Current Happenings:
This is the first of many installments of my attempts to explain the complex ethnography, habits and customs and other miscellaneous subjects of interest of New York City.
And if you want to be privy to my unique perspective of New York, one of the things that you will undoubtedly have to do here is drink in one of the city' s thousand and something odd number of bars.
New York is a drinking city, and we drink a lot, and drinking is done 24 hours a day. There are other cities which make a similar claim but I have been virtually unimpressed with any other cities I've seen.
I first started the bar scene here at the ripe age of 15 or 16 when the '21 to drink' rule just didn't apply. (and still probably doesn't). Since then, I've seen bars come and go, and the general rule is, -nothing stays good forever.
Recently, I've taken a fancy to the places I'll discuss this month. Perhaps one of my fatal flaws has been a predilection for the trendier bars in the city, and I end up paying too much money, waiting in lines, and standing in crowds just for the cheap novelty of it all. But everyone wants to be with the beautiful people, and so it goes.
Right now, our fickle trend slaves tended to favor the Lower East Side. This place was a completely Hispanic neighborhood not five years ago, but the last time I was there, I found it bizarre that everyone was speaking with British accents and saying 'cheers' to everybody.
The place I like to dwell down there is "Kush", which is a Middle Eastern theme bar, replete with Middle Eastern pop music and hookahs loaded with some kind of mysterious apple and herb substance free for all to smoke, if you can get your hands on one of the mouthpieces.
This is located on on Orchard street between Houston and Stanton. The interior tries to be Moroccan and it never gets too loud or crowded except peak time on the weekends. Be sure to drink a lot so has to numb your awareness of how much money you are spending. Get there via F train to 2nd avenue.
It may have been the influence of those golden age Hollywood movies on my young impressionable mind, but I but I always wanted to drink a cocktail at those classical cocktail lounges where everyone is drinking out of martini glasses, and the martinis are made to absolute perfection.
There are no better drink fetishists than the Japanese. You can get the best cocktails at "Angel's Share", right in the Japanese part of the Village. Angel's Share is located in the restaurant by the name of "Gyu Ya" on 9th street at the corner of 3rd Avenue. You have to travel through the restaurant to a door that looks like it could be a restroom, but once you walk through, you are in a classically decorated cocktail lounge with mahogany bar and a huge picture of
Angels flying around in the sky right behind it.
They specialize in cocktails, and they can make just about anything from super smooth martinis to girly concoctions with the umbrella and fruit ornaments. An artist friend of mine really likes their champagne and gin. I forget what it's called but it really screws you up.
If you must drink on a Friday or Saturday night, you better find a place that's really low key or else you will be standing in a place with no shoulder room and waiting a few minutes to get your next drink.
On a Saturday night I usually have no problem at "Alchemy" which is on Avenue A and 3rd Street, also on the F train line. Alchemy has a nice big interior and huge basement used for all manner of illicit activity.
My friend DJ Mel (Scorpion) Arnwine spins a sick drum and bass and hip hop set and when we're all too messed up to talk, we can sit there for hours and nod our heads to the beat. Don't find this strange, as this is what you will find most people doing at the wee hours of the morning.
Manhattan prices stay pretty consistent, and they stay consistently high for drinks. If you want to go cheap, there's "Doc Holliday" on St. Marks and 2nd Ave. This looks like a hick bar and it's in the middle of the trendiest area in New York.
The jukebox only has Country music, and if you want food, you have to bang on the iron skillet hanging in front of the kitchen door. You can actually get Pabst Blue Ribbon beer for pretty cheap here. I think that beer company went out of business 10 years ago, so it's good for a little nostalgia, I suppose. Don't count on seeing any cool young people in here.
If you really want to avoid the crowds on a weekend,-and you should- I like this bar right in my neighborhood in Astoria. It's called Cafe Bar, or maybe it has no name and the sign is there to just explain what the place is.
This is located on 34th Avenue and 36th Street of Astoria. It's just a short train ride on the N Line from Manhattan. Get off at 36th Avenue and follow the signs to the Museum of Moving Images. The cafe is located right in the back of the Museum of Moving Images. This bar is fitted with used couches and lawn furniture and you can kick back with a seven dollar carafe of wine and play any number of boardgames from Candyland to Battleship.
On a nice sunny day you can sit on the sidewalk and you will appreciate being away from the throngs of people in Manhattan.
Well, happy drinking, and see you next month, when I will address the question:
Where the hell did all of those cool afterhours joints go?
Questions?
If you want more information about this area you can email the author or check out our North America Insiders page.
