November 10, 2011
(This was originally going to be put up yesterday, but I heard the news of Fedora’s passing and wanted to put up a tribute to her. So here this is, a day later.)
It’s Tuesday which means it’s the night to go out in search of a swizzle stick. Although I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be getting one tonight, it’s more of a mission of curiosity and dread.
Last week, Fat Al put up a disturbing post over at The Half Empty Glass, check it out here: Oh, this had better not be true. Fat Al reported that Eater had posted that the legendary Upper East Side dive bar, the Subway Inn had closed. After several frightened comments and yours fooly offering to buy everyone a McRib sandwich, Fat Al’s calmer partner in crime, anonymous271 left this comment: “Chill out. They’ve re-opened. They were simply closed for renovations. Not sure what a renovation in the Subway Inn would look like, applying new duct tape to the booths?”
The word, “Renovations,” kind of sends a chill down my spine. I hope they didn’t fancy it up too much. Let’s go check it out, I'm praying the Marilyn Monroe pictures made the cut.
Well, here we are, the outside looks unchanged. I love the neon here. Let's go inside and check it out.
Well, this is a pleasant surprise, it looks exactly the same, let's get a drink.
And here's Cesar, the same bartender who served me when I came here on the 365 bar crawl. When I walked in he pointed to me and shouted out, "It's the bar guy!" Ha, a true sign of a classic bartender is remembering his customers and Cesar is clearly a master of that. Here he is serving up the double gin and tonic.
There's no swizzle stick, but there is a straw and as Cesar pointed out, it's a bendable straw, so they get points for that. Cesar also told me that they were closed for maintenance issues, not renovations. He said a few leaky pipes had to be fixed. Let's go take a look around this classic joint.
Here's the well stocked supply lit up behind the bar.
Marilyn looks down at the baseball caps, hardhats and various tchotchkes adorning the top of the bar.
I love the greenish, nuclear look the booths have from the bare fluorescent light bulbs hanging to the side of them.
In the Subway Inn, the night once again surrenders to Michelob. Time to party like it's 1986!
Another classic Marilyn picture, beautiful!
The bar is crowded for a Tuesday night.
Drinks lined up at the bar. There's always at least two shot glasses on the bar at the Subway Inn.
And yet another shot of Marilyn...
And a glance out the front window and it's time to leave. Nice to see some things remain the same in New York City. Goodnight everybody and see you tomorrow after dark.
Further reading: EV Grieve, Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York and 365 Bars.
Maybe you think that love was made for fools,
So it makes you wise to break the rules.
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