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Bridge Cafe

1794 establishments in New York (state)Defunct restaurants in New York CityDrinking establishments in ManhattanRestaurants established in 1794South Street Seaport
Bridge Cafe (WTM by official ly cool 060)
Bridge Cafe (WTM by official ly cool 060)

Bridge Cafe was a historic restaurant and bar located at 279 Water Street in the South Street Seaport area of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The site was originally home to "a grocery and wine and porter bottler", opened in 1794, and has been home to a series of drinking and eating establishments. In the nineteenth century, the building was described in city directories variously as a grocery, a porterhouse, or a liquor establishment. Henry Williams operated a brothel there from 1847 to 1860 and the prostitutes were listed in the New York City census of 1855. In 1888, the building's exterior was altered to its present form. The building was damaged during Hurricane Sandy, and the restaurant remains closed as of 2020. Until its closure, it was the city's oldest continuous business establishment, though the name and ownership had changed numerous times. It had most recently been under the same ownership since 1979, when the former McCormick’s, a bar frequented by local fishmongers, was purchased by Jack Weprin and converted into The Bridge Cafe, a white tablecloth establishment. While in office, Mayor Edward I. Koch regularly had dinner at Bridge Cafe and declared it to be his favorite restaurant.New York considered it to be one of New York City's Top 5 Historic Bars in 2005.A 2020 report states that "it unfortunately closed after Hurricane Sandy inundated the building in 2012 and has remained closed ever since". A reconstruction did commence but a report in March 2020 stated that owner Adam Weprin had encountered difficulties; at that time, he said that "'Unfortunately, many factors will play a part in the opening. In addition to replacing the floors, there are other costly repairs' ... but he remained committed to a reopening.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Bridge Cafe (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Bridge Cafe
Dover Street, New York Manhattan

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 40.708694444444 ° E -74.000833333333 °
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Address

Dover Street 16
10038 New York, Manhattan
New York, United States
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Bridge Cafe (WTM by official ly cool 060)
Bridge Cafe (WTM by official ly cool 060)
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Hole-in-the-Wall (saloon)

The Hole-in-the-Wall was a popular saloon and underworld hangout in what is now the South Street Seaport, Manhattan, New York City during the early- to mid-19th century. It has been described as the "most notorious" saloon in New York city during the 19th century. It was one of many dive bars and similar establishments in New York's infamous Fourth Ward, located at the corner of Water and Dover Streets. The saloon was owned by "One Armed" Charley Monell and featured notorious female criminals Kate Flannery and Gallus Mag as bouncers. Both women were employed by Monell as lieutenants in his local criminal organization, which included shanghaiing, and the latter woman supposedly kept a collection of human ears which she had bitten off from unruly customers in bar brawls. She displayed these as trophies on the bar in pickle jars. Sadie the Goat, the later leader of the Charlton Street Gang, was of the many victims who lost her ear in a brawl with Gallus Mag.The bar was widely known as "the most vicious resort in the city", with seven murders having occurred in a two-month period, and it was at the saloon in 1855 that a bar room brawl between waterfront thugs Slobbery Jim and Patsy the Barber, both members of the Daybreak Boys, resulted in Patsy's death. Slobbery Jim was forced to flee the city soon after. The Hole-in-the-Wall was finally closed down by Captain Thomas Woolsey Thorne. According to Richard McDermott, founder of the quarterly New York Chronicle, the Hole-in-the-Wall may have occupied the present-day site of one of New York's oldest surviving saloons, the Bridge Cafe.