St. Patrick's Day at McSorley's in 1943

Courtesy of the McSorley's Facebook page...

No. 158 (or so) and counting for McSorley's

Happy belated 158th (or 150th) birthday to McSorley's today, who celebrated by having members of the New England Patriots on-hand...

Previously on EV Grieve:
Happy 155th birthday, McSorley's (or not)

A McSorley's Wonderland

The other night. Photo by Bobby Williams.

And you thought that today would be a slow news day

Hardly.

Remember that toilet-paper dispenser that someone put up in a tree near McSorley's?

Yeah, well — it's out of paper.

[Bobby Williams]

If you're going to use Seventh Street as a toilet, then you might as well be civil about it

EV Grieve reader Elizabeth Frayer of New York Natives spotted this addition to Seventh Street just steps away from McSorley's ... perhaps a hint from fed-up neighbors... Or else Bloomberg's pay-public toilet idea has come to this...

More subtle, perhaps, than the no vomiting sign Jeremiah spotted in the spring.

9/11 at McSorley's

Photos by Bobby Williams.

[Updated] City makes McSorley's wipe away 100 years of history, remove Minnie McSorley

The dust busters at the DOH told McSorley's that management had to clean up the bar's famous wishbones, placed there by doughboys headed off to war...

Per Dan Barry's article at the Times:

So, with heavy heart, the proprietor, Matthew Maher, 70, climbed up a small ladder. With curatorial care, he took down the two-dozen dust-cocooned wishbones dangling on an old gas lamp above the storied bar counter. He removed the clouds of gray from each bone. Then he placed every one of the bones, save for those that crumbled at his touch, back onto the gas lamp — where, in the context of this dark and wonderful establishment, they are not merely the scrap remains of poultry, but holy relics.

And!

[T]imes have changed: old New York and new New York remain in conflict, and old New York is losing. For example, lounging cats had been a furry part of the McSorley fabric since Lincoln. But word recently came down from City Hall: no cats. A longtime regular, Minnie, has been barred as a result.

Save Minnie!



We reached out to Minnie via Facebook. She told us the following.

"I actually contacted Mr. Barry hoping he'd do a follow-up to his previous column on the wishbones. He asked about my current status, and I explained that Mr. Maher has said I'm not allowed into the bar during drinking hours...officially. Since the only heat I want coming down is from the stove, that's the fact as it must be reported and as we must maintain.

It's a sad turn of events about the bones."

A McSorley's post featuring Minnie and the Mayor

In anticipation of McSorley's Day on Thursday, we reached out to Minnie McSorley for a pawment. Unfortunately, we didn't hear back before our deadline. Not that we actually have a deadline.

But, we thought Minnie had publicisted up and wasn't available to the media any longer. Not the case! We did hear back yesterday... We had also asked about the discrepancies in the bar's actual birthday: 1854 or 1862 as one historian claims.

E.V., with all the festivities, I just saw this now. Let's do a recap, perhaps? I have much to say on the "historians." If you think I'm meowing out of my mind over this lady who sued me, it's nothing compared to the way that guy Richard Whatsis pets my fur the wrong way with his 1862 crusade.

There was a rocking party last night, which of course is 80% for ME and 20% for McSorley's. I'm encouraging people who'd like to "give me" something to shoot friends over to my Fan page. The size of my Facebook personal page is getting just too big to manage when you type with two paws. Thank you so much for your well-wishes ...

Speaking of feeding, I think I just heard Pepe open a can in the kitchen. Gotta run!

And here's a piece on McSorley's and Bloomy's tasteless St. Patrick's Day joke from the Daily News yesterday...

This evening outside McSorley's

And Happy McSorley's Day. Still.

Happy McSorley's Day!

Hey! It's Feb. 17 ... seven years ago, Mayor "Put some ice in my beer!" Bloomberg declared McSorley's Day in New York... Here's an ad for the day from yesterday's Post ...

The bar is also celebrating its 157th (or 149th!) anniversary....

Meanwhile, we're hoping for a quote from Minnie McSorley about the Big Day. (Find her Facebook page here.)

Previously on EV Grieve:
Happy 155th birthday, McSorley's (or not)

P.S.
Not today, but you should try lunch there one of these lazy days... as Jeremiah did.

That darn cat!

So! Earlier I shared my exclusive interview with Minnie McSorley... Well! I was unaware that there was a second "exclusive" interview today! Anyway, Jen Doll at Runnin' Scared also has a fun interview with Minnie today... you may find that here.

PS
Q: What do you get if you cross a cat with a bottle of vinegar?
A: A sourpuss!

Exclusive: Minnie McSorley's first interview

As you've likely heard, Minnie, who lives at McSorley's, is being sued... Per the Post the other day (read more here):

A New Jersey woman has kicked up a feline fury at the 156-year-old McSorley's Old Ale House, by filing a lawsuit claiming she was viciously attacked by the venerable bar's pet cat and had to be hospitalized.

Now, Minnie has a Facebook page... So, via Facebook, I asked Minnie for an interview. I realized that, on the advice of her attorney, she couldn't discuss the specifics of the pawsuit. However!

Intro:

"Things are calming down here so I have some time on my paws. I'm glad to learn I have fans, but really the saloon is the celebrity — and all the nameless, faceless cats working out there every day to make hoomans a little more civilized. With that said..."

(Transcribed, as always, from my dictation. I do not type well with paws.)

How are you coping with your new-found celebrity?

Minnie: Celebrity, like a full food dish, is fleeting. Many famous people have visited McSorley's and I've heard tell that its age made them all feel a bit more humble. Although we don't usually get the arrogant ones. We got John Lennon, and Elvis and TR and Houdini and Chet Arthur and Belushi. The stuck-up ones go elsewhere. Meh. Their loss.

Besides, while dogs have been known to let fame and fortune go to their head (Lassie demanded bowls of red kibble only on her dressing room), we cats always land on our feet and therefore keep them planted firmly on the ground.

I will say I'm enjoying the outpouring of support. I don't even mind the requests for autographs. I love the cat people and am even patient with the non-cat hoomans, the well-meaning ones who'll ask me to "do something." Uh, come again? I met the Purina Cat Team a few times. They do tricks and are the exception to the rule.

Best/worst part about living at McSorley's.

Minnie: The best part of living in McSorley's is the opportunity to experience things you can't find anywhere else. I ask you, where ELSE could an 18-month-old cat get sued! Mew, mew, mew! (Transcriber: Here Minnie broke down in laughter.) Seriously, I love the history of McSorley's and the look on people's faces when they first walk in the door. Usually you only get that sort of look when you see a cat walk into the Vet's office. I can pick a first-time visitor 10 miles away. (Our eyesight is keener than humans, and so are our metaphors.)

I am also very fond, as McSorley's cats have been for a century, of the potbellied stove — especially this time of year. One of us was in e.e. cummings lap while he wrote the poem "I Was Sitting in McSorley's," about a snowy day in the saloon.

Worst part? There is really no worst part about McSorley's, unless you count Bloomberg's thugs stomping around and picking on us. "Why, yes, there is dust and the occasional fly, Mr. Health Inspector! Shocking in a 150-year old bar. Do you go to the Pyramids and complain about the dust? Do you go to the Statue of Liberty and complain about the corrosion? Do you go to Venice and complain about the trash in the canals?"

Wait, never mind. Bloomberg probably does.

That line etched in the window, Mr. Mayor, the one that says "we were here before you were born"? That's a message from 30 generations of McSorley's cats — and we'll be here after you're gone, too.

Do you prefer the light or dark ale?

Minnie: Light or dark, the eternal question. I'm afraid I don't drink the ale. I go to the bar and order Guinness. (Transcriber: More cat laughter.) No, just kidding. Of course all cats love the dark; we can see in it.

People who are now friends with Minnie McSorley (and when did McSorley's get TVs?)

Yes! Friend her here. (Thanks to Cat Sitter in the City!)

P.S.
And when did McSorley's get TVs???

Per Minnie's Facebook page:

The boss should never have installed TVs. McSorely's was not a very happy place last night as the NY Jets lost 45-3 to the Patriots. This is because they didn't play in the New Meadowlands Stadium, where there is a black cat in residence -- a black cat that is good luck, like all cats.

Minnie the McSorley's cat now has a Facebook page

Our friend Cat Sitter in the City passed along this, uh, tidbit...



Per Facebook: "I'm an adorable cat who's the target of a frivolous pawsuit."

Indeed! Read about the lawsuit here. Have you seen Minnie on YouTube yet?

Is a Minnie Twitter feed far behind?

This is the cat that allegedly attacked a New Jersey woman at McSorley's

Thanks to the reader who passed along this adorable YouTube link of Minnie at McSorley's... Previously.

Lawsuit blockbusters! Cat scratch fever at McSorley's

The Post has this catty exclusive today....

A New Jersey woman has kicked up a feline fury at the 156-year-old McSorley's Old Ale House, by filing a lawsuit claiming she was viciously attacked by the venerable bar's pet cat and had to be hospitalized.

Cheryl Sibley, 53, of Hasbrouck Heights, says she suffered the mini-mauling in October 2009, according to papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court last week.

The suit doesn't say exactly how the terrible tabby made a meal of Sibley.

But the woman claims the "live animal" attack left her with "serious injuries" that required medical care, the court papers state.

Gothamist has more photos of Minnie.

[Minnie photo via the Post]

So, what's doing at McSorley's today?

Eater intern Thomas Garry has been live blogging all day from McSorley's.

Sample:

10:23: People standing at the bar at least two to three people deep. Nearly impossible to get to the bar to order. Some resorting to buying from people sitting at tables full of beer.

Meanwhile, EV Heave is on High Alert until the threat perception subsides, sometime likely never.

Why people in L.A. might be talking about McSorley's today

The Los Angeles Times published a feature today about Geoffrey Bartholomew, the poet bartender who has worked behind the bar at McSorley's since 1967. Bartholomew is the author of the 2001 release "The McSorley Poems." (He has an MA in from City College, where in the '70s "he tutored under literary heavyweights Kurt Vonnegut and Anthony Burgess.") The piece talks about some of the bar's history and current group of regulars... nothing all that interesting for us hereabouts, but far more fascinating for L.A. bargoers, who think Backstage Bar & Grill in Culver City is the best dive bar.

Posts that I never got around to posting: A blurry photo taken in front of McSorley's

A new label for McSorley's

Drew Friedman designs the new label for McSorley's. He says he will be paid with beer. (Via BoingBoing)