When Joe's Bar starred on 'Kojak' 35 years ago

The other day we mentioned that Josie's opened in the Joe's Bar space on East Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B... turns out Joe's was the centerpiece of an episode of "Kojak" from 1977.

The neighborhood made many appearances in the series with Telly Savalas that aired from 1973-1978 ... Most notably, the facade of the 9th Precinct on East Fifth Street served as the setting for Lt. Theo Kojak's office.

The episode featuring Joe's and East Sixth Street aired on Jan. 25, 1977 during the fourth season. A description: "A Puerto Rican cop goes undercover in his old neighborhood to find out who is trying to start a barrio gang war."

The episode also featured Miguel Piñero, the playwright-actor and co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café.

And a few screengrabs...

Joe's was turned into Tres Arboles Bar & Grill...

And here is a clip of the scene...



Just the first three seasons are available at Hulu.

(Read more about East Sixth Street in our Out and About in the East Village feature yesterday.)

Josie's opens tonight on East Sixth Street

Tonight at 6, Josie's opens at 520 E. Sixth St., former home of the late, great Joe's Bar here between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The bar closed last Thanksgiving after proprietor Joe Vajda died. (Joe's opened in that space in 1973. Joe and two other partners previously had a place across the street.)

Earlier in the year, as we first reported, Richard Corton and his business partner Kirk Marcoe, who own Mona's and Sophie's, purchased the bar from Dottie, Joe's longtime domestic partner.

The two considered all this as more of a restoration than a renovation. So you'll find a space that looks and feels very familiar... Which is all good.

As Dave on 7th noted after a recent look-see:

"The bar has been beautifully refinished. I spent 10 years of my life in this bar and I think what they're doing is going to be beautiful and authentic."

Indeed.

Corton and Marcoe even found a company in Los Angeles to replicate the exact same wallpaper that adorned Joe's through the years...

And here's a shot of the old wallpaper before it was removed ...

There is a new pool table and jukebox ... and likely some new music. Dottie took all of the country-and-western CDs with her...

Also, expect the return of the giant, Soviet-era Lowenbrau clock (once it's working again). But there aren't any seedless mandarins.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Joe's Bar is joining the Sophie's-Mona's family

CB3/SLA committee approves Joe's to Josie's change on East Sixth Street

[Photo via Melanie at East Village Corner]

Only one item to note from tonight's CB3/SLA committee meeting... we understand that the committee has approved a license for Josie's to open in the space that last housed longtime favorite Joe's Bar on East Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Richard Corton and his business partner Kirk Marcoe, who own Mona's and Sophie's, signed a lease and sales contract for the space last month. Proprietor Joe Vajda, who opened the bar at this address in 1973, died last November. (Joe's longtime partner Dottie requested that they not use his name for the bar.)

Corton has said that they aren't expecting to modify much about the space. Corton and Marcoe are eyeing a July opening.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Joe's Bar is joining the Sophie's-Mona's family

Joe's Bar is joining the Sophie's-Mona's family

[Joe's Bar last fall]

Longtime favorite Joe's Bar on East Sixth Street has remained closed since proprietor Joe Vajda died this past Thanksgiving. (Joe's opened in that space in 1973. Joe and two other partners previously had a place across the street.)

There were rumors that several people were looking to take over the space between Avenue A and Avenue B from Joe's domestic partner Dottie.

Richard Corton confirmed that he and his business partner Kirk Marcoe, who own Mona's and Sophie's, have signed a lease and sales contract with Dottie.

Which will all be good news for anyone tired of bars with drinks toting, say, heritage pork-infused artisanal ice cubes and shaved nutmeg. And good news for people who really like the neighborhood aspect of Joe's (and great neighborhood bars like Sophie's and Mona's), something in short supply around here these days. Corton isn't expecting to modify much about Joe's.

"Small changes. Clean up. Maybe, if we feel ambitious, we might redo the wallpaper with exactly the same wallpaper. We love that wallpaper but it is in really bad shape," Corton said via Facebook.

Meanwhile, Corton and Marcoe need to seek the approval of CB3 (they are on April's agenda) and obtain a Letter of No Objection from the DOB. If all goes well, then they plan to open this July.

One last detail.

"Per Dottie's request, we are gonna change the name," Corton said. "Joe's will become Josie's."

'Another corporation' looking at Joe's

On Saturday, EV Grieve regular AC told us that the gate was open at Joe's, the neighborhood favorite that has been closed since Thanksgiving. AC talked with a man who had come out of the bar. The worker, who was holding a broom, said that Joe had died, and that "another corporation" was looking at the possibility of taking the bar over... Upon hearing this, we zipped over to East Sixth Street, though no one was still around... and the gate was mostly closed...

Owner Joe Vajda died this past Thanksgiving. The bar's status is still unknown. This is the first time that we can recall seeing any activity here in the past few months. Another tipster had noted via email that Identity across the street bought Joe's remaining tapped beer.

Previously.

Candles for Joe on East Sixth Street

During the weekend, someone placed candles outside Joe's Bar in honor of Joe the owner, who died on Thanksgiving. The longtime favorite on East Sixth Street remains closed; the bar's future uncertain.

Thanks to EV Grieve reader ~Joan for the photo.

RIP Joe

Our friends at East Village Eats have confirmed what we heard from several regulars... Joe, the owner of Joe's Bar on East Sixth Street, has died. One regular told us that Joe passed away on Thanksgiving...

No word just yet on what will happen to the bar. It remains closed for the time being. Our best to his wife Dot and the Joe's family...

Previously.

Joe's Bar still closed

After being closed for about a month earlier in the fall... one of our favorites, Joe's Bar on East Sixth Street, reopened on Nov. 16... A combination of Joe's health and the DOH knocked the bar out of action...

Unfortunately, as several readers pointed out, Joe's was closed again starting last Tuesday... and the bar remained closed during the holiday weekend...

We understand that Joe's health continues to be an issue.

Joe's Bar closed again

[Wednesday night around 10]

Joe's Bar on East Sixth Street had just reopened... there was the DOH visit... and ongoing health issues for Joe.

Several readers pointed out that Joe's was closed again on Tuesday and Wednesday nights (and last night, though many places were closed for the holiday) ... We hear that Joe might be turning over management of the bar to the staff...

Good things: Joe's Bar is back open

Goggla sent along the good news last night... our well-worn favorite on East Sixth Street was back open...

A combination of Joe's health and the DOH knocked the bar out of action in early October, as we reported here.

We don't have the whole story just yet... but we're certainly glad to see it back...

At Joe's Bar, a freshly painted gate, mystery and, apparently, roaches

On Friday evening, we walked by the now-closed Joe's on East Sixth Street — hopeful that one of our favorite bars had reopened.

A worker had just finished up painting the bar's front gate. We stopped and asked if the bar was reopening. The worker looked startled, and said, "I didn't have anything to do with it. I didn't have anything to do with it." With that, he hurried inside the adjacent building leaving us wondering, To do with what?

The bar is still closed in the eyes of the DOH. On Oct. 5, the DOH hit them with 71 violation points. The DOH returned on Oct. 21, and found improvements, though there were still 32 violation points. There are two listed sanitary violations on the DOH website ("critical" violations are displayed in red):
1) Live roaches present in facility's food and/or non-food areas.
2) Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist.

Walking by Joe's Bar

We've reported that the DOH closed the venerable Joe's Bar on East Sixth Street ... we've also heard from a well-placed source that the bar may be finished as we know it.

The bar remains closed... we walked by last night and saw some bar paraphernalia in the trash...

... it's probably from a resident in the building... Still, we wonder what will happen here...

As anyone heard any updates?

Bad news for Joe's Bar

On Friday night, we walked by Joe's Bar, one of our favorite places, and the bar on East Sixth Street between Avenue B and Avenue A was closed...

The last time that we noticed Joe's was closed (in July) ... it turned out to be a false alarm... this time, though — the DOH temporarily closed them last week. The DOH hit them with 71 violation points. Some of them seemingly rinky-dink. ("Food Protection Certificate not held by supervisor of food operations.")

But. A well-placed tipster says that Joe's has been on a month-to-month lease ... worse, Joe's health may be an issue... The tipster thinks the bar might be done for now.

Extra:
Marty After Dark paid a visit to Joe's back in May.