NYCBP Blog

Back in another time and era, pre-October 4, 2008, that is, many of us who had formerly lived on the Upper West Side would regularly make pilgrimages to our dearly beloved Yogi's. Its closing by the real estate sharks made numerous headlines, and far beyond the confines of New York, judging alone by the responses I have personally received about our coverage of its demise.

On the night of its closing, numerous writers, journalists, and photographers showed up both to record this sad event, and also to have one last beer or shot, since at least some of them had puked there more than once.

While trying to navigate through the human sea of beer-worshippers who had gathered there that night, I started talking to this fellow who said he was there covering the closing for VanityFair.com. He said his name was George Gurley, and we talked.

His story, with the politically potent title of "Another Dive Bar Dies in Bloomberg's Manhattan", indeed captured the flavor, sounds, and scent of this bar, from the customers to the music to the bartenders to the bathrooms.

The story included a quote from me that I had wanted to celebrate my 60th birthday at Yogi's. That joyous day was Sunday, March 22, 2009. I had a cold all week, so I postponed any celebratory drinking until my aging body said "beer and vodka" to me instead of "soup and tea."

But I was in the neighborhood to have dinner and shop, so I wandered a few blocks to the intersection of 76th Street and Broadway, and sat down on a wooden bench in the area which separates Broadway. I had passed by the site a few times when it was all boarded up, and had also seen it recently now that the entire building has been ripped down, destroyed, incinerated, obliterated from our lives.

Now I have a photo of it, albeit an unintentionally misty one because I took it late at night with a phone camera, and not a real one.



I think the seeming haze adds a surreal quality to the photo, since all it took to destroy such a vibrant mini-community and oasis of controlled debauchery was the unquenched zeal and greed of a tiny handful of real estate, banking, and political pirates.

I'll be back drinking again very soon, now in my 60th year. I hope to see y'all in the barrooms – unless, of course, you're one of those types of bastards who go around looting and stealing from people like us. Our day is coming, and we'll bury you at the foot of the big beer can mountain. You can count on that, boys.

Labels: beer, dive bars, Eddie Goldman, upper west side, Yogi's

Finally some good news to read today. Even though the economy is in the toilet, $16 million was spent to renovate the Beacon Theatre. This beloved concert venue, which many of us love for hosting the Allmans every spring, is back after seven months of work to bring it back to its 1920s glory. The Times has a great overview and photo gallery which says,

New end standards along the aisles of the 2,829 new rust-red seats were cast from patterns close to the originals. Furthermore, multiple levels of ceiling cove lighting were rewired, then the fixtures rebulbed, as restorers say, returning the illumination to a glory not seen for 50 years...

I've been here many times; the last was to see David Gray. It is a special place on the Upper West Side. Even though Yogi's is not within stumbling distance any longer to The Beacon, there are many more watering holes nearby.

Hats off to Madison Square Garden Entertainment for bringing back this jewel to New York. Paul Simon is the first to perform in the renovated landmark.

Labels: music, upper west side

Wow. Imagine you are drinking at a bar on Amsterdam Avenue, and the next thing you know, your face is on fire? That is apparently what happened to a woman who was at Brother Jimmy's on the Upper West Side, according to a lawsuit detailed in the New York Post. "Lauren Sclafani, 31, says she suffered second- and third-degree burns on her face, arms and hands thanks to the Bacardi 151 stunt at Brother Jimmy's gone terribly wrong."

As "Great Balls of Fire" came on the jukebox, the bartender poured 151-proof rum across the bar and deliberately lit it on fire, according to a lawsuit she filed against the bar. The flame blew back into the bottle, turning it into a "flamethrower," said Sclafani's lawyer, Tom Moore.

"I was just about to leave, and the next thing you know, I'm lit on fire," Sclafani said. "My face was burning, my hands were burning, my clothes were on fire. I was just praying to make it stop."

That is damn horrific. How much do you think she will win? A million? More? Any of you guys ever seen this done at the bar? Red Rock West used to light their bar on fire for KISS' "Heaven's On Fire"... but the bouncers had the good sense to make customers step back 4 feet before the matches came out.

Labels: bartenders, patrons, upper west side

Well 2008 has been brutal to classic bars in Manhattan, and this was felt most on the Upper West Side. It looks like the P&G, which we have been following for some time. Is now about to bite the bullet. We got this message from our pal Robin, who was in town recently:

I had to visit my old drinking hole and check on its' status. I spoke to Andrew and then to Steve , who gave me the bad news of the final date for the P & G. It will occur on Dec 31. There is good news from Steve that the family will be moving the P&G to I think 86th and Amsterdam. Maybe you can clarify the location a little better. I understood from Steve the P&G neon will be going with them as will some of the rear bar. I was fortunate enough to hoist a few before it closes. I hope you do a little piece on your website. It will truly be missed.

This is pretty disgraceful to lose such a great neighborhood bar. We need a big NYCBP night out at the bar very very soon.

Labels: drinking, patrons, upper west side

I saw this on The Feedbag:

Village Pourhouse on the Upper West Side has implemented a new policy. If you take a cab to visit the new spot, the Pourhouse will match your cab fare in the form of a bar tab. For instance, if you are on the LES on a Saturday night and you are ready for a change of scene, but can’t imagine coughing up the dough for a cab to the Upper West Side, have no fear. Direct the cabby to Amsterdam between 108th and 109th, ask for a receipt when you arrive, and the bartender will start your tab with a credit for the same amount as your fare.

An excellent concept! Maybe Tommy should try this at The Duck?

Labels: drinking, patrons, upper west side

One of the best parts of moving back to the Upper West Side was getting my sushi back. Living in Harlem for the last year and a half, there wasn't a local sushi place. We have now settled on (after 2 visits) Tokyo Pop on Broadway and 104th. The space is excellent, the sushi is so delish, and the service is top-notch. So I was in a sushi frame of mind when I got this wacky email the other day here at NYCBP:

My name is Brandon Buckley and I am working with Sushi-Models.com to provide exposure to Koko Hirosaki’s unique catering service. Koko has taken hold of the growing sushi model market here in NYC by utilizing her models based on aesthetics and sophistication. The reason I am contacting you is because I feel that offering her service could make any event a memorable one. I am offering a $100 commission to any agent that can book Koko’s service for a group over ten people, and $50 for groups under ten. I encourage you to take a look at Koko’s site in order to get a better perspective on the catering options she provides.

I had to go and check this out. Why else live in New York, if you can't order food and eat it off a woman (or man) lying half naked on a table in front of you? What a concept. It was on the news last summer when this came to New York, I believe. My birthday is in January, so maybe this is what I will ask for. What a riot. Tokyo Pop does not offer this service, but I'm going to ask about it...

Just check out these photos from nyotaimori-ny...


"Pass that tuna roll, will you?"


"Dude, this is so much better than Applebee's!"


"We are here to add atmosphere to this freakshow."


So business school really paid off for you.


Just another Craig's List success story, right on the table.



"Nobody at work will believe this, so let's take a photo!"


"Have you seen my California Roll?"


Food porn, right here.


Believe it or not, Rachael Ray started her career this way.


This is one of the models before the food arrives.

If you are HUNGRY for more, here are the prices:

We deliver "Japanese Body Sushi Party"!!
For events over 20 persons please call to inquire about price.
646.696.6470 or 646.246.7344
Private Event Rate ( 2.5 hour )
included Sushi and other Japanese food, Body Sushi Model & server
We can arrange the venue and/or beverages at additional cost.
20 guests $90/guest
16 guests $95/guest
10 guests $115/guest
8 guests $120/guest
6 guests $135/guest
4 guests $175/guest
2 guests $300/guest
(This price does not include 18% gratuity and mandatory taxes.)

If anyone wants to try this out, let me know.

Labels: new york city, photos, upper west side, web finds

I never claimed to be Oliver Stone, but here is another little video clip from Yogi's. It is the last shift Terri and Bree worked there. You will recognize a lot of the jokers in it. I tried to capture an overall look at the bar. It is dark, I realize, but so was the bar. An no, I did not take any video of the bathrooms...

If you guys like this, i will also add some that I made on the last weekend there.

Labels: bartenders, Brie, Eddie Goldman, patrons, Theresa, upper west side, Yogi's

It took the last night of Yogi's being in business for a journalist affiliated with a decent national magazine to show up and do it justice. Hats off to George Gurley of VanityFair.com for a great piece from the fray of the last night. He got all the regulars in the piece, including Gator and Eddie. He goes to town:

The vibe is frenzied and desperate. There are huge piles of empty cans and broken bottles everywhere and it's only 9:30 p.m. Inside the bathroom there's a hole where the toilet used to be, and now it's overflowing, creeping outside the bathroom. It's coming closer, a terrible swirling sea of beer, urine, and solid matter. People are standing, wading around in it and laughing. Nobody seems to care. Nobody wants to admit what seems pretty obvious: it's the end of the world!

Nice! And this is from a magazine that usually cares more about Brad Pitt than dive bars... One thing that struck me about the piece: He is talking about Elizabeth here. I don't know where she went either. Did anyone call her Beth?

It is an excellent piece, so read it. It makes me miss the place even more.

Labels: Tommy McNeil, upper west side, Yogi’s

This Tuesday night, Oct. 7, my nephew was in town, so we went out for dinner at Artie's on Broadway near 83rd Street. I had taken him to Yogi's a time or two, and normally we would have stopped in to see the luscious Theresa, the queen of Tuesday nights for about the last seven or eight years.

Before heading to the restaurant, I passed by Yogi's to see if somehow my recollection that it had closed this past Saturday night was just a hallucination implanted by alien kidnappers from a hostile galaxy, or maybe some falsehood claimed in a campaign attack ad. Maybe I had dreamt it all, and now that the beer from the previous week had worn off (except on my dirty laundry awaiting cleaning), I would discover that it was all some big misunderstanding.

And maybe I would also get a text from Halle Berry saying that her hotel key was under the doormat of room 1410.

The place was dark and locked. It was night when I arrived and hard to see inside, but it looked like any ordinary, boring, spiritless bar. The big labels on the beer taps appeared to have been removed. There were some things littered about, although the liquor bottles still seemed to sit there. And outside, the bear was gone, gone for the first time in about 25 or so years. It was as if its heart and soul had been ripped out.

I only stayed outside the bar a couple of minutes, but in that brief time I heard several passersby commenting on the countdown clock and saying, "They held out as long as they could." If such decisions were left up to the community, and not some faceless real estate bandits, I might be drinking there right now instead of posting this.

My nephew and I both decided to split after dinner instead of getting beers somewhere else. He has a very busy schedule while here, and I just didn't feel like suddenly looking for a new bar home on the Upper West Side after first having gone there, when it was still McGowan's, at some time I now wish I had recorded, in the mid or late 1970's.

That is what Yogi's was to so many of us, a place for our drinking family and a place for our real family. I had taken countless people there from all around the world, and mostly made ready converts of them, even on the slowest of nights.

First what made Yogi's special was the people. While every place has its share of assholes, the people plus the setting made most folks quite friendly, and friendlier than any bar I have frequented either regularly or even a few times.

The music played a large role in that. The main message of the rockin', outlaw country music which filled its semi-functional jukebox was that life and individual happiness should be celebrated. There is a true passion for freedom in these tunes, freedom in the individual and social sense and not just meaning formal freedom like voting, etc. You could celebrate you right there, while drinking your beer, singing and yee-hawing along with the songs, and then trying to wade through the soggy men's room when it was time to unload.

The gorgeous women behind the bar also, of course, made Yogi's special. Most of them, especially the veterans, made you feel right at home. Many of us guys in there couldn't pass as metrosexuals if it meant getting a chunk of that bailout loot. It usually didn't matter quite what you looked like, and especially what you were wearing - so long as you tipped nicely, thank you.

And the cheap, cold beer, that elixir of the common man and woman, was the cornerstone of this perfect quartet which made so many of us fall in love with this filthy, little place.

The people, the music, the women, and the beer - all guarded by the bear, which has since gone missing.

Now we are orphans again, left to search for a new bar home either farther away or with a different vibe. Hopefully The Duck, which opens Thursday, will do well, and there are always gems like Doc Holliday's remaining, but East Harlem and the East Village may be too far to travel for those who liked to get smashed while listening to Merle and Willie on the Upper West Side.

At the behest of drinking buddy Joe, I hung around as long as they would let me to be the last paying customer to exit Yogi's, forever, at this location anyway. He said it was only fitting, since I probably had been going to this bar the longest of anyone there that night, and certainly among the longest.

A crowd hung around outside for some time afterwards, just as it started to rain, as if David Allan Coe went to pick up his mom again. The raindrops hastened everyone's retreat, the countdown clock with all those zeros told the story, and it was over.

The NYCBP.com message boards have some great recaps of the last night there by many of my rowdy friends. I am not posting my fuzzy pictures taken with my camera phone, as there were many folks there with real, fancy, digital jobs who have promised to flood us with these memories. But I still have my pics to save.

The last song played on that ole jukebox was Sawyer Brown's "Some Girls Do." Its line of "I ain't first class, but I ain't white trash" describes a lot of us who walked in the door past that bear. And for those who loved Yogi's, whether or not they were white anything, the line, "Some girls don’t like boys like me, but some girls do", summed up a lot of our experiences, both there and elsewhere.

There is no hiding the sadness so many of us are feeling now that Yogi's is gone. It was surreal knowing what the countdown clock said, and it will take some time and frustrations like I experienced Tuesday night for it to sink in. A lot of us put in some extra tours of drinking duty during this last week at Yogi's, so we may not be all that ready or eager to whoop it up this soon. But the emptiness will hit you, sooner, probably, than later.

Labels: beer, dive bars, Eddie Goldman, New York, Sawyer Brown, Some Girls Do, upper west side, Yogi’s

Such were the instructions of bar owner Tom McNeil, shortly after 2 AM Friday night/Saturday morning, on the next to last night at Yogi’s, to those who were planning to come for the final night of drinking, Saturday, October 4. Presumably he meant only the ladies, but, as we see from some of the photos below, it would not surprise us if some of the Yogi’s men tried to show to the world that they indeed have balls.

I already wrote my Yogi’s epitaph on the chalkboard:

The countdown clock is getting scaringly low:

The lovely Patience was behind the bar:

Plenty of folks jammed the bar for this next to last night:

Labels: bars, beer, dive bars, Eddie Goldman, New York, Tommy McNeil, upper west side, Yogi's

It was a surreal Monday night at Yogi’s. Mondays have been one of the liveliest nights at this bar over the years, and Monday, Sept. 29, was just that, with girls dancing on the bar, outlaw country music blaring from the jukebox, and the gorgeously frenetic bartender Patience looking as radiant as ever.


But this one was different, as it was the final Monday before Yogi’s closes for good on Saturday, October 4. For those who hadn’t heard or believed the news yet, there were signs posted outside and inside the bar:


There was a countdown clock facing the street:


Even the legendary sewer of a bathroom had graffiti with the news:

It will all be over Saturday. Hopefully, however, it will all resume Thursday, October 9, at The Duck and, we wish, at a new Yogi’s near the present one sometime in the future when the economy, finance, and the real estate markets, i.e., the “big money” which is closing down this Yogi’s, allow.

(All photos by Eddie Goldman, thank you.)

Labels: bars, bartenders, beer, dive bars, Eddie Goldman, New York, Patience, upper west side, Yogi’s

On October 4 Yogi's will join the list of shuttered city bars and saloons. It will be quiet at the spot, 2156 Broadway, at 76th Street, for the first time in many years.

This has been a bad year for dive bars. We have lost Red Rock West, Scruffy Duffy’s, Collins Bar, Kevin St. James, and Time Out. Now comes word that the most beloved dive on the Upper West Side is closing up. The building was sold and will be torn down.

Yogi's has been in the Tom McNeil empire for 10 years. Prior to that, the space was the Bear Bar. For decades before that, it was an Irish pub. As Yogi's, it has been an oasis for country music lovers and fans of cheap bar and rowdy barmaids since Clinton was in office. It always delivered the goods: low-price drinks and raucous times. It has several hallmarks: disgusting restrooms, peanut shells on the floor, broken chairs, and sticky surfaces.

But Yogi's always made the list of great NYCBP bars for it's bartenders. Over the years there have been dozens, maybe hundreds, of women to work behind the bar. Some lasted just one night, other clocked in for years. Who was a regular customer of Jenn? Chaundra? Steph? Myriam? Patience? Theresa? Teresa? Lisa Marie? And so many more…

Tom still has The Patriot, and rumors are that he's opening The Duck in Spanish Harlem soon. But for the next week, make a final stop to Yogi’s and pay your respects.

Labels: bartenders, dive bars, patrons, upper west side, Yogi's

New Places, Same Faces
By Eddie Goldman
Photos here.

Rest assured, dive bar lovers, boozers, rednecks, and country music aficionados. The clock may be ticking on the lease of Yogi’s, the beloved Upper West Side haven for cheap beer, cheaper women, and Willie, Waylon, and Merle, but, according to its founder and dive bar impresario, Tommy McNeil, the era of these places in New York City is far from over.

The scene was a get-together organized by the NYCBP.com crew Tuesday night, June 24, at Yogi’s. Behind the bar was the gorgeous Theresa, who also is the bartender who has been working there the longest. Tommy and his trusted partner Chardee were downstairs interviewing young women to join their legion of all-star, all-rowdy bartenders.

As the NYCBP.com gathering progressed, and I was sitting at the bar, contemplating the meaning of Miller Lite, suddenly Tommy emerged from below.

“Hi, good looking’,” he cracked to me as he ambled past, holding a shoulder full of toilet paper rolls and headed for the door with Chardee. I followed them out shortly, since I had been trying to reach Tommy by phone for a few weeks, and only had some unanswered and unreturned calls for my efforts. A good journalist knows never to count on anyone walking back in a door once they have left.

I caught up with them as they were loading up their vehicle, parked right across the street on the northeast corner of 76th Street and Broadway. Finally, in light of the persistent rumors that Yogi’s was due to close some time soon, I had a chance to ask Tommy directly what was really happening.

“The snow will be flying before we are out of here,” he promised.

If that is the case, you still have a few months to get drunk at this legendary bar, take photos, get drunk, and make some new memories there.

Next, I asked him what his plans were for opening new bars. He revealed to me that in about three weeks, he will be opening a new bar at 112th Street and Second Avenue, which is in East Harlem, or El Barrio. The name, as my ears heard it, will be The Duck.

I also asked him what type of bar this will be, and he replied, referring to Yogi’s, “The same as this.” It will be interesting to see how that format fares in that largely Latino neighborhood.

Tommy also confirmed that he is looking at opening another bar in the vicinity of Yogi’s, but that nothing has been finalized.

“You’ll know when we know,” Tommy and Chardee said in unison.

Tommy also said that he would agree to do a more extensive interview with me right before the opening of this newest bar.

Then, as he prepared to leave, Tommy said he wanted to put me to work. He handed me one of those huge batches of toilet paper and told me to give it to Theresa. I did just that, although this was kind of ironic since the men’s room toilet in Yogi’s still has no seat.

They then drove off. Back at Yogi’s, I told a few people about the news that we had just discussed. I also said that I would write up this encounter.

But there also was other business at hand. I was sitting next to a cute girl who came in holding a bouquet of flowers and with a guy wrapped around her. When the guy went to the bathroom, I asked her if she had just been married. “No,” she said with a smile, “I just got divorced.” Hence the celebrating and smooching at the bar.

Soon the NYCBP.com gathering broke up. Those girls from Colorado who came in after that and who had been sitting on the other side of me ended up leaving with the female bartender from Malachy’s who had brought them there. I eventually left, picked up some food at the Westside Market, and took the subway home, until next time, knowing that Yogi’s will still be open when it is time for me to return.

- Eddie Goldman
Music Editor, nycbp.com
No Holds Barred blog
No Holds Barred podcast
No Holds Barred on MySpace.com

Labels: bars, bartenders, Interviews, patrons, saloons, upper west side

I am not calling Lauren short. I think the term is height-challenged. It does not matter. She is a bad ass bartender with lots of attitude and good skills. We saw her Saturday night filling in at Yogi's, but she says she has been a regular drink slinger on Wednesday at the sister bar, The Patriot.

If she is 5 feet tall, I'd be shocked. Don't matter. She says that if you come to The Patriot, you can watch her dance on the bar. And try and match drinking shots with her. A few of the customers on Saturday mentioned that fishnets and plaid skirts are fine with them; on Lauren, killer. Go and see her, and say you saw her on NYCBP.

Labels: bartenders, upper west side

Sad news for the Upper West Side. Time Out was closed for good today. The plug was pulled on the venerable sports bar on Amsterdam and 77th Street early today. The staff was not notified in advance. At this time there is no plan for a “last night” party. The doors are locked.

For almost a decade, Time Out filled the space that was previously Boomer’s. It was a regular stop for anyone going to watch the big game (even with the worst TVs in town). Time Out was a terrific place to hang out, and had some of the best bartenders in the city. The longest-serving, Camit, had been on staff since September 2000.

This is a business, and for loyal regulars, the writing was on the wall. Just a few years ago the bar was busy seven nights a week and the upstairs was filled with people on a regular basis. But for some time now, the upstairs has been closed during the middle of the week, the bar has been not as busy as it once was.

The staff (five bartenders) is now out of work. If you know of a bar that is hiring, let me know, and I will pass it on to them.

I spoke to Carmit. “I’m sad,” she said. “These were my friends, all of my friends, and I’m going to miss them very much.”

We’ll have to plan an NYCBP party for Time Out soon, maybe at Yogi’s.

Post messages on the message board.

Labels: bars, news, upper west side

An asute NYCBP visitor and longtime fan of the site sent me this pic today, which he found "while surfing for porn" (thanks for being honest. I thought you came across it while looking for the Mass schedule for the local church). But it is so obvious this is Yogi's (hello, Velvet Elvis).

So I put it to you guys: Who is this bartender? I have a suspicion it may be a girl named Rebecca who quit a couple years back. But I am clueless. Anyone have any ideas? And where are the rest of the pix?

You know what the song in Avenue Q says: The Internet is for porn.

Labels: bartenders, upper west side

I asked Alexis (managing editor of NYCBP if ya missed the news) this question: what was the biggest bar tab she ever saw? Her reply preserved on the napkin above. What do you think?

Labels: bartenders, upper west side

A jackass that was asked to leave Time Out at closing time smashed the window out with a chair early on Sunday morning. The manager and some customers chased the guy, to no avail. As of Monday, it was still boarded up. People that were there said it sounded like bomb went off when the chair came into the bar, from the sidewalk.



About the only good thing on Monday was seeing Alexis and Carmit together. Lex works 4-8 and then Carmit comes in. That 4-8 happy hour is pretty sweet: everything is half off. Lex is building up that Monday happy hour. It was cool to see her (the new NYCBP managing editor) and then stick around for Carmit's shift.

Hope they catch that guy, and fix the window.

Labels: bartenders, upper west side

It was good to see Timmy last night at Time Out. She stopped by to see her old pal, Carmit. Timmy lives in LA now and was happy to be back in town. She was here to attend the wedding of a bartender from Yogi's.

I also talked to a couple NYCBP regulars... nobody had much to say about starting the site up again!

Labels: upper west side

This just came in from Stephanie, one of the greatest ever bartenders in NYC. Her email to me and her pals:

OLA NEW YORKERS!!! DUE TO SOME CRAZY HOLIDAY TRAVEL I WILL BE BACK IN THE NYC FOR THANKSGIVING WEEKEND. THAT BEING SAID... AFTER ALMOST 3 YEARS AWAY... I WILL BE GUEST BARTENDING AT YOGIS.

SO AFTER YOUR LOVELY TRYPTOPHAN-TASTIC TURKEY DAY... SWING BY AND ENJOY A COLD BEER OR A NICE WARM SHOT WITH YOURS TRULY!!!!

THE WHERE: YOGI'S
2156 BROADWAY (76TH AND BROADWAY)
THE WHEN: SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24TH
8PM TIL WE ALL FALL DOWN (OR 4AM WHICHEVER HAPPENS FIRST)

SEE YOU THERE!!!!
LOVE STEPH

Labels: bartenders, upper west side

Carmit (left) and Timmy in 2003 on the Half Moon.
All good things come to those that wait. (In French: Tout vient à point à qui sait attendre). That is what I thought when Timmy called me today to say that she is 99% sure she will work a Saturday night shift with Carmit at Time Out on Sept. 1. This is huge news, since Timmy moved to L.A. more than year ago. If you have seen these two work together, you know what you are in for. If you have not, watch out. They rocked the booze cruises so badly, we had to stop having them. Timmy is in the NYCBP Hall of Fame as a veteran of the Village Idiot, Yogi's, Who's on First, and Time Out.

I called Carmit to confirm this. "They will be sad if they miss it," she said of her regulars who can't make this trip to the bar. "I can't wait," she said. "Even if it is slow, it isn't about the money. It is about having fun together."

I would say 10 p.m. is a good time to get there and get your drink on. Be sure to tell your pals. It will be the best way to end the summer.

Labels: bartenders, upper west side

The second Village Idiot Reunion last Friday night was a blast. It was so much fun to see old friends and bartenders, some I have not seen in a week. There were about 50 old regulars who went to Yogi's to see Jenn and Patience bartend. It was a wild night out!

The thing about the Idiot was that there were cheap drinks and nutty customers.... and this continued all the way up on Broadway and 76th Street. Some of us were talking about Eddie's story about the dire threat Duane Reade poses to the bar's future. Others were resigned to face the facts: in this real estate market, a dive bar is about as low as a doggie beauty parlor in the broker's eyes.

I can't say again how awesome the team of Jenn and Patience are. You can totally tell that they have worked together for hundreds of hours, if not a couple thousand. These two, who many of us drank with at the Idiot, have been such terrific party hosts over the year. I encourage you all to drink with them; they have a weird alternating Friday night schedule.

I think we will do another Idiot reunion next year. Here are some pix for you.

Labels: bartenders, events, upper west side

Tonight (Friday, Aug. 17) is the long overdue reunion of Village Idiot bartenders and regulars. It will be at Yogi's, or course. The bartenders are Jenn and Patience, two stars behind the bar who got their starts at the Idiot.

It is hard to believe it was three years ago that the dump shut its doors. Now it is some posh place that we hate.

It is always a good time when this place is rocking.

The party starts when you get there!

This is Jenn, about 5 years ago. Photo by Erik Madden.

Labels: events, upper west side