So I made my way over to 33rd Street near Seventh Avenue ... to the well-worn 40-year-old bar that I'll drink in any chance that I have...
Ahhhhh!. I have no idea when this happened. Another one lost. Of course, this closure has been rumored for years.
A few doors to the east, that suburbany-looking place called Stoudt NYC was MOBBED. So I went into the OK-at-the-right-time Blarney Stone next door. This was NOT the right time: Pre-Knicks game crowd. So I found a slot near the front door. An array of half-finished drinks sat there on a table next to me. A woman wondered in. I'm pretty sure she was carrying a glass of red wine in with her. She put down her wine. She started wolfing down the different drinks. Two half-empty bottles of Magners. And something that might have been a screwdriver. She asked if that was my bottle of beer. Yes it was. She nodded, picked up her wine and walked back out the door.
I felt a little better about Hickey's for a moment.
Read more about Hickey's at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York .... At A Guy Walks into 365 Bars, our friend Marty Wombacher wrote: "Hickey's is one of the last great dive bars in Manhattan. Stop by for a drink or four and let's keep this joint in existence!" You can read his recap here.
[Top photo via Jeremiah's Vanishing New York]
Very, very recent, because I had a beer and a shot in there about eight to ten days ago. Always packed when MSG emptied. Sad news.
ReplyDeleteExcellent bar story.
ReplyDeleteOh no! The Stoned Crow is closing too. This is getting to be like a Twilight Zone where eventually the only place to drink in Manhattan will be a T.G.I. Fridays.
ReplyDeletewhat's with all the dives closing this month. twilight zone, indeed.
ReplyDeleteNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great place and we're now losing another---
We're losing so many great dumps and the fact that nobody seems to care is really pathetic. Soon, everyplace will have a ironically-mustachioed barkeep serving the same cucumber and secret special bitters cocktail to annoying yuppies...either that or it'll be an Applebee's.
very sad. sorry i missed one last drink.
ReplyDeleteThis is crushing news. I heard it was slated to close in Feb and was planning a final pilgrimage there. First, the wonderful Blarney Stone on 32nd st and now this. Jim Morrison said it best, "Your barroom days are over."
ReplyDeleteIam an Irish Yankee fan and a few years ago on a pilgrimage to the stadium I had the luck of stumbling into hickeys,the beer was crap but as a new York fan it felt like a new York bar,sittin at the bar drinking a beer talking crap to strangers without any pretentiousness just felt right,I was immediately comfortable,isn't that Wat a bar is supposed to be.really sad that I won't be able get another beer at hickeys,but at least I have the memories.Manhattan just became a little less appealing to an Irish Yankee fan,Michael, Belfast.
ReplyDelete