Anyway, noticed that signage on my way over to Port 41, on 41st Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, the other afternoon.
(Photo of the bartenders via Midtown Lunch)
Things here remain the same... No, wait. Those sticky red booths have been replaced by new tables and chairs...Or maybe I just didn't notice last time...
In any event, always a jumpy little crowd during the day, from glum commuters to the blitzed office types who never returned from lunch to the construction workers taking advantage of the bucket-of-beer-special -- by themselves. Always the chance for a black eye, of course. Like that one guy. Like maybe don't engage that guy who keeps yelling "YOU ARE THE SHIT" in a conversation. You know, no matter what you say, the response is "YOU ARE THE SHIT."
Oh, and remember to call Prince -- because, as the sign in the men's room reads, this is real...
The folks behind Port 41 also own Dave's, on Ninth Avenue almost at 42nd Street... I'll save the discussion about grand ol' Dave's for another day...
Down the avenue, things also remain the same at the Holland... I worried that the overhaul that shuttered the place for three agonizingly long months (November 2008-February 2009) would strip the place of its character...Not the case...
It took a few months, but the Holland finally has that lived-in feel to it again...It helps that the same crowd has seemingly returned ... it's still the kind of place in which you can see your future.
At 508 Ninth Ave., just past 39th Street, the Door, a rather sketchy hookah joint, has closed.... (and what was this before?)
Maybe I never went here. I hope not.
3 comments:
Wow, I used to live at 506 9th...what a hellhole. That block is almost unrecognizable now and all the buildings on the west side of the street are gone.
I used to have to kick the bodies of unconscious junkies off my front step when I left for work in the morning. One night, the owner of the deli in the front was shot, yet he managed to beat the crap out of the shooter with a baseball bat. Good times.
Are there still junkies in HK?
I don't think so. At least, not like there used to be. I fled the area in 2002. I'd come home from work via 40th St and it would be lined with bodies, some with needles sticking out their arms. I asked a cop once why this block was not patrolled and he said, "Oh, we don't go back there!"
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