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Hello all, I moved to my first NYC apartment in November of 1991. It was on East 13th Street between 1st & 2nd Aves. Just wondering if anyone has memories of that area from that time they care to share. So much has changed since then! I remember Dan Lynch Blues Bar & Nightingales on 2nd Ave, the creepy scary bar further down on 2nd that became Dick's gay bar, Downtown Beirut on 1st Ave. Also crack vials everywhere on the sidewalk, the crack house on 13th near 3rd Ave that was on the cover of the NY Post...not a great time in NYC history obviously! I remember always getting extremely scared whenever I ventured into Alphabet City, which wasn't often, and frequent walks down to Tower Records to listen to CDs. Anyway, just reminiscing, curious to hear from others who were in that area back then.
Back in the late 80's I used to hang out at a bar called Alcatraz on Ave A and St. Marks. Also hung out at the bar on the corner of Ave. B and 7th. Hit a few bars all over 1st Ave...The Village Idiot, and a few other hole in wall joints. The Village Idiot only served Pabts Blue Ribbon, I remember the bartender, he was about 300 pounds, wore a ripped t-shirt and had a long scraggly beard. The first time I walked in there the I-95 a**hole song was blasting on the juke box. I loved East Village back then, I miss it. I remember getting into a food fight at Ray's Famous Pizza on St. Marks with your run in the mill derelict and her husband. Good times.
I was spending alot of time on the lower eastside in the late 80s. Do you remember Aztec Lounge? I practically lived there and had a huge crush on Taylor, the bartender.
I remember the Aztec Lounge - even though there don't seem to be a lot of people that do - not a lot of info on the net about it memorabilia-wise. Given the state I was in when I went there, I'm a little surprised that I remember it! It was a classic - dark and slightly dangerous - with ONE bathroom for everyone!
Wow, my favorite bar! My seat was in the corner under the TV. I knew all the bartenders, Michael, Taylor, Vivian. I miss those times. I was a red head. I was loking for a friend named Jason??? He lived next door. The girl with the supper long nails, remember her? Tell me more of what you remember...
Last edited by lilly66; 12-03-2010 at 08:50 PM..
Reason: spelling
I remember the Aztec. One of my favorite lower east side dive bars of the 80s. With the rank bathroom and the black light artwork on the walls. I was working at "Flip" on 8th street at the time and remember taking a "Good Girl" type I had picked up over there for a drink. She was so terrified she literally fled out of the bar. I stayed, laughed it off with the bartenders and got plastered. Good times. Good times.
I remember the Aztec well. I hung out there in my late teens because they never carded and one could openly smoke refer in the back room. It was so creepy. I felt like a total rebel just walking in there. I was a real wall-flower then. Never met a soul there.
I used to hit that place back in the day. I remember the black bar tender but not his name. I would go there with a few peps....one was named Jonathan of a band called nuclear orchestra and a chick named Hika from Stuttgart. Downtown Beirut was fun too.......I remember some hat maker from that place. If you still know these people let me know at [email]flipnow@hotmail.com[/email]
Yes I was a real "hang out" person in the early 1990s. I remember some friends and I walked into someone's residence during a long night of bouncing around the City, randomly meeting the most interesting people - The room looked odd. It was dimly lit, kind of cold, there was a fire in the fireplace. It was like a "great room" or something. I don't remember a chandelier but it could've had one easily and not looked out of place, even though the whole place looked kinda dingy. So the owner(?) asked if we wanted some of what he and his friends were drinking. We said sure and sat around the fireplace and drank this stuff which was tart and fruity. I asked what it was and he said it was lingondricka, a Scandinavian beverage. Needless to say I'd never heard of lingondricka before. So cool. So New York. I also remember walking along Avenue A (or B) and people on the fire escape yelled down to us "Come up! Come up!" meaning come up to the party they were obviously having. It was really fun and crowded, but the next day I learned my friend stole a cassette from the host. How rude. I actually went back a few days later, rang the buzzer (amazingly I remembered the apartment number) and returned the cassette. The host was grateful but almost speechless. I was really young back then. I was so mad at that friend. We no longer speak. That incident marked the beginning of the end of our friendship. Within 6 months, that person showed their POS colors and called me a (expletive).
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Aztec
