Another bikini bar on the endangered list?

The other day, the Times took a look at the lonely stretch of EV Grieve favorite Nassau Street in the Financial District... specifically, the article focuses on the Nassau Bar, as the headline suggests: "On Nassau Street, the Present Closes In on a Bikini-Clad Past." As reporter Michael Wilson aptly notes, the whole street — long torn up by construction — seems to be frozen in time.



And inside the Nassau Bar?

"...beginning at 11 a.m., six days a week with Sundays off, women in bikinis sling shots and $3 cans of Miller Lite the same way they did in the city’s bad old days. “The only thing we change around here is the light bulbs,” said Robert Capone, 44, a manager at Nassau Bar.


[Photo of Tiffany at Nassau Bar via A Guy Walks into 365 Bars...]

There's talk of a luxury hotel at 5 Beekman Street... and, of course, the Beekman Tower around the corner...where studio rentals will start at $3,000. The article notes the post-Sept. 11 retail slump on Nassau Street... and suggests that people who move into gleaming new homes wouldn't want to visit a bikini bar. To the article:

If the new neighbors would seem to leave the bar in the cross hairs of gentrification, its owner, Michael Reagan, 41, of Staten Island, is unfazed. What’s not to love about a bikini bar?

“I’m always interested in getting people’s second impression of the place,” he said. “You’ll have a guy walk in with his girlfriend and they look all uptight, but they already ordered and they don’t want to leave. And then an hour or two later, they’re saying, ‘Oh, this isn’t at all what I thought it would be.’ ” He added: “Once people get over the initial hurdle of the basic uniform of the bartender, it appeals to everybody.”

Mr. Reagan bought Nassau Bar about three years ago and did not change a thing. Not even Mario Cosimano, the 47-year-old porter who works 12 hours a day. Mr. Reagan says the bar’s current lease expires in 2018. Asked if he imagined a buyer coming along in the meantime to turn his dive bar into a bistro — Le Nassau? — with words like “artisanal” on the menu, he said simply, “No.”

Read Marty's visit to the Nassau Bar here. [Photo above via A Guy Walks into 365 Bars...]

Recent NYC bikini bar casualties:

Hook and Ladder II ...

Deno's Party House ...

Deno's Bikini Bar ...

Navy Yard Cocktail Lounge ...

The road to Wall Street and the Stock Exchange is getting...Eurocobble?

On Nassau Street yesterday...





...and the street will now feature Italy's finest Eurocobble.



Can't wait to see when the Eurotrash takes a walk on the Eurocobble.

(And the crowd boos!)

Closed, no cigars

Dunno if this is one for Jeremiah's Signs of the Yunnipocalypse...but Carolina's Cigars on Nassau Street in the Financial District has closed....



Wasn't exactly a hotspot for fat cats, though telling nonetheless...

Hotel Reserve now ready for your, uh, reservation

The Hotel Reserve opened earlier this month on Nassau Street at Maiden Lane in the Financial District. It was originally reported that this would be a Wyndham Garden Hotel. But Hotel Reserve has such a more local flavor given that the Federal Reserve is directly across the street.





Pretty spiffy design...The hotel is L-shaped and wraps around three low-rise buildings that sit on the corner of Maiden and Nassau.



So why did they do something seemingly so complicated? According to an article from October 2007 in the Times titled New buildings that embrace the old:

These challenges pale in comparison with the difficulties faced by Gene Kaufman, an architect who designed a 113-room hotel that is being built just a few blocks from Wall Street.

This L-shaped hotel, which will be a Wyndham, will have entrances at 51 Nassau Street — opposite the New York Federal Reserve Building — and 20 Maiden Lane. But its longest street frontage will actually be in a dark, narrow one-block alley called Liberty Place.

The hotel is being built on this odd-shaped lot because it has to encompass three low-rise buildings on the corner of Nassau Street and Maiden Lane that the developer, the McSam Hotel Group, was unable to acquire. These buildings all had commercial tenants with long leases who could not be enticed to leave, Mr. Kaufman said.

“These old buildings were in very bad condition, so we had to be careful not to create any vibrations that could damage them,” Mr. Kaufman said. But, he said, that was just the beginning of his headaches.

For one thing, the New York City subway system passes directly beneath this site, and it has ventilation shafts on all three sides of the building. This meant the developer had to dig deeper for the foundation. But as the excavation began, he discovered that the three older buildings had foundations extending into the property lines for the hotel.

“We’ve wrapped around little buildings before; we’ve built against the subway before; we’ve built on narrow sites before,” Mr. Kaufman said. But never all at once. “It was like fitting a diamond into a setting,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Win Won on Liberty Place survived all the construction.



Here's what it looked like in late spring.

I'm rarely suspicious when a jewelry store has a "must raise cash" sign on its front window

Name aside, there's some kind of Vegas feel to this glittery jewelry store on Nassau Street near John Street in the Financial District.



Of course.

A quick check on Nassau Street

Back in June, I did a post about walking around Nassau Street in the Financial District. At the time, I wondered how many of the mom-and-pop businesses could stay open with the condofication of the area under way. So far, just on the stretch of Nassau between John Street and Ann Street, four businesses are either closing (like the one above) or have already shuttered. (And then there's Burritoville, which had a location here.) Sure, one thing may not have anything to do with the other, but...

For one brief moment...

I saw the "Salsa" sign illuminated at Burritoville on Nassau Street yesterday. First time I've seen it on since the whole Burritoville empire shut down. And I got a little excited -- maybe they reopened!



Uh. No.

Mysterious wooden structure appears on Nassau Street

Near Fulton in the Financial District.

The bubble man of Nassau Street

Dunno how popular bubbles are these days in the Financial District, though.

Checking in (so to speak) at the Wyndham Garden Hotel

Workers unveiled the entrance to the 20-story Wyndham Garden Hotel at 20 Maiden Lane yesterday in the Financial District. Still, from the look of things inside, plenty of work remains at this L-shaped hotel that wraps around three low-rise buildings on the corner of Maiden and Nassau.




Regardless, the hotel has its Web site up and running. So I thought I'd check out a room for this week.



Oh. According to the site, they are now accepting reservations for stays after March 15, 2009. Anyway sounds nice, based on the description:

The Wyndham Garden Hotel - Manhattan Financial District is a new, modern, 20 story high rise located in the heart of the New York City Financial District and Wall Street, bordering the historic South Street Seaport and the trendy neighborhoods of Tribeca & The Lower East Side.

Whether you're traveling to New York City for business or pleasure you will find that this magnificent downtown New York City hotel offers easy access to the World Trade Center site, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, South Street Seaport, Battery Park, The Brooklyn Bridge and hundreds of Fortune 500 companies.

Let's add: "Come and see the end of Wall Street firsthand!"

Previously on EV Grieve:
A Win Won Situation

The Jamie Dimon Players present: "Vikram Pandit Can Be Such A Jerk"

At One Manhattan Chase Plaza (Liberty and Nassau).

At the construction site for the Wyndham Garden Hotel

The L-shaped hotel will wrap around three low-rise buildings that sit on the corner of Maiden Lane and Nassau Street. When I took this photo, two meatheads in suits standing nearby smoking said to me, "Hey, welcome to New York City." Then he turned to his friend and muttered, "Fuckin' tourists."

Previously on EV Grieve:
A Win Won situation

Looking at the signs and window displays along Fulton and Nassau Streets

I began my walk on Nassau Street in front of the Tiny Towel Spa. (Or is it The Towels Were in the Dryer Too Long and Shrunk Spa?)


The sign for Samuel's Hats on the other side of Nassau has an air of high society about it. According to their Web site, "If you are planning to attend the Kentucky Derby or you need a hat for any special occasion please take a look at our new arrivals by the greatest American and European designers. " I just don't see too many women wearing these kinds of hats these days.

The sign remains, the store is no longer in business. This is now the new home of Hat Corner.

There are several discount stores along Fulton Street (I should just call it Fulton -- there isn't much Street left with all the construction) and Nassau Street. The area reminds me a little bit of 14th Street between Third and First Avenue several years ago, when there seemed to be 99-cent shops every few storefronts. With all the fancy condos and hotels cropping up in the Financial District, I'm afraid there won't be much need for mom-and-pop stores selling, say, plastic backscratchers, Spanish-language greeting cards and off-brand detergent.

Ralph's has been here for nearly 35 years, I'm told. By the way, the door to the right of Ralph's is marked 82 Nassau Street. According to New York Songlines, "This was the address of the South Baptist Church; Herman Melville may have written "Moby-Dick" in a building in the church's courtyard, reports Literary New York. Later, in March 1878, the first telephone exchange was opened here by the Bell Company."

Been curious what this building was on Nassau Street before someone slapped the NATALIE on it.

Love the jazzy, roaring-20s look of the Wendy's sign. Adds a touch of class! Now, must order a Triple Stack with cheese.

There may be a Sophie's under here somewhere.

An exercise studio for nuns? Or mimes?

Yes, I know Dress Barn is a national chain with affordable clothing for women. That name, though. Sounds like the place to shop for the Sadie Hawkins dance.

Always like the 1-2 punch of a fried chicken chain and fitness center side by side.

More random storefronts along Nassau Street selling affordable shoes and clothing. How long will they last with the neighborhood becoming more and more affluent?