Showing posts with label the 13th Step. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the 13th Step. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

[Updated] The 13th Step is now going as Downtown Social

Photos by Steven

The 13th Step is apparently undergoing a name change as we enter 2023. 

The windows of the sports bar-SantaCon hotspot are covered... a sign on the window promises "a big reveal" coming this Friday... (an Instagram post says the reveal is coming today) ...
The bar, from the family of like-minded places like Down the Hatch and Off the Wagon, opened here (with comic-sans signage) in the summer of 2010. 

The Telephone Bar closed here in January 2010 after 22 years.

Updated 4 p.m. 

Apparently, the "big reveal" was today... as you can see, the bar is now going as Downtown Social... and reopens on Friday...

Monday, February 11, 2019

The 13th returns to the 13th Step


[Photo from October by Steven]

Back in October, workers removed the neon 13th Step signage from outside the sports bar/SantaCon favorite on Second Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street

The temp sign simply said The Step, prompting speculation that the bar had dropped the 13th...


[That one night it snowed in November]

However, this past Thursday, a new sign arrived ... with the return of the 13th...


[Photo by Steven]

Several readers/residents found the name to be in poor taste upon the bar's arrival nearly nine years ago. The term 13th Step is used as a euphemism for inappropriate sexual advances by a member to a newcomer in AA. It means other things too.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The 13th Step loses the 13th on 2nd Avenue

Friday, November 16, 2018

So long to the 13th Step signage


[Photos by Steven]

Workers yesterday removed the neon 13th Step signage from outside the no-longer-named-13th-Step bar on Second Avenue between Ninth Street and 10th Street. (To be clear, the bar remains open.)

In early October, the sports bar/SantaCon hotspot dropped the 13th to become simply The Step.

The temp Step sign then returned last evening...



The bar is still listed as the 13th Step on social media and its website. Perhaps they'll eventually address what may have prompted the dropping of the 13th.

Several readers/residents found the name to be in poor taste upon the bar's arrival eight-plus years ago. The term 13th Step is used as a euphemism for inappropriate sexual advances by a member to a newcomer in AA. It means other things too.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The 13th Step loses the 13th on 2nd Avenue

Thursday, October 4, 2018

The 13th Step loses the 13th on 2nd Avenue



After eight-plus years as the 13th Step, the sports bar/SantaCon hotspot at 149 Second Ave. is now simply The Step here between Ninth Street and 10th Street. (Thanks to EVG reader Aaron Wilson for the photo!)

No word at the moment what may have prompted the dropping of the 13th. There isn't any mention yet about a name change on the bar's website or social media properties.

Several readers/residents found the name to be in poor taste upon the bar's arrival. The term 13th Step is used as a euphemism for inappropriate sexual advances by a member to a newcomer in AA. It means other things too.

From the EVG way-back machine in July 2010, Michael Asch, one of the two senior co-owners at the time of the 13th Step discussed the rationale behind the original name.

Anyway, so long to that comic-sans neon signage...


[EVG photo from July 2010]

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

The 13th Step is a work of art



Several readers have noted that this man with the easel has been painting a still life of The 13th Step on Second Avenue near East Ninth Street …



Saturday, December 13, 2014

Meanwhile, on 2nd Avenue…



Near East Ninth Street outside the 13th Step … where one Santa has his own Beer Pong kit…



Photos via EVG reader Steven…

And so much for official SantaCon bars

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Noted



Spotted this morning on Second Avenue... in front of the Starbucks at East Ninth Street... Someone wrote "Kill him" in chalk with an arrow pointing toward the sidewalk space outside the 13th Step...



Anyone know what this is about?

Thursday, July 29, 2010

13th Step owner discusses frat rap, telephone booths and bar names



On Tuesday, Billy Gray had a piece at Guest of a Guest titled, 13th Step Vs. Billy Hurricanes: Which Will Be The East Village's Most Hated Bar?

As Billy wrote, "The 13th Step is part of a massive evil empire whose leaders, unlike Billy Hurricanes', haven't even feigned interest in preserving neighborhood character. But the locals have already taken the all-important first step and admitted they have a problem with (decreasingly) out of place new arrivals."

I've been pretty tough on the 13th Step too... so, in fairness, I asked Michael Asch, one of the two senior co-owners of the 13th Step, and its sibling bars Down the Hatch, The Stumble Inn, Off the Wagon, et al, for his reaction to Billy's article...and other topics... we exchanged messages via Facebook (Michael previously invited me to the 13th Step's opening on July 6, which I did not attend) ... here's, in part, what he had to say ...

"[I found the piece] completely obnoxious ... and immature. The fact that we are being labeled frat bars and bad for a neighborhood's character is totally uncalled for and, for that matter, just plain ignorant."

On the Telephone's legacy:

"How many times are people going to say how upset they are about the removal of telephone booths and for that matter, the Telephone Bar? Has it not occurred to them that the Telephone Bar, as well as many other places that people hold onto in their memories, are going out of business for a reason?"


[Telephone photo via]

On their business model:

"My partner and I spend months and big bucks doing everything that we possibly can to build new spaces with tons of character and old-world charm. In fact, that is what we pride ourselves on.

"We end up with a classic, well-thought-out, safe environment ... a great and inexpensive venue where locals can come and eat, drink, watch sports (yes on 28 TVs -- is that so bad?) ... for just a few bucks.

"We always stay within the letter of the law, and have always run our establishments with the community in mind on many levels. We have had virtually no violations of any kind over a combined 50-plus years in New York. We get involved with many charities, both local and national, sponsor local groups and teams, and attend police precinct meetings regularly and proactively.

"We, too, are saddened by Duane Reade, Starbucks and the other big-chain-store takeovers of these neighborhoods. We are the exact opposite. We try and move with the times, by opening venues that will give value, and most important, create jobs for the city and these areas."

On coming up with the name the 13th Step:

"We do use names that make you stop and laugh, smile or, maybe in some few instances, grimace, but that is solely a marketing tool that has been successful for our formula.

"We never knew of the unofficial meaning regarding a new AA member being flirted with by current members when we chose the name. We always do a naming contest with friends, family and regulars. We get thousands of creative and comical names, and then a committee votes. [The 13th Step] was meant to be nothing more than the fictitious step that a person would take after having completed the 12-step program. They jokingly would naturally go have a beer and a burger in their local pub. Nothing more, nothing less. We polled dozens of New Yorkers who have been to, or are currently attending, AA meetings, and found 100 percent of them, young and old, to not only find the name funny, but many think it is fantastic, genius, creative, etc.

"Mind you, while we are very inexpensive compared to most other venues in NYC, we DO NOT promote binge drinking, or excessive drinking at all. We strive for great times to be had by all, in a safe and relaxed atmosphere."

Friday, July 2, 2010

The 13th Step to feature 28 flatscreen TVs, 8.5-hour happy hour (and deep-fried hot dogs)



The 13th Step opens on Thursday on Second Avenue, and Thrillist has the scoop on what to expect:

Named after the AA term for hooking up with one’s sponsor, 13S's morphed the former Telephone Bar space into a down-to-business, 28-flatscreen sports spot; the booth-lined main room’s been revamped with a wood-topped bar and a brass ceiling rocking custom amber fixtures, while the the back now features two rooms that share the same spanking-new bar, but’re separated down the middle by a wrought iron gate with swinging doors, which’ll let anyone inside. In spite of eating up most of the kitchen space, the standard bar menu’s studded with adventurous booze-sponges, including bacon, egg, and cheese sliders; cheese/gravy-/bacon-smothered tots; pulled-pork-stuffed burgers; and deep fried dogs, aka rippers, which don’t need jack to tear your heart out. The drink’s fittingly straight ahead as well, with a fully stocked bar backed by 14 drafts, local bottles, and old-school cans of Schaefer, Carling Black Label, and Sly Fox IPA, which coincidentally is also crazy...delicious!

Upping the imbibery's a recurring 8.5 hr happy hour (excepting Sundays), plus daily specials like dollar drafts and half-price bombs...


And the hits just keep on coming...

Thanks to EV Grieve reader Jeremy for the tip.

[Photo via Thrillist]

Friday, June 25, 2010

Thursday, June 24, 2010

13th Step one step closer to reality



The sign is up at 13th Step, the subtle new bar opening in the former Telephone Bar space on Second Avenue ...

Apologies for doing this...



[Telephone photo via]

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Ghost signage at former Telephone Bar and Grill?

The exterior work on the former Telephone Bar continues on Second Avenue near Ninth Street... EV Grieve reader Miranda sent this shot along from last Friday morning, when the work was really getting started outside...



Made easier, of course, without those pesky old red telephone booths... and work continued yesterday... So... What I can't recall... is that Bar & Grill sign part of the old Telephone signage from a few years back?




It just doesn't look like signage for what is coming to this address, the lovingly named 13th Step...

Previously on EV Grieve:
The 13th Step sure to be big with the AA crowd

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The 13th Step sure to be big with the AA crowd



OK, we're all over the arrival of The 13th Step today... Several folks who have been to AA have mentioned how totally inappropriate it is to name a bar The 13th Step.

From the AA glossary of terms:

Thirteenth Step (a.k.a. Thirteenth Stepping):
There is no thirteenth step in the AA program. This term is used as a euphemism for inappropriate sexual advances by a member to a newcomer in AA (such as sponsors toward sponsees). Sponsors ought never be sexually involved with those whom they sponsor. This is why it is usually suggested that (heterosexual) newcomers choose sponsors of the same sex, thereby avoiding the temptation. Also, it is sometimes suggested that newcomers not enter into new relationships for at least a year after getting sober. The reason being that sexual relationships are prone to elicit emotional extremes, making relapse more likely. The term 'thirteenth stepping' is always used in a negative sense.