Telephone Bar, as well as many other places that people hold onto in their memories, are going out of business for a reason?"


[Telephone photo via]

On their business model:

"My partner and I spend months and big bucks doing everything that we possibly can to build new spaces with tons of character and old-world charm. In fact, that is what we pride ourselves on.

"We end up with a classic, well-thought-out, safe environment ... a great and inexpensive venue where locals can come and eat, drink, watch sports (yes on 28 TVs -- is that so bad?) ... for just a few bucks.

"We always stay within the letter of the law, and have always run our establishments with the community in mind on many levels. We have had virtually no violations of any kind over a combined 50-plus years in New York. We get involved with many charities, both local and national, sponsor local groups and teams, and attend police precinct meetings regularly and proactively.

"We, too, are saddened by Duane Reade, Starbucks and the other big-chain-store takeovers of these neighborhoods. We are the exact opposite. We try and move with the times, by opening venues that will give value, and most important, create jobs for the city and these areas."

On coming up with the name the 13th Step:

"We do use names that make you stop and laugh, smile or, maybe in some few instances, grimace, but that is solely a marketing tool that has been successful for our formula.

"We never knew of the unofficial meaning regarding a new AA member being flirted with by current members when we chose the name. We always do a naming contest with friends, family and regulars. We get thousands of creative and comical names, and then a committee votes. [The 13th Step] was meant to be nothing more than the fictitious step that a person would take after having completed the 12-step program. They jokingly would naturally go have a beer and a burger in their local pub. Nothing more, nothing less. We polled dozens of New Yorkers who have been to, or are currently attending, AA meetings, and found 100 percent of them, young and old, to not only find the name funny, but many think it is fantastic, genius, creative, etc.

"Mind you, while we are very inexpensive compared to most other venues in NYC, we DO NOT promote binge drinking, or excessive drinking at all. We strive for great times to be had by all, in a safe and relaxed atmosphere."

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

East Village to somehow get frattier: What's coming to the former Telephone Bar

A reader passed along the news of the new bar coming to the old Telephone space... the 13th Step



From the frat-friendly folks behind The Stumble Inn, Off the Wagon and Down the Hatch.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Telephone Bar and Grill closing after 22 years

What's coming to The Telephone Bar space? Some fratty debauchery, perhaps

Friday, February 12, 2010

Ringing in the 13th Step: Old Telephone Bar will lose its Telephones

On Monday, we wondered if the new owners of the former Telephone Bar would keep those iconic booths out front...



An EV Grieve reader talked with some workers in front of the bar. "They informed me the landmark Telephone booths will be sold at an auction soon too. So sad."

Given that the new bar coming here is named after a euphemism for inappropriate sexual advances by an AA member to a newcomer in AA... telephone booths really don't fit the theme...


[Telephone photo via]

Monday, February 8, 2010

Auction at the Telephone Bar

On Jan. 31, the Telephone Bar closed on Second Avenue near Ninth Street... Earlier today, I noticed an auction sign up on one of the Telephone booths...



Here's what was for sale:

MICHAEL AMODEO CO., INC. Auctrs
SELL MONDAY FEBRUARY 8, 2010 AT 2:30 PM
AT 149 SECOND AVENUE, MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY, NEAR 9th ST.
WELL KNOWN RESTAURANT & BAR
600Lb. Ice Machine, Blodgett Electric Convection Oven, Hobart 30Qt Mixer, Hobart Potato Peeler, 1&2 Door Refrigerators & Freezers, 3Ft Charcoal Grill, Deep Fryers, 4 & 6 Burner Stoves, Traulsen Fish File, 2 Head Espresso Machine, Coffee Urns, Upright Broiler, S.S. Sinks & Tables, Hobart Upright Dishwasher with S.S. Drain Boards, Steam Table, Bain Marie, 20 Bar Stools, 40 Tables with Old Fashioned Cast Iron Bases, 100 Chairs, Banquets, 16Ft Chef’s Line, Sound Equipment, JBL Speakers, 3 Flat Screen TV’s, POS System with 4 Screens & 5 Printers, 8x10 Aluminum Walk-In Refrigerator, S.S. Pots, Pans, Trays, China Dinnerware, Glassware Utensils & Much More. Inspection: Day Of Sale 1PM To Sale Time. Terms: Cash or Bank Cashiers Checks. 15% Buyers Premium. DCA#528663. Auctioneers Phone: 212-473-6830 or 917-776-1080.

Nothing about phone booths. Do you think the new owners will keep the phone booth motif?

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Ghost signage at former Telephone Bar and Grill?

The exterior work on the former Telephone Bar continues on Second Avenue near Ninth Street... EV Grieve reader Miranda sent this shot along from last Friday morning, when the work was really getting started outside...



Made easier, of course, without those pesky old red telephone booths... and work continued yesterday... So... What I can't recall... is that Bar & Grill sign part of the old Telephone signage from a few years back?




It just doesn't look like signage for what is coming to this address, the lovingly named 13th Step...

Previously on EV Grieve:
The 13th Step sure to be big with the AA crowd

Monday, June 28, 2010

Whatever happened to simple bar names... and concepts?

I'm thinking about some of the bars that I like in the neighborhood... Joe's, Mona's, Lucy's, Sophie's, Manitoba's, 2A, 7B ... all have pretty simple names — and concepts. Some other bars have been around long enough that I don't even think twice about the names anymore ... the International, the Blue & Gold, Mar's Bar, the Phoenix, the Grassroots, the Holiday Cocktail Lounge ...

Apparently, simplicity doesn't work anymore ... simple names, simple concepts... In the Times last week, Frank Bruni noted the three owners of the new Blind Barber on East 10th Street:

"This troika of tricksters is determined to get your attention. That’s no easy feat in the crowded downtown drinkscape, where the competition comes armed with secret entrances, hidden alleys, pharmaceutical paraphernalia, taxidermy. What’s left? A bar with barbers, it turns out."

Given the economics, I suppose you can no longer open a bar called Jim's where people could come and drink and have conversations and be profitable.

No, wait. I suppose you can no longer open a bar called Jim's where people who live in the neighborhood could come and drink and have conversations and be profitable.

So let's take a look at some of the new bars (and restaurants) that just opened or are opening very soon in the neighborhood:

1) The 13th Step



The team behind Down the Hatch is opening the 13th Step at the former Telephone Bar on Second Avenue. I posted this back in February.

The term the 13th Step means: This term is used as a euphemism for inappropriate sexual advances by a member to a newcomer in AA (such as sponsors toward sponsees).

In a post on the new 13th Step sign last week... some readers here weighed in...:

13th step. What the fuck is that, now we're gonna get all quaint and cutesy and ironic about alcoholism? Gawd sometimes I really hate people and their "creative ideas".


And!

Pretty soon we will have more bars with ridiculous flippant alcohol problem-referencing names like "The Drunk Tank", "Drunk and Disorderly's", "Alcohol Poisoning", "The Binge", "DUI"... possibilites are endless.


2) SRO

Theres's a new upscale winery coming to Stanton in the Bowery... at the former annex for the SRO Sunshine Hotel. So. The new owners tastefully decided to name this place... SRO... This name annoyed the CB3/SLA committee last Monday night, as Eater noted. (Read BoweryBoogie's coverage of this place here.)

As Jeremiah wrote about SRO: "another unfortunate appropriation of poverty-related language by caterers to the affluent. Hey, why not call it Flophouse? Or Soup Kitchen? Or Skid Row? Wouldn't that be hip? How about Scabies?"

3) The Ninth Ward



As Fork in the Road reported, the owners of Shoolbred's are taking over the former Thai on Two space on Second Avenue. Per the Fork:

"The new place will have an 1890s' New Orleans feel, with absinthe drips and classic cocktails, much like Laffite's or the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street. Some food — most likely, Cajun standards — will be served."


Fine, but... When I heard that name, I recalled my trip to New Orleans in the fall of 2006 — nearly 14 months after Hurricane Katrina wiped out portions of the city. A friend, who was born and raised in New Orleans, took me for a tour of the devastation in various parts of the city, including the Lower Ninth Ward. Houses had been knocked off foundations. Not much remained except some muck — layers of canal water, sewage and dirt — and mold. Doesn't make me feel like a cocktail.

On Friday afternoon, Fork in the Road noted Louisiana-transplant and writer Cajun Boy's reaction via Twitter:

A New Orleans-themed bar in NYC called Ninth Ward has opened. Maybe I'll open a NYC-themed bar in New Orleans and call it World Trade Center


4) Billy Hurricane's



In the former Rehab/Midway space (and Save the Robots) space at 25 Avenue B, an upstairs/downstairs combo is opening soon. Grub Street reported in April that the owners will open the "Bourbon. Beer. Rock'–themed Idle Hands in the basement space while upstairs a group with ties to Thunder Jackson’s and Point Break will open Billy Hurricanes, a Mardi Gras–themed bar trafficking in frozen daiquiris, Cajun food, and a signature drink that will be limited to two per person."



Billy's has a blog. The first post notes:

Once we get the kitchen finalized, among other things... we will be ready to rock!
Watch out for our opening night party... will be off the hook!
Please welcome us to the neighborhood.
Are you ready to rock!?


DNAinfo had a follow-up on Billy's/Idle Hands a few weeks back. Per Patrick Hedlund's story:

But even though its door have yet to open, the space has already been forced to contend with negative criticisms that have cast the bar as a theme-park-style venue that will attract rowdy crowds to the residential area.

"There's always going to be somebody who doesn't like it and doesn't want you there," said co-owner Rob Morton, 37 ...

Morton responded to the snipes by saying his group is simply following a long list of glitzier nightlife establishments that have flocked to the formerly gritty area.

"You can't yearn for a neighborhood that was," he said
.

Or can you?

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The Telephone Bar and Grill closing after 22 years


An EV Grieve readers points us to the Facebook page of The Telephone Bar and Grill on Second Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street... where this message awaits:

In case you haven't heard: Telephone has been sold will be closing on Jan.31st.
This is a special invite to all Telephone family past and present who have shared in so many memories. All are welcome!!




[Telephone photo via]

Friday, July 2, 2010

The 13th Step to feature 28 flatscreen TVs, 8.5-hour happy hour (and deep-fried hot dogs)



The 13th Step opens on Thursday on Second Avenue, and Thrillist has the scoop on what to expect:

Named after the AA term for hooking up with one’s sponsor, 13S's morphed the former Telephone Bar space into a down-to-business, 28-flatscreen sports spot; the booth-lined main room’s been revamped with a wood-topped bar and a brass ceiling rocking custom amber fixtures, while the the back now features two rooms that share the same spanking-new bar, but’re separated down the middle by a wrought iron gate with swinging doors, which’ll let anyone inside. In spite of eating up most of the kitchen space, the standard bar menu’s studded with adventurous booze-sponges, including bacon, egg, and cheese sliders; cheese/gravy-/bacon-smothered tots; pulled-pork-stuffed burgers; and deep fried dogs, aka rippers, which don’t need jack to tear your heart out. The drink’s fittingly straight ahead as well, with a fully stocked bar backed by 14 drafts, local bottles, and old-school cans of Schaefer, Carling Black Label, and Sly Fox IPA, which coincidentally is also crazy...delicious!

Upping the imbibery's a recurring 8.5 hr happy hour (excepting Sundays), plus daily specials like dollar drafts and half-price bombs...


And the hits just keep on coming...

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Jeremy for the tip.

[Photo via Thrillist]

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

What's coming to The Telephone Bar space? Some fratty debauchery, perhaps

At the December CB3/SLA meeting, the following item was on the agenda:

Mitchell Banchik, 149 2nd Ave (currently Telephone Bar); full liquor, transfer ownership


Mitchell Banchik owns such bars as Gin Mill, Jake’s Dilemma and Down The Hatch in the Village.

Have you seen Down the Hatch's slogan?

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

[Updated] The 13th Step is now going as Downtown Social

Photos by Steven

The 13th Step is apparently undergoing a name change as we enter 2023. 

The windows of the sports bar-SantaCon hotspot are covered... a sign on the window promises "a big reveal" coming this Friday... (an Instagram post says the reveal is coming today) ...
The bar, from the family of like-minded places like Down the Hatch and Off the Wagon, opened here (with comic-sans signage) in the summer of 2010. 

The Telephone Bar closed here in January 2010 after 22 years.

Updated 4 p.m. 

Apparently, the "big reveal" was today... as you can see, the bar is now going as Downtown Social... and reopens on Friday...

Monday, June 5, 2023

Decades-spanning ghost signage disappears from this East Village building

The neighborhood's most prominent ghost ad has vanished.  

In recent days, workers removed the scaffolding and construction netting at 108 Avenue B, the 5-story building on the SW corner of Seventh Street. (Thanks to Dave on 7th for the initial tip!)

According to work permits on file with the Department of Buildings, the landlord had approved plans to remove the "deteriorated metal cornice" and "build up and maintain existing brick parapet." 

Here is the result of that work...
Now gone: the faded ad for the Peter Jarema Funeral Home on the next block of Seventh Street with the allure of "Air Conditioned Chapels" and a smaller sign for "Vazac Hall Catering" (and "Fine Food")  a nod to the business before the current and longstanding tenant Vazac's/the Horseshoe Bar/7B... (photo below by Stacie Joy from 2019)...
So how old was this signage? As we understand it, the corner bar dates to the mid-1930s. The funeral home was established in 1906, per its website

Via the NYC Municipal Archives, we found this street view from the early 1940s...
As best as we can tell, the ad is for Treadway Shoes (at 67 Avenue B?). A 1980s photo from the Municipal Archives shows the funeral home ad in place, though it's obviously older than that given the presence of the OR 4-2568 telephone exchange.

There was also some thought — without much evidence — that the ad was created (or augmented) for filming 1974's "The Godfather Part II" (one of many movies and TV shows filmed at the bar). 

Here's the scene (RIP Frank Pentangelli!) shot inside and outside the bar. However, we don't see any ads on the building ...

   

Anyway, we'll continue to do some sleuthing ... maybe even from the bar, which has retained its timeless look ...

Saturday, July 9, 2022

A new reading series: Poetry and Prose at P&T Knitwear

Photo from May by Stacie Joy 

Longtime East Villager resident Wayne Kral, who co-produced a reading series from 1995-2015 beginning at the Telephone Bar, then Bar 82, dba and 2A, is launching a new series at the recently opened P&T Knitwear bookshop at 180 Orchard St. between Houston and Stanton. 

The first one is this Monday (July 11) from 6:30-7:30 p.m. He'll be doing this every two weeks at P&T. Here's info about the initial participants via the EVG inbox... 
• Phil Gammage is a New York-based fiction writer and musician best known for his eight solo album releases. Twisting from railroad cars, burlesque houses, endless roads, and the folklore of 20th century America, Phil's stories and songs draw inspiration from his life as a musician, historian, and fiction writer. "Beatniks, Broads, and Burlesque" is a reading from an ongoing short story collection Phil is writing. 

• Phillip Giambri aka "The Ancient Mariner" left home at 18 and never looked back. He's seen and done what others dream of or fear. That's how he lives and that's what he writes. His 2020 novelette The Amorous Adventures of Blondie and Boho is a story of love, survival, and gentrification in NYC's East Village. 

Jonathan Berger used to read his little poems every Monday night at the Sidewalk Cafe until he couldn't anymore and then he read his little poems every Monday night at Gran Torino until he couldn't anymore and then he read his little poems at Bar Freda until he wouldn't anymore and now he's coming to this.

• Linda Kleinbub is the curator of Fahrenheit Open Mic, founder of Pen Pal Poets & editor of Pink Trees Press. Linda was one of six local poets invited to read at the Americas Poetry Festival of New York 2021. Some of her work is found in The Best American Poetry, Brooklyn Rail, The Observer, and Sensitive Skin Magazine. Her first full-length book of poetry COVER CHARGE is an Unbearables Title from Autonomedia. 

For information on reading contact Wayne at bopstreet@gmail.com

Thursday, June 24, 2010

13th Step one step closer to reality



The sign is up at 13th Step, the subtle new bar opening in the former Telephone Bar space on Second Avenue ...

Apologies for doing this...



[Telephone photo via]

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Out and About in the East Village

In this weekly feature, East Village-based photographer James Maher provides us with a quick snapshot of someone who lives and/or works in the East Village.



By James Maher
Name: Barbara Sibley
Occupation: Owner, La Palapa Cocina Mexicana
Location: St. Mark's Place between 1st and 2nd Ave
Time: Noon on Monday, Jan. 13

I’m from Mexico City. My dad was an engineer from New York and my parents moved to Mexico for a project, but when it finished they decided to stay. I had never really traveled to New York as a kid, but I came to go to school when I was 17 and ended up staying. After I got here, I first realized I could live here when I went into the subway and everything was in both Spanish and English. I realized I could be at home. And once you come to New York it’s hard to leave. I always thought I would go back but I never did.

I never thought I would end up having a career in the restaurant business even though I always cooked. I studied anthropology and I’ve always been fascinated with how cultures come together in their food. I started working as a dishwasher while I went to college at Barnard and my sister was at NYU and living at 13 St. Mark's Place. Then I got a job as a waitress at this place called Bandito on Second Avenue between 9th and 10th, around 1984.

For me, with a restaurant you almost have a front row seat to the neighborhood. You see your community and you know the people. You are part of the surroundings in such a tangible way. Even though there is so much change in the neighborhood there is also so much continuity. In the restaurant business I like to say that you get a lot of people who are going through their life sideways and so you have a chance of helping other people fulfill their dreams. We’ve helped a lot of people get through school and they come back and say, ‘Thank God you got me off the streets back then.’

At that time, the staff and the customers in the East Village restaurants were an incredibly talented pool of people. It was very artsy. They were crazy days. There were so many artists and all the galleries were just booming. There were a lot of performance artists. And then you had a lot of actors living here. It was very vibrant. There were a lot of people who had been in squats. People were starting to homestead a little bit. The community gardens were literally cleaned by hand by the people from the squats.

I was waitressing at Bandito until they needed a manager and I said OK and gave them a six-month commitment. It was this little Mexican restaurant, which was not very authentic. That’s where I really started to cook. I would cook behind the scenes, backstage for me and the guys. For one thing, I could go back and forth to Mexico and bring things back. The menu itself was great but the restaurant wasn’t owned by a Mexican. It was owned by a Czech guy from Slovakia named Rudy Mosny, who was friends with Abe Lebewohl from the 2nd Avenue Deli. Abe gave him the idea to do the Mexican place.

Abe was an amazing guy. I used to laugh when he would come over to eat something that wasn’t kosher and he had a knack for popping in anytime I would be cooking Mexican food. I’d be making a big pot of Chilaquiles for the guys in the kitchen and without fail he’d show up. If you’d ever go out to dinner with him and he liked what was on your plate, he’d help himself.

I ended up helping [Rudy] open a restaurant in the West Village ... and they opened a restaurant called Telephone Bar and Grill. I was about to start graduate school and Rudy decided to move when the Berlin Wall went down. He had a chance to go back and reclaim some of the land that had been taken from his family, so he said to me, if you don’t stay and manage I’ll close Telephone, and I couldn’t do that. So I turned around and ended up running it on my own until I opened La Palapa. I realized that I loved my day-to-day life and so it became my career.

I opened La Palapa with a partner 14 years ago. It’s really what I’m homesick for; it’s recipes from my childhood. It’s great because I get to break the stereotypes that people have about Mexico and Mexican cooking. People expect it to be big, cheesy nachos, the salsa and chips. That’s not what you eat in Mexico. Unless someone gives me an incredible tortilla I don’t put a burrito on the menu, because if I did that people would not try the authentic stuff. If I opened today everyone would be like, ‘oh, it’s artisanal’ because we make our own cheese and we make everything from scratch. But I had to do that because you could not get it. And these days I can be even more creative than when I started.

I’ve also been helping and consulting with Robert Ehrlich, who bought the building I live in and the Holiday Cocktail Lounge, which has been a crazy thing. I was in the building and I said, ‘I’m here and I’ve got La Palapa, give me a call if you need help.’ It’s been a constant construction zone. The building was in terrible condition. Next week will be two years since he bought the building. It’s been such an exercise in zen and archaeology. As much as we’ve been trying to maintain it, you couldn’t keep everything. We were lucky on their closing night that we didn’t all fall through. Every time we look behind a wall it’s been a major repair. It’s been an endless process.

Taking down the paneling, there were doors going everywhere. There were old murals from when it was a burlesque house called Ali Baba. There were showers downstairs for the girls. It was a beauty parlor. I’ve got everything in a shed in the back. We found a tunnel that goes across the street to Theatre 80. I did a lot of research when doing all the permits and the space was TL50, Tavern and Liquor 50, the 50th liquor license after prohibition. And most of those were all crooked. And there was a bootlegging tunnel to First Avenue under Theatre 80. The buildings on First Avenue are all a bit cockeyed because of that tunnel.

There’s still a little bit of renovation. At this point I don’t know exactly how it will all end up. It’s remarkable, that any day if you were just camping on the stoop, 10 people would come by and have a memory about the Holiday Cocktail Lounge.

James Maher is a fine art and studio photographer based in the East Village. Find his website here.

Monday, February 12, 2024

Peter Jarema Funeral Home ad comes back from the dead on 7th and B

Top photo and new reporting by Stacie Joy

In a surprising move on Friday, workers put up a new ad for the Peter Jarema Funeral Home on the north-facing wall at 108 Avenue B and Seventh Street. 

During exterior renovations last June (first reported here), workers sandblasted away the former ad for the funeral home that's on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. 

According to work permits on file with the Department of Buildings, the landlord had approved plans to remove the "deteriorated metal cornice" and "build up and maintain existing brick parapet." 
Here is the result of that work last summer...
The decades-spanning ad touted "Air Conditioned Chapels," and there was a smaller sign for "Vazac Hall Catering" (and "Fine Food"),  a nod to the business before the current and longstanding tenant Vazac's/the Horseshoe Bar/7B... (photo below by Stacie Joy from 2019)...
I reached out to Danny Buzzetta, the owner/managing director of Peter Jarema. 

He figured the old ad had been there for at least 60 years and still featured the phone number listed as OR 4-2568 (letters representing 6 and 7 with the known constant of the 212 area code).

Buzzetta said that someone affiliated with the restoration contacted him last year, saying that after the building finished the brickwork, he wanted to put up a new sign as an ode to an East Village "legacy" business. (We're still determining if this was someone from the landlord, Gibraltar Management Company, or the contractor. We're chasing down that lead now.)

"Honestly, I was shocked because I was very upfront that I don't have the money to pay for this, and as appreciative as the thought was, I never actually thought it was going to happen," Buzzetta said.  "But lo and behold, here we are!"

We previously tried to figure out how long the ad was here. As we understand it, the corner bar dates to the mid-1930s. The funeral home was established in 1906, per its website

Via the NYC Municipal Archives, we found this street view from the early 1940s...
As far as we can tell, the ad is for Treadway Shoes (at 67 Avenue B?). A 1980s photo from the Municipal Archives shows the funeral home ad in place, though it's obviously older than that, given the presence of the dated telephone exchange.

There was also some thought — without much evidence — that the ad was created (or augmented) for filming 1974's "The Godfather Part II" (one of many movies and TV shows filmed at the bar). 

Here's the scene (RIP Frank Pentangelli!) shot inside and outside the bar. However, we don't see any ads on the building ...