Monday, February 28, 2011

See what happens when the Mulberry Street Bar puts in an Internet jukebox

We've been reading plenty of late about what's happening in Little Italy... such as the dwindling numbers of Italian-Americans living there ... and the fight to cut back the annual San Gennaro Feast ...

So anyone mourning the continued erosion of Little Italy may not care for this one...

The great old Mulberry Street Bar (aka Tony's) in Little Italy is admittedly pretty touristy at times ... all the Soprano's stuff inside and outside of the bar doesn't help. Still. Despite some modern touches (flat-screen TVs!) since Tony sold the place and moved to Florida, the bar retains much of its charm... like a working phone booth ...


And now the bar just added another modern amenity: an Internet jukebox ...


The old one was well-stocked with Frank Sinatra and Mario Lanza, etc. The other evening, some fun-loving tourists made their presence felt during the otherwise sleepy early evening hour by loading up the jukebox with Michael Jackson and the Bee Gees. And they danced...


... and danced...


A few old-timers standing at the bar looked blankly into their beers.

14 comments:

Crazy Eddie said...

You may say this about any of the hundreds of EV Grieve items that have been posted in the last 2 years but this post, this one, surely heralds that the apocalypse has arrived. I am now reverse tunneling down to join Stephen Colbert in his fear bunker.

Little Earthquake said...

I don't like seeing the neighborhood disappear but come on...Italian Americans listen to more than just Frank and Dean. That kind of notion is as shopworn as selling Sopranos t-shirts.

And people dancing to 30-year-old music - this is the apocalypse? How old are these old timers?

Sounds to me like people just having a good time, instead of ascribing to some Little Italy stereotype. Those "old timer" cliches are as offensive as the "greasy" insults from Noliters.

esquared™ said...

well, at least they didn't play justin bieber or miley cyrus, and then danced to those

Ken Mac said...

hey, it's just another Fridays/Chili's/Super Dive right?

Anonymous said...

IS THIS THE AZTEC LOUNGE REOPENED?

Anonymous said...

This picture of tourists dancing made me cry - it really did. This pleasant weekend was totally ruined by all the fucking tourists and suburbanites who flooded the village and the parks. Do you now know it's a trend for them to bring their dogs and walk them in the neighborhood? I'd rather have the dogs, than the people for sure, but still..... And when I left my building there was a suburban dad tossing a football with his 3 sons in front of my building (at 11am). Why is God punishing us? Bring back the murderers, drug dealers, and psychos!!!

Uncle Waltie said...

Absolutely love it. I'll go in, have a beer and play an hour's worth of Monk & Coltrane, just like I used to do at Cheapshots.

Kurt said...

Meh, things haven't been the same since Tony left and the bar changed names from the lyrical Mare Chiaro to the pedestrian Mulberry Street bar.

Got a Life? said...

Glad to see some people know how to get out and enjoy themselves, instead of sitting at a keyboard whinging about people enjoying themselves.

So what if the music was not to everyone's liking? If we all liked the same stuff life would be boring.

Lisa said...

If this place doesn't have a cabaret license they're playing with fire letting people dance.

Spell Check said...

@Got a Life: Whinging? Got a spell check?

Anonymous said...

er, Spell Check ... I'm not Got a Life, but I am a copy editor. "Whinge" is a totally legit word. It's a verb, basically a Britishism that means "to whine."

Now quit whinging about people's spelling. It's rude unless someone is paying you to do it, and it often makes you look silly.

BabyDave said...

Whoa: Got a Life? and Anonymous 7:33 -- thank you both for a linguistic tidbit. Doubt I will ever use the word, but it's nice to know.

Anonymous said...

What old timers at the bar? They've gone since Tony left. They
must be wannabe old timers. This place went downhill fast. Ever since the Sopranos garbage went up, it's lost its mystique.