Remembering good times and dead bodies at The Blarney Cove

[June 2013]

The Paris Review has an essay by Joe Kloc on the late, great Blarney Cove on East 14th Street…

Tommy, another regular, recounted an oft-told Blarney Cove legend. One evening, he said, a regular was sitting alone at the end of the bar, minding his business, enjoying his $1.50 mugs of beer with all the usual contentment of an old drinker on a young night. Suddenly, but without fuss, the man set down his mug, shut his eyes, slumped forward, and died right there in his chair. “They put him in the freezer,” Tommy said. And the next day his body was gone.

Read the whole piece here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Here is the future of East 14th Street and Avenue A: 7 stories of residential and retail

City OKs permits to demolish the empty storefronts along this section of East 14th Street

The Blarney Cove closes for good after tomorrow night

The Blarney Cove sign is down! The Blarney Cove sign is down!

Meanwhile, outside the former Blarney Cove...

[Photo by Cassandra Gaylor White via Facebook]

Spotted along the plywood near the former Blarney Cove on East 14th Street …

"I have rich parents and I am going to rent your apartment for $6,000 a month just because I can!"

[Photo by Bobby Williams]

Some day, this stretch of East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B will be home to a new luxury retail-residential complex that will look something like this.

That $6,000 should get her a nice 1 bedroom!

The Blarney Cove sign is down! The Blarney Cove sign is down!

[June 2013]

Just yesterday we pointed out that the sidewalk bridge arrived ahead of the demolition of the single-level buildings along East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

We wondered what would/will become of the Blarney Cove sign... The neighborhood bar closed for good last June to make way for the new retail-residential complex.

And, OMG, here it is yesterday afternoon just lying there on the sidewalk, apparently discarded by construction workers ...



… and a short time later… Little Town Shoes sent along these photos…



…gutted and tagged!



But that's not how this story ends.

EVG regular Dave on 7th happened to be walking by yesterday afternoon… and he saw the sign still intact on the building. He asked the workers if they would take it down for him.

They did.

From there it wasn't easy to remove the two sides of the Barney Cove Bar sign from the frame. First, there were a million rusty screws. Then there was the matter of navigating two 7-foot by 2-foot (!) pieces of Blarney Cove sign home.

Along the way, someone offered Dave on 7th $200 for the signs. He declined.

Eventually, one of the signs split it two. But! As of this moment, the two signs (now in three pieces) are in good hands. Repeat, the two signs (now in three pieces) are in good hands.

"I wish I could have left the whole thing intact, but that just wasn't in the cards," said Dave on 7th, who has the signs in his building. "I started to wipe the dust off the back, and it turns out that's what made it white. Either super old paint or a fluorescent powder to make it glow brighter.

"Man, I worked my ass off taking it apart."

Now if we can only find the Blarney Cove cooling and refreshening system…


[Photo from May 2011 by the long-lost (sob) Intern of EV Grieve]

Previously on EV Grieve:
Here is the future of East 14th Street and Avenue A: 7 stories of residential and retail

City OKs permits to demolish the empty storefronts along this section of East 14th Street

The Blarney Cove closes for good after tomorrow night

Sidewalk bridge arrives for start of demolition on East 14th Street; last chance for Blarney Cove sign

Workers began erecting the sidewalk shed along the doomed section of East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B yesterday. Demolition of these one-level empty storefronts should commence soon enough.

As previously reported, eight parcels consisting of 222 Avenue A and 504 - 530 E. 14th St. (excluding No. 520) were leased for a retail-resident complex that might look like this ...


[500 E. 14th St.]

... and this...


[524 E. 14th St.]

Workers still need to finished putting up the sidewalk bridge to the east...



To date, we haven't spotted any plans on file with the city for the new buildings.

Meanwhile, it's really last call for that Blarney Cove sign...





[H/T @cgashcraft]

Previously on EV Grieve:
East 14th Street exodus continues

The disappearing storefronts of East 14th Street

[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

East 14th Street corridor now nearly business-free ahead of new development

Here is the future of East 14th Street and Avenue A: 7 stories of residential and retail

City OKs permits to demolish the empty storefronts along this section of East 14th Street

Here is the next new section of East 14th Street

All I want for Christmas is…

The old Blarney Cove sign. Still there on East 14th Street. How do we get this down ahead of the demolition of this block?

Also on the xmas list, world peace, etc.

For Whom the PBR Tolls

Just noting a little memorial that appeared in the past few days at the Blarney Cove, which closed for good last Tuesday on East 14th Street.

A Blarney Cove moment on its last night in business

[Tuesday night via @willcharczuk]

A reader shared this in the comments about the last night of the Blarney Cove on East 14th Street:

Went with some friends [Tuesday] night around 10PM. Ordered a few pitchers and was told "no more draft beer." Ordered bottles. They said all we have is Bud. After a few of those we were told no more beer, so we switched to whiskey and wine. After that we just decided to buy a six pack from the deli around the corner and bring it back in.

So all in all, a pretty standard blarney cove night.

Yes.

This morning outside the Blarney Cove

Wasn't sure what to expect walking by after last night's Grand Closing send off... The bar is still standing — at least from the outside.

Someone did remove the Blarney Cove sign that was attached above the door...



Anyone go for the last night?

Many businesses on East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B are either relocating or closing to make way for some yet-unspecified development.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

The Blarney Cove will close for good at the end of June

My 3 favorite photos of the Blarney Cove

Well, just from the EVG site the past few years... As noted, the Blarney Cove closes for good tonight... many businesses on East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B are either relocating or closing to make way for some yet-unspecified development.

-----

Thanksgiving 2011...

-----

Start of the summer 2011...

[Photo by the long-lost Intern of EV Grieve]

-----

Easter 2009...


Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

The Blarney Cove will close for good at the end of June

'Let's plan those blarney blow out parties'

[EVG from 2008]

As noted Monday, the Blarney Cove on East 14th Street is closing for good at the end of the month. I found the above photo in this EVG post from 2008 ... when the bar was apparently trying to broaden its demographics...

Meanwhile, I learned yesterday that the Blarney Cove has a — Facebook page ... where they posted this message Monday...

Yes-the blarney cove is closing it's doors on June 30th. the property has been leased to another company. the stretch of land on 14th street where the blarney resides will be forever changed. so -get you ass in so I can see you again & say goodbye.and that means during the week, tuesday and wednesday.-not just the weekend. let's plan those blarney blow out parties

And this is the current Blarney Cove profile photo...



Previously on EV Grieve:
East 14th Street exodus continues

The disappearing storefronts of East 14th Street

[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

The Blarney Cove will close for good at the end of June

The Blarney Cove will close for good at the end of June

Well, we knew this one was coming. As we've been noting, many businesses on East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B are either relocating or closing to make way for some yet-unspecified development.

Bartenders at the Blarney Cove are now telling patrons that they will close at the end of the month. It's not relocating. (How could this ever be replicated elsewhere anyway?)

It Was Her New York wrote about the Blarney Cove and this stretch of East 14th Street yesterday.

[T]he further east we got the worse things look. It was like Close Encounters of the Third Kind when Richard Dreyfuss slips into the restricted area and all these dead cows are lying around.

Every store was empty with 'For Rent' or 'Going Out Of Business'. The cheap place was gone. 40 years of buying necessary and unnecessary affordable shit, gone.

Previously on EV Grieve:
East 14th Street exodus continues

The disappearing storefronts of East 14th Street

[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

Bargain Express has closed on East 14th Street

[Updated with correction] 8-lot parcel of East 14th Street primed for new development

After months of rumors about the future of East 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, we finally have some answers.

Of the three rumors previously presented, turns out that we'll be looking at the doomsday scenario for most of the block:

All the space starting at the ABC Animal Hospital west to Avenue A will be developed into some type of housing-retail complex.

According to public records, in late November, eight parcels consisting of 222 Avenue A and 504 - 530 E. 14th St. were leased for a 99-year period by the respective owner to East Village 14 LLC.

(East Village 14 LLC is a Delaware Company that registered with the New York State Department of State in October 2012.)

Public records put the cost of this parcel at $35 million.

CORRECTION: Amended an earlier version of this aerial view. The deal does not include 520 E. 14th St., the 6-story apartment building that includes a Dunkin Donuts and the Royal Custom Tailors in the retail space.

And here are the parcels of land included in the deal:

[Click image to enlarge]

So we're looking at everything from where Stuyvesant Grocery and Pete's-a-Place were before the fire on May 12, 2010 at Avenue A east to, and including, the Animal Hospital. The lone exception: 520 E. 14th St. Presumably new development will happen on either side of this building.

And because people have asked before: The Blarney Cove is included in this land grab.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Conspiracies: What next for 14th Street and Avenue A?

Those ongoing rumors about the future of East 14th Street between Avenue A and B

Petland is moving away from East 14th Street, fueling more new development rumors

[A special thanks to the EVG reader who helped dig into the records]

Those ongoing rumors about the future of East 14th Street between Avenue A and B

Ever since the fire wiped out Stuyvesant Grocery and Pete's-a-Place on East 14th Street at Avenue A, we've heard all sort of rumors about what was coming next. Dorm! Hotel! Condo!

The usual.

In the past six weeks, we've heard from a dozen different people who passed along various tips about incoming development. To date, there hasn't been much hard evidence, such as a real-estate listing or demolition permit.

We heard more after yesterdays's post about the East Side 99¢ store relocating.

Per THE NOTORIOUS L.I.B.E.R.A.T.I.O.N.:

Someone recently told me the stretch of 14th Street between Avenue A down to the Blarney Cove is about to get a major overhaul.

Per Gojira:

The vet at ABC Animal Hospital, Dr. Tufaro, is also looking for new space; he told me yesterday that the whole south side of that block from the former Stuyvesant Grocery down to his location is slated for demolition and development. He also said the owners of Bargain Bazaar were in court trying to hold onto their lease, which runs through 2016 but which the landlord wants to break. Can you say "upscale luxury condo", boys and girls? Sure you can.

This is consistent with what we've heard. And various tipsters/readers have passed along three different scenarios:

1) All the space to the west of the Rainbow clothing shop, the area that fell to fire, will be developed into some type of housing-retail complex.

2) All the space starting at the Rite Aid west to Avenue A will be developed into some type of housing-retail complex.

3) The big one. All the space starting at the ABC Animal Hospital west to Avenue A will be developed into some type of housing-retail complex.

So far, there isn't anything to prove any of these rumors. And remember — they're only rumors at this point. (We recall walking into the Blarney Cove about 10 years ago only to hear the news that they were closing soon due to a new development. And we got to drink for free since they were closing!)

However, the last time we heard this much chatter about a rumored development: 74-76 Third Ave. ... and in a few months, all that became official with the news of an 82,000-square-foot, nine-story residential building with 94 units.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Conspiracies: What next for 14th Street and Avenue A?

Those persistent rumors about 74-76 Third Avenue and the future of Nevada Smiths

[Images via Google]

Father Knows Best

Spotted outside the Blarney Cove on East 14th Street this weekend... And happy Father's Day...

Thanksgiving at Blarney Cove

It was delicious. And free.

The Blarney Cove is open!

Here on 14th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. So what other bars are open?

Blarney Cove prepared for the warmer weather

At our beloved Blarney Cove, where nothing ever becomes too fancy.

[Photo by the long-lost Intern of EV Grieve]

The Blarney Cove has a (fake Zagat rated) menu!

Never noticed this before... a reader sends along a photo of the Blarney Cove menu... mini burgers ($3), knishes ($1.50), pizza ($1.50) and quesadillas ($2.50). The photo is a little blurry... but you can see that someone has written in "Zagat rated."

Anyway, add a beer to these four menu items and you have the five food groups represented, of course ...

Report: Gunman robs the Blarney Cove

From today's NYPD Daily Blotter in the Post (not yet online): A "gun-toting bandit" made off with about $1,000 after robbing the Blarney Cove on East 14th Street. The report doesn't say what day this happened, only that it was at 4:30 a.m. "He ordered the bartender to the back, stole cash from a register and fled," according to the report.

A truism about drinky winks

At the Blarney Cove on 14th Street.