Chumley's Gets 86'd!

S and I just returned home from a quick trip to NYC to meet her brother's new fiance. It was for the most part a nice trip full of good food, socializing, and the sort of environment that DC just doesn't provide: things are open past 11pm. There was, however, one traumatizing, soul crushing event. I was taking S on a lttle walking tour of Greenwich Village. We started around Sheridan Square and saw Lucien Carr's old apartment where Jack Kerouac fell off the fire escape, the old Jack Delaney's Steakhouse (now a Starbucks, natch), the spot on 4th street where Bob Dylan was photographed for an album cover, The White Horse Tavern, and other well-known spots. What I was not prepared for was to walk down Bedford Street and find the site of Chumley's covered with green construction fiber board and scafolding, with a for sale sign on top!

Chumley's has been around since prohibition. In fact, it was originally a speakeasy, which is why no sign was ever posted. There was nothing out front but a formidable looking door and the street number, "86," painted outside. If you had been lucky enough to ever go in, you would have found a very dark, cozy, creeky place with little booths and all sorts of nooks and cranies to drink your beer. It hosted everyone from Dylan Thomas to F. Scott Fitzgerald to Jack Kerouac to William S. Burroughs to Lawrence Ferlingetti. It was truly a living piece of New York's very unique past. Not many things in this young country have managed to achieve the elegant patina of age as did Chumley's.

Apparently, that age sailed past elegance some time ago, because the signs out front include a condemntation notice due to safety concerns stemming from the colapse of a wall and a stop-work order demanding that the facade be preserved. I guess for those who are in New York regularly this is well-known, but it was certainly a shocker to me. Chumley's was the site of my first drink in New York and had always been my favorite bar there.

I know I'm not the only one who had the same reaction. A man and his girlfriend walked up next to us while we were reading the notices. He stopped, looked left, looked right, looked left again, his jaw dropped, his shoulders slumped, and he looked up at the scaffolding. I said, "Looking for Chumley's, huh?" He was and I pointed out the sign. It was the site of his and his girlfriends first date. They had been in California for about six months and had not heard. I'm sure a lot more people will be in for an unpleasant surprise in the future. I just hope Chumley's makes a comeback. Here's to Chumley's.