It's from May/June 2009 ("Terminator Salvation" playing down the street at the Village East Cinema) ... Hank Penza, the owner, sitting out front... Ray smoking on the side... Just like it always seemed. Rather perfect, yes?
As we first reported yesterday, the bar is now closed for good. Up next: Demolition ... two years of construction ... and a new 12-story luxury building.
See some photos from last night's Mars Bar vigil here.
Sad about Mars Bar. It was a very cool place.
ReplyDeleteSo where do I go now when I'm feeling down and miss the days of my youth? I could always count on Mars for an ice cold beer and a friendly chat...now what?
ReplyDeleteIt's a sad day.
ReplyDeleteI read that Hank owned the building and sold it to the developer, so perhaps he was ready to move on or felt it was time...
It is a corner building so the East 1st Street view is different from the 2nd Ave view.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of Rod Serling's TV show "Night Gallery" They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar
ReplyDeletehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0660875/usercomments
Could be a Mars Bar too
i just can't bear it
ReplyDeleteThat top photo really is perfect.
ReplyDelete@Anon 8:11 - that's the question many of us are asking. There have been suggestions, but nothing compares to Mars.
Perfect, indeed. After the Mars Bar then what? I guess the answer sadly is, Condos.
ReplyDeleteFor fuck's sake, man... there are more posts here about this shithole of a bar than there are posts about the iPhone on Gizmodo. Time to give it a rest and let it die in peace. It's not like there aren't 300 other shitty bars in the E.V. for trust-fund crusties to choose from.
ReplyDelete@anon 12:15
ReplyDeleteName 100 of them.
@Anonymous 12:15: Better still, name one that's as unique and has as much character and characters as Mars did.
ReplyDeletei bet something Mars-like could occur at the Coal Yard, given time.
ReplyDeletesome interesting comments on brooklyn vegan.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2011/07/mars_bar_closed.html#comments
ha! my word verification was "Liers"
This is not just another dive bar closing -- it's about another piece of our city as we've always known it and loved it being cut out and disposed of....
ReplyDeleteWhat's TRULY fucked up about all of this is that the residents of this building brought this about by cutting their deal with real estate developer Donald Capoccia (the same guy who destroyed community gardens in order to build 3 story condos on the LES) in order to get new apts in the huge yuppie ghetto complex he wants to build there.
They may be getting their Capoccia apts for $10 each, but how are they going to afford the maintenance fees he will charge them? These fees will be several times higher than the rents they've been paying!!
These fools will realize their mistake once they've been double-crossed, but there will be NO ONE left to fight for them!!
Chris,
ReplyDeleteyour heart is in the right place but don't blame the people of the building. The EV has been changing for years, and 2nd and 1st was going to go no matter what. I wrote above that I don't where I'm going to go when I'm feeling down now that Mars is gone, but the truth is I will always love NY and the EV even after it becomes a souless mecca for the spawn of the rich. I realize that I can still walk some streets of SOHO and find the dirt and stone streets that people walked 150 years ago. The feeling will be here and I can be happy for that. I can drink at manitoba or international and be almost as happy as I was sucking down a cold beer next to the teacher from brooklyn, the drunk from upstairs, and the artist I have always admired but never knew. So long mars I'll miss you but never forget you.
i have not been there for quite some time (years in fact) but i was always fond of holiday on st marks place, and of stefon (sp?) the old bartender.
ReplyDeletei believe his son now runs the place.
it was not quite as picturesque as mars, but it had it's own flavor.
and lots of older ukrainian folk.