The Classic Pubs of New York City

Fantastic that it's still around for folks to enjoy and relish in the history!

Butch Cassidy & Sundance fled to S. America on a steamer from NYC. The Pinkerton files track their movements. One place they went that’s still standing is Pete’s Tavern on 18th & Irving. One part of Pete’s (the 3rd bldg) once held circus animals for Barnum & Bailey. O. Henry wrote ‘The Gift of the Magi’ in Pete’s barroom. I once served a small group that chose Pete’s to transact the sale of the painting that is the cover art for the storybook ‘Madeline’ because the artist was a denizen of the neighborhood and frequented Pete’s. Its front during Prohibition was a flower shop. A former owner, JR, described it as a sort of Geneva where you might find NYPD brass at one end of the bar while Westie gangsters were at the other end. (Why they were downtown, I don’t know.) The guy who wrote ‘The Pope of Greenwich Village’ worked behind that bar. And the “Tastes Great! Less Filling!” commercials were filmed there. As were scenes from ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘Seinfeld’. Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau had a retirement party there - in the party room in the 3rd bldg where Barnum & Bailey once kept animals. If you want a decent meal and/or a good drink, check out Pete’s Tavern. It claims to be the oldest bar in continuous operation in NYC. But regardless, it’s steeped in history both old and new.

cool info. great history to be remembered.

This is a great YouTube page

I lived at 1st and 3rd and would go to McSorleys sometimes around 11am, order my two ales and a sandwich. Take the table across from the bar at the window and read the paper. Peaceful and special times. Some nights the college kids would fill the back room, get totally shitfaced, pound their fists on the tables and sing songs. The waiters were non stop carrying in trays of mugs. The bar is grooved out quite a bit near the tap from the countless mugs being filled and passed on down the bar to the waiter’s tray. Sawdust on the floor, dust piled thick on the things treasured behind the bar. There was only a men’s room. Huge old urinals that came up to your chest. All the tiling was probably over 150 years old. The stalls were reserved for the girls who be embarrassed running past us guys at the urinals ….we all laughed. There were many Policeman’s badges hung up for the last time at the bar. All kinds of historical pieces. If you visit New York, lift your two mugs ( sold only in pairs) at McSorleys. Go when it’s quiet, go when it’s lively, but go. Oh, and like the old sign says…” Be Good or Be Gone”

I worked in McSorley's for s long time

Thanks for the good video.

..looks interisting,but more adds than in tv

At Mc Sorley's there are pictures of Woody Guthrie playing and singing in rhere.

Have met way more interesting people in pubs than in coffee shops. Always been attracted to old bars & pubs. Not the 'styled' drinking establishments. Such as Irish bars & themed commercial bars. My local in Brighton, England for many years was the oldest pub in the city.

What are these bars like now in NY shity 2023?

It is time to have the Patriots talking again in bars!!

I found this interesting.

‘Freed from Tyranny ‘ 😂😂

Great video! One nerdy sidenote: the first white male born in America, if one doesn't take Greenland in consideration, was Snorre Torfinnson, born over a thousand years ago in Vinland, most likely Newfoundland that is.

McSorley’s 👍👍👍

Ear looks like my kind of place

Did you use a camera from 1896 to film this video?

Regarding McSorley's, I think the NYC Health Department made them lose the turkey wishbones 5-6 years ago.

Trying alcohol Mist shots served in balloons is on my Bucket list! Where can I find it?