NY Barfly

Kenny's is Closed, Griffin is on its Last Legs. The August Slaughter Continues

-Looks like Kenny’s Castaways was closed by the department of health. We didn’t realize that they now categorize horrible bands as a health hazard. Thanks to Vanishing New York for the photo.

-Guest of a Guest has word that Meatpacking club Griffin has been bouncing checks and is getting ready to close after only three short months of operations. Who’s to blame: poor management, or the recession? Maybe it’s time to open something more accessible in the space. Superdive, do you have any plans to come to the Meatpacking District?

-Welcome to town college freshmen! According to this list, you don’t want your parents to know how naughty you’re being with all the drinks and the passing out. It’s sure to be a fun filled few weeks with all of you converging on the city. Drink up! It's not nearly as fun when you have student loan bills to pay.

Do a Good Deed With Your Drinking Tonight

The downtown drinking community appears to be pretty shaken by the bouncer that was murdered outside Forbidden City last week. A group of bars in the area have banded together for a memorial of sorts. From EVGrieve:

East Village bars Drop Off Service, Planet Rose, Forbidden City, Common Ground, Habibi Lounge, and Superdive will donate 50% of their register on Monday, Aug. 31 (all day and night) to set up a college fund for the children of murdered bouncer Eric “Taz” Pagan.

That’s pretty generous of these haunts, so head down and do your part (by getting wasted).

Dixie's is Closed: Another Dive Bar Bites the Dust

Everyone is upset about Elettaria and The John Dory closing down, but we don’t think that many tears will be spilled over Dixie’s Texas Tavern. This midtown dive poured its last pint this weekend. A spot check found a handy-man taking down all the TGI-Friday’s style Texas schwag from the front entrance. Check out the pic below, they already ripped the sign off the building.

Dixie’s was a shitshow, but they didn’t pretend to be anything else. On one visit, the waitress refused to serve the nachos as she insisted “I don’t know what they put on them, but I do know that’s not what meat is supposed to look like.” At least the staff was kind.

11^th Avenue is now a bar-less wasteland once again. Dixie’s drew crowds before shows at Terminal 5, as it was the closest place to drink in the neighborhood. Now, everyone will have to walk a little farther, and pay a little bit more.

Only a few more days until Labor Day, who else isn't going to make it?

Elettaria Really Closed / Restaurant Girl Axed

-Let’s all take a moment to mourn, Elettaria really has closed. Their half priced drinks bonanza was our favorite happy hour in the city. Some other bars should step up and carry on the mantle in their honor.

-Ah, Restaurant Girl, we hardly knew ye. And now the Daily News has given you a pink slip. How it breaks our heart to see you go. Now how are we going to steal your job?

-The Luxe Hunt is over, and someone claimed a $100,000 bottle of Coconut Brandy in a scavenger hunt. Maybe we should break it open together and commiserate over the sad week that was (commiserate = you pouring the brandy into our mouth).

Who's Bored of the Recession? Let's Go Out.

The Post sees some encouraging signs that this pesky recession might be ending, at least for the folks that like to go out and drop $13,000 for a night at the clubs. There are a bunch of new spots slated to open, and the downturn didn’t cause as many closings as industry watchers initially feared.

Another cause for New York’s rebound? The same reason why you go out to happy hour and spend those last few dollars of rent money: boredom.

Thanks to lowered commercial rents and, to some degree, boredom with the recession, New York at night is becoming new and fun once more.

Yep – we became bored with the recession long ago. Saving? Bah. Our credit card is at the healthy, massive balance – just like old times. Gotta keep up the party.

The only down side of things getting better – the happy hours. All those two for one deals, the cheap drinks – will they go away with the bear market? We need them more then ever, our credit card is out of control.

The Science Behind the Shaking

The Times has a very interesting look at the different shakes that mixologists use to mix up their cocktails. While bar snobs and drink makers would argue that the different mixing styles make for different tastes, a pseudo scientific analysis says that mixing style doesn’t matter:

They [the bartenders completing the study] rigged cocktail shakers with electronic thermocouples that projected data in graph form onto a screen. Using variations of large hunks, normal cubes and crushed ice, they ran trials shaking a variety of drinks. To the astonishment and embarrassment of more than a few bartenders present, they found effectively no difference for any of the variables.

Across a range of ice sizes and shaking styles that varied from Mr. Day’s mannered syncopation to Mr. Arnold’s self-described “crazy monkey,” all approaches arrived at almost exactly the same temperature and dilution.

Gasp! The crazy monkey makes no difference in our drink? Now we feel kind of bad for screaming “shake those drinks like a monkey, bitch!” at our bartender.

Elettaria to Close Tonight. Long Live the Violet Hour.

Looks like Elettaria, home of the city’s best happy hour, is going to close tonight. We received an email from one of their staff members: 

 

I received some shocking, sad, and infuriating news this afternoon. Elettaria will be closing its doors. Our last service will be tomorrow night, Thursday the 27th.

 

The staff member says they only have “sketchy details” as to why this is taking place.

 

Sad – no more tiki Mondays! What will we do with our hula skirt and coconuts? Maybe we’ll have a hula vigil outside the shuttered space every Monday at 6. Who wants to bring the rum?

Mayor Mike Likes to Drink in the Park

We haven’t decided who to support in the mayor’s race yet. Perhaps we should go with whichever candidate promises to overturn the city’s ridiculous “no public drinking” law. Mayor Mike likes his share of the sauce, and he admits that the laws suck. From The Post:

"I never understood why we don't let you drink in the park," Bloomberg said during an interview with Community Newspaper Groups, a chain of weekly papers owned by News Corp., which also owns The Post.

The mayor noted that even he had been caught in an booze bind -- when he was photographed in 2004 drinking a can of Coors Light during a Jets game in the Meadowlands.

The stadium doesn't sell canned beer in the stands.

"We don't let you drink in the park," the mayor conceded, reasoning, "I mean, you go to watch the Philharmonic, you can't have a bottle of wine."

Well, he’s on the way to getting our vote. Though, can we really support someone who drinks cans of Coors Light?

A Toast to Henry Hudson (he's, like, the Dude).

This year marks the 400^th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s first exploration of the Hudson River and New York Harbor. Why should you care? Drinks!

The Museum of the City of New York is playing host to an exhibit called Amsterdam/New Amsterdam: The Worlds of Henry Hudson. As you may remember, the museum also hosts a speakeasy on their patio. This Wed., the 26^th, (today!) marks the spot's last speakeasy of the summer. Head over, get a little tipsy, and see the exhibit. You can learn about Henry Hudson’s voyage across the Atlantic as you take your own voyage into drunkenness. If you can’t make the speakeasy, the exhibit is open until the end of September. You’ll just have to get a little tipsy on the street before you go, much like the original Indians who lived on Manhattan.

If “learning about history” is not really your thing, cocktail bar PDT is serving a libation to honor the Hudson Anniversary. Their Henry Hudson was created by Jim Meehan and Gerry Corcoran, and will be served throughout the month of September. We posted the recipe below so you can do a little exploring on your own (i.e. chart the course to your liquor store and find those ingredients).

Hudson’s voyage will be celebrated with events through the end of the month, you can get more info here: www.henryhudson400.com. Still wondering why Hudson is the Dude? Just think, what if Manhattan were first discovered by the Italians? Then this whole place would be like the Island we call Staten.

Henry Hudson

1.5 oz. Bols Genever

1 oz. Channing Daughters Scuttlehole Chardonnay (no oak)

.5 oz. Simple Syrup

.5 oz. Lemon Juice

.25 oz. Van Oosten Batavia Arrack

Add everything to a mixing glass, then add ice

Stir and strain into a chilled old fashioned glass filled with one large cube

Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg

Nightlife Justice: Shooting Suspect in Custody

It didn’t take long for cops to pick up the folks who killed an East Village bouncer the other night. The argument was apparently over a car that was brushing against patrons as it tried to park. Here’s a hint to nightlife fans that are trying to avoid jail: don’t shoot anyone.  From The Post:

Cops say they've busted the man who gunned down a bouncer for a popular East Village nightclub, who was slain trying to break up a fight.

Louis Rodriguez, 29, was nabbed after witnesses identified him to cops.

Rodriguez, who did five years in prison for assault, opened fire after getting into an argument with patrons outside Forbidden City on Avenue A at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday, cops said.

We’re glad that case is closed. While that was cleared up very quickly, the case of Laura Garza still goes on. You may remember that she disappeared after a night at Marquee months ago. There is still no sign of her body – and no one has been charged.

That’s the thing about New York at night. It’s all fun and games until someone gets shot from a van / goes missing for 6 months.