Comments on: New York removes last old man bar; comics jam moves

by: hipnoj

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 04:22:35 +0000

by: hipnoj

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 04:22:12 +0000

by: Trisha Lynn

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 12:00:47 +0000

Man, I really feel your guys’ pain. Every time I’ve tried to get a bunch of New Yorkers together to do anything, we almost always end up meeting in Manhattan because it’s “central” to everything. Except, the funniest part about the last meeting on the Lower East Side at Ace Bar is that almost everyone was from Queens.

I’d tell you guys to go to this great “old man’s bar” that some friends and I went to recently, but first it’s in Queens and second of all, I don’t remember exactly where it is right now.

by: Bill Scurry

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 04:05:00 +0000

I’m still weeping over Cedars being shuttered.

by: Neil Kleid

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 14:02:59 +0000

Man, I miss the fries they used to make at McCarthy’s. Nothing like comics jam on fries and beer.

Screw this. Let’s start jamming at Hooter’s.

by: Cheese

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 13:59:10 +0000

Hey, I live in jersey City…

by: Tag

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 06:12:32 +0000

Manhattan WAS the birthplace of culture, Heidi. Now it’s where corporations come to feed on the creative remora eels who mistake their relationships for symbiotic. The outer boroughs are where anything that still remotely flirts with danger lives now. Be glad I didn’t suggest Jersey City.

Besides, I think the phrase you want is, “F&¢% you and the L train you rode in on.”

by: Ed Mathews

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 02:04:13 +0000

Ah, yes… sorry about that. For some reason I had a huge brain fart and thought it was McSorely’s.

by: Cheese

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 23:05:28 +0000

That’s McSorely’s, not McCarthy’s.

by: Ed Mathews

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 23:04:24 +0000

Are you seriously sad to see this go? It wasn’t until 1986 that they let women in because THEY WERE FORCED TO.

by: Cheese

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 23:01:10 +0000

Yeah, it’s gotta be Manhattan, we have people coming from all over (Queens, Brooklyn, Jersey, etc.) and six of our regulars live on the island. No offense to Brooklyn, I went to a comic thing there on Sunday at Freddy’s and had a blast (they also have a great back room). All I need is that, but a mile or two west.

by: The Beat

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 20:25:35 +0000

Screw you and your metro card, Tag! MANHATTAN IS THE BIRTHPLACE OF CULTURE!

by: Tag

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 20:22:03 +0000

I’ve been to a few of the jams and liked McCarthy’s fine. Nicely understated. But hardly the last of the “old man bars”; the city’s lousy with ‘em still. Mebbe Mustang Sally’s on, what is it, 7th Ave and 20-something street? Or resurrect the drunk comickers’ scene at Ace Bar; the back room is well-lit for the pool players and has many a booth, plus the drinks are still halfway cheap last I checked (admittedly, over a year ago). Surely there’s some lightly-trafficked, well-lit, inexpensive boozehall in a city held hostage to real estate developers, no?

Two words: outer boroughs. Perhaps Rocketship might even want to set up a sequential art speakeasy (no relation to the defunct publishers). Manhattan is SO over.

by: Cheese

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 19:19:29 +0000

Thanks for all the suggestions, I’m adding a few of them to our scouting list.

There are two Lotus bars, Lotus Lounge is on Clinton and Stanton, Lotus Club is on 14th in the meatpacking district. The Lotus Lounge manager seemed agreeable to turning up some of the lights, but I have yet to see how it’d look at night.

Hicky’s is an option, Colden and I had a beer in there a month or two ago, but yes, it does smell like piss and that area gets sketchier late at night. I also don’t remember a huge amount of table space there, but I could be mistaken.

The Holiday is still open, and is one of my favorite places, but lacks the light needed and keeps odd hours, especially during the week; sometimes it’s open until one, other times it closes at eight. It’s worth looking into though.

by: The Beat

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 19:04:41 +0000

Kevin, I used to go to Lotus almost every Saturday when my pals Rontronik and Gunseller were spinning there and it was ALWAYS packed. PACKED PACKED. Lotus has the worst layout of any dance club I've ever seen with a huge bar blocking all access. But maybe it is less crowded now that my pals have left!

by: badMike

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 18:35:45 +0000

Is the Holiday Cocktail Lounge still open on St. Marks?

by: Billy Tucci

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 16:01:34 +0000

Hey Guys, go and give Peter McManus’ on 7th Ave and 19th. It’s a real NY “Old Man’s” bar with great food. It was even in the film Highlander. It’s been there for at least 50 years and retains all that is good of NY.
Billy

by: Brownstein

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 15:09:50 +0000

I’d recommend Hickey’s, which is a filthy, filthy old man dive next to MSG on (i think) 33rd between B’wy and 7th. It’s right next door to Stout. It’s quiet, cheap, well lit, and almost always empty after 7. Seamus is a great old school Irish bartender and will usually flip you a buy back after a 2 drinks or less. The only downside is that the table area literally smells of piss because they haven’t cleaned the bathrooms since the Ford administration, but after a fashion that becomes part of its charm.

by: Kevin Colden (ChemSet)

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:36:10 +0000

In retrospect, it should have been obvious that the place was closing, as for the last six months they seemed to not be restocking their better Scotch (ever had to drink Johnnie Walker Red straight? It ain’t fun.)

We actually held a jam at the Lotus once last year when McCarthy’s was mysteriously closed (the signs were everywhere!), as we’d recently spent a run of Saturday nights there drunkenly doodling on the free postcards and coasters.

It never seems to be crowded at night, though. 10pm on a Saturday, and you can still get a table. Could there be more than one Lotus?

by: Calvin Reid

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 14:03:37 +0000

It’s a shame McCarthy’s is closing but the Lotus Club is great place. Especially since I live across the street from it. Well Lit? Hardly. Spacious? For sure. Crowded? Very often. Good Brew and cocktails? Most definitely. It’s a great little joint.