Source: AFP
Not much has changed in the 170 years McSorley’s Old Ale House has been serving customers in Manhattan’s East Village.
New York store manager Teresa Maher says the secret is simple — “keep the beer flowing and the door open.”
“We’re a small place, but we’re very well-known,” he said, serving a steady stream of either light or dark — a lighter ale or a darker porter that have been the only alcoholic options since the Irish bar opened its doors.
“After 170 years a lot of people are checking to see if we’re still here.”
The bar, which celebrated its anniversary over the weekend with cake and singing, was forced to weather the pandemic when New York adopted some of the strictest quarantine rules in the US.
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He built outdoor seating to serve customers outdoors when bar regulations were finally relaxed.
As many as one in 25 New York bars, restaurants and entertainment businesses were lost due to the pandemic, according to a 2022 report.
McSorley’s was spared the rent hikes that have plagued many New York bars and clubs, including Lucy’s, an East Village mainstay that recently closed, reportedly after a developer bought its lease.
Source: AFP
“We have the building that buys us a little more time. And we stick firmly to our motto, ‘Be Good or Be Gone,'” says Maher, the words carved into dark wood behind the bar.
By 1970, however, the motto was “Good Ale, Raw Onions and No Ladies,” with the bar barring women until then — even after it was inherited in 1939 by the ex-cop’s daughter who bought it almost immediately after his retirement in 1936. His handcuffs are still attached to the rail that runs under the bar.
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To this day the bar eschews music, except on its anniversary, with hushed chatter, clinking glasses and the occasional shout of “three dark, two light” as the soundtrack.
Each beer order is split into two half-pint glass mugs, poured from pristine brass tanks.
McSorley’s wood floors are strewn with sawdust, and chalkboards list his simple culinary offerings — with liver and the infamous peppery mustard among favorites.
Loyal patrons, curious visitors
Source: AFP
Bar patrons keep coming back and curious tourists and passers-by pass through the saloon’s worn doors.
Claiming the title of oldest bar in Manhattan, McSorley’s longest-serving customer is retired firefighter Mike Rousso, 93, whose number six helmet hangs on the wall.
The bar’s ties to the fire, police and military are featured prominently.
Peaked hats, shoulder patches, handcuffs and rank insignia adorn the walls.
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Above the bar a row of dusty scissors hangs in a light fixture, placed there by troops of the 69th New York Infantry Regiment, who served turkey dinners in 1917 before deploying to Europe to fight in World War I.
The bar also commemorates the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks carried out by Al Qaeda, which flew planes into the World Trade Center skyscrapers just two miles (three kilometers) away.
“This place is crazy for the anniversary of 9/11,” said one of the “regulars” Phil Lavin, a retired police officer.
The soldiers of the “Fighting Sixty-Ninth” were among the first to respond to Ground Zero.
Source: AFP
Bar diaries tell the colorful history of McSorley’s, formerly known as The Old House at Home, with appearances by Cassius Clay — as boxer Muhammad Ali was called when he visited — and comedian Jackie Gleason asking with a scribble “where are all the ladies”.
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As for the future, Maher’s son Sebastian, 19, is learning the ropes, helping feed and water the lunch crowd on a recent Thursday.
“Of course I want to run it one day. I watch my mom and how she does things — I want to be just like her,” Sebastian said, proudly showing a photo of himself behind the bar when he was just nine years old.
Source: AFP