Over on Avenue C between Eighth Street and Ninth Street... work continues at the former Duke's ... the neighborhood bar that closed at the end of 2011.
Back in March, we heard that Babel Lounge and Hookah Bar next door was expanding into the Duke's space. You can see the progress in these photos via Matt LES_Miserable...
Babel is on the month's CB3/SLA agenda for the new space.
Dunno what Babel is like — have never been inside. But the loss of low-key neighborhood bars like Duke's, and, soon, TenEleven, is tough on a street becoming dominated by high-end drinkeries ...
Anyway, how it's all looking...
Babel is classic alphabet city so if Dukes gets taken over by anything, it could be way worse than Babel
ReplyDeleteI have never been to babel, whats the deal with it? Good music? good party?
ReplyDeleteBabel's been around for a while and I wouldn't necessarily call it a high end drinkery. It's a great spot with a local crowd and the nicest owners.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying anything good or bad about the bar, because they've never offended me and I've never been inside, but Babel is a hooka bar with DJs that's only open like 3 days a week. Since when is that what makes a classic Alphabet City Bar? Or is that the new definition of classic Alphabet City bar and nobody told me?
ReplyDeleteI've noticed the exterior construction, but yikes! They gutted the entire interior! Duke's needed a makeover, but this is a bit drastic! I wonder if they'll be using the outdoor space.
ReplyDeleteInconsiderate owners, loud music, over priced drinks. Take a look at their website and tell me if that looks like classic alphabet city.
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