Oh. In an earlier post, we mentioned the five East Village bars that the new Time Out was touting in its bar guide issue thing. Based on the comments, not everyone is familiar with the Blind Pig, which is on 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. Well, we're no help: We've never been there. But we did find this informational Blind Pig video on CitySearch. Highlights: The high-five at the 56-second point! Up high, broseph!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
At the Donnybrook
Stopped by Donnybrook the other day for a drink. This is the new upscale Irish pubby place that opened at the corner of Clinton and Stanton on Oct. 24.
Having lived across the street for nearly 10 years, we were curious about what became of the space. (We had moved up the way before the former occupant, the Lotus Lounge, closed.) First, the bar. Well, it looks as if the owners (same as Lucky Jack's) spent a fortune renovating the space. Everything is spiffy and buffed. They'll spend a fortune on Pledge.
The folks working were friendly. The bartender said they'd be serving "hearty Irish fare" in the next two weeks. There were two TVs on (mute) with some sort of sports; one TV was tuned to a rugby match that a group of people from the UK were enjoying. The Dave Matthews Band was playing on the house stereo. (And not just any old Dave Matthews -- this was a live recording with an extra side of jam!) We had two draft beers (imperial pints) and two glasses of wine. Our check was $32. It was all perfectly pleasant.
But would we ever go back? Well, it's just not really our thing. We like a little more grit and grime. And history. A friend, who has lived in the neighborhood for years, popped by for a drink and dryly remarked that it's "a little slice of Murray Hill right in the LES." (He must not get out much in the neighborhood these days.)
While at Donnybrook, we started reminiscing about the cluttered Christian Ministries thrift shop that was housed here before the Lotus. We bought some kind of dresser that weighed like 300 pounds. The proprietor, who looked like Jeremiah Johnson, was kind enough to help us lug it up five steep flights of stairs. He refused a tip. But! He wasn't in a hurry to leave. "May I ask you a question?" Uh-oh. "Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your lord and savior?" Somehow we got him out the door with only a pamphlet for the trouble. We also thought about the bodega where wd~50 is now on Clinton Street; the bodega with the cock-fighting ring in the back. Anyway, we did a little too much reminiscing at the Donnybrook. Which made me think that this bar is out place. Or rather, we're just out of place.
Bird watching
As mentioned in the previous post, we paid a visit to our old neighborhood the other day. (We're acting as if we had moved to Maine...we're just up the street, but we don't come down here that often anymore.) New restuarants/bars and million-dollar condos aside, I was happy to see the fellow with the rooftop pigeon coop was still there.
"One last breath of life in this dying hick-town mall that used to be Manhattan"
Was flipping through this week's Time Out -- "your ultimate bar guide" -- when I came across this ad for Circa Tabac on Watts Street. I'm a big Nick Tosches fan, and don't recall having ever seen this ad:
Things are getting so bad, psychics are even going out of business
On Avenue C. And shouldn't they have seen this coming? (Sorry)
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Appreciating the work of James Jowers
Stupefaction has an excellent post on the work of photographer James Jowers. In the mid-1960s, Jowers lived on the Lower East Side and worked a night job at St. Luke's Hospital. This allowed him to roam the city streets during the day taking photos. Here is the Jowers Flickr page with some 50 photos, like the one above of Tompkins Square Park circa 1967.
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