A street in Woodhaven has been co-named after historic neighborhood bar Neir’s Tavern.
The corner of 78th Street and 88th Avenue was co-named “Neir’s Tavern
Way” during a ceremony Saturday hosted by Council Member Robert Holden.
The establishment, located at 87-48 78th St., is credited by some historians as being the oldest bar in New York City.
Holden passed legislation earlier this year to designate the street
corner “Neir’s Tavern Way.” The watering hole is about to celebrate its
192nd year in business.
The bar was in danger of shutting down
in early 2020 when owner Loycent Gordon was unable to reach an
agreement with his landlord when his lease was up for renewal. Several
elected officials and community leaders stepped in to save the bar and a
new lease was negotiated.
“I’m very proud of how our community came together to save this
storied establishment and to further preserve its place in Queens
history with the street co-naming,” Holden said in a statement.
The historic Neir’s Tavern in Woodhaven is getting a much-needed cash
infusion to help it stay afloat as the city begins its post-COVID
reopening.
The 191-year-old bar and grill, one of the oldest establishments in
the five boroughs, is one of 25 historic and culturally significant
restaurants across the United States to be recognized with a $40,000
grant from American Express and the National Trust for Historic
Preservation.
“Neir’s Tavern is so grateful to be included as an American Express
and National Trust for Historic Preservation grant recipient,” Neir’s
Tavern owner Loycent Gordon said. “As the oldest establishment on the
list, we appreciate that these organizations are spotlighting the need
to preserve historic small businesses across the country.”
Established in 1829, Neir’s Tavern survived the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, two world wars and the Great Depression, but nearly went out of business in 2020 until the de Blasio administration helped broker a new deal to keep the doors open. The COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges for the establishment as it draws closer to its bicentennial.
“As we struggle to survive our second pandemic, this grant will
ensure that Neir’s Tavern’s outdoor area is not only maintained but
enhanced,” Gordon said.
The “Backing Historic Small Restaurants” funding will help each of
the 25 historic establishments enhance restaurant exteriors, build new
outdoor seating areas, and upgrade online businesses to help mitigate
operating costs as they work to recover from the pandemic.
“Historic small restaurants are cultural treasures that strengthen
their communities and carry their legacies and traditions forward in
deeply meaningful ways,” National Trust Chief Preservations Officer
Katherine Malone-France said. “These restaurants have demonstrated their
resiliency for decades, and even while dealing with the financial
impacts of the pandemic, they have continued to support their
communities in many ways.”
Neir’s Tavern, the historic bar in Woodhaven, signed a new lease on
Thursday, ensuring the tavern will tack on at least another five years
onto its 191-year run in the neighborhood.
On Thursday, Oct. 29, the landlords, Ken and Henry Shi, and the
tavern’s owner Loycent Gordon signed the five-year lease inside the bar,
located at 87-48 78th St. The lease allows for an additional five years
after the current lease ends in 2025.
The oldest bar in New York City has been the recipient of a great
deal of community support, dating back to January, when the landlords
threatened not to renew the lease to Gordon. The call to preserve the
historic ale house – which was once used to film a scene in Martin
Scorsese’s Goodfellas – made it’s way to the mayor, who came out in support of Gordon and Neir’s Tavern.
On Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio again showed his support by
attending the lease signing. Several lawmakers, including State
Assemblyman Mike Miller and City Councilman Robert Holden also dropped
by to see the bar, which first opened in 1829, into the future.
“We could all do something for the comeback of Neir’s Tavern and also
for the comeback of the city of New York,” Gordon said. “We all can do
something, and I think this is an opportunity to start over. This is a
new lease on life. This is an opportunity in the middle of a pandemic.
We have an opportunity to start over and strive to create connection and
not division.”
The bar also received support from small business advocates,
including Thomas Grech, the CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce,
Jonnel Doris, the commissioner of the New York City Department of Small
Business Services, and Raquel Olivares, the executive director of the
Woodhaven Business Improvement District.
The historic Queens bar that was used to films scenes for “Goodfellas” was burglarized just three months after it opened for outdoor dining following a pandemic shutdown.
The Woodhaven watering hole was looted of the cash register, POS
system, about $300 in cash and four bottles of booze from behind the bar
by a pair of thieves, police sources said.
“I am just tired to be honest with you,” owner Loycent Gordon told
The Post. “It’s another straw on top of everything. The weight is
getting too heavy to carry.”
According to police sources, two men entered the premise through the
basement door at 3 am on Friday morning, removed the cash register
valued at $200, the $300 inside and four bottles of Jack Daniels valued
at $160. They fled westbound on 88th Avenue. There have been no arrests
and the investigation is ongoing.
After the robbery, a group called Neirs200, which is dedicated to
ensuring the bar sees its bicentennial, set up a GoFundMe to support the
bar.
Speaking to the thieves, an emotional Gordon said:
“I understand maybe you have to eat and feed your family, but we also
have a family to feed. It’s a shame you have to burglarize someone to
feed yours.”
He added that while he is disheartened and demoralized from the latest setback, he vowed to keep going.
Before the pandemic, things were looking dire for the historic
watering hole Neir’s Tavern in Woodhaven, Queens. It nearly closed due
to a threatened rent increase — the bar was paying around $2,000 a
month, which was going to go to $5,400, according to owner Loycent
Gordon — until
*Mayor Bill de Blasio stepped in and helped strike a deal
with the new landlord to keep the doors open. But when the city went into lockdown in March, the bar seemed like a goner. “When this happened after we got Neir’s a new lease on life, it felt a
punch in the gut just as we were catching our breath,” Gordon, who is
also a lieutenant in the FDNY, told The Post. But once again, the Lazarus of saloons is back slinging burgers and
beers — now with outdoor seating and a range of creative ideas to engage
regulars, who Gordon said really saved the place. “People came out for the first weekend despite us not having the most
sophisticated set-up. We are focusing on our strengths and have
whittled down our menu to fries, sweet potato fries, burger and wings,”
said Gordon, 40, who bought the bar in 2009 when it was under threat of
being turned into a convenience store. Founded in 1829, Neir’s houses a 150-year-old mahogany bar and has
provided a scenic backdrop for movies including “Goodfellas and “Tower
Heist,” and was featured in an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown.” It also, Gordon points out, survived the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.
Bioswale BS may be the biggest fraud perpetrated on city residents other than ThriveNYC and the homeless shelter industry. What the hell are they doing here? Watering rocks?
Admin note:
It was only a few weeks ago when de Blasio invited Loy to the state of the city address at the American Museum of Natural History to witness his promise to save the small businesses of this city right to his face. They featured the bar on the city's website
Trust me, this is worth it just to watch Chirlie de Blasio get no response from the audience filled with the city's elected and appointed officials and elites. No one respects this woman and the Brooklyn Machine and her husband are trying to rig the borough president seat for her.
This also has a surprise cameo later on that might shock you.
Well folks, it takes a lot for me to come out of semi-retirement to weigh in on current events, but this whole Neir’s Tavern situation became such an unnecessary debacle that I can’t sit idly by and not call attention to some things.
Yesterday, Mayor de Blasio - himself a millionaire landlord and facilitator of citywide hotel-shelter slumlordship - decided to tell the owner of Neir’s that greedy building owners are awful. Where the hell was he when the LPC denied the landmarking bid for it back in 2016? A lot of the worry over the bar's fate could have been avoided if the LPC stopped doing what it always does to Queens history. And he can request that the “new” LPC (minus Meenakshi Srinivasan) take a second look at it.
Now, Loycent Gordon is not only an immigrant but also the black owner of a small business. This is EXACTLY the type of entrepreneur that fauxgressives want to be seen helping. But perhaps because Loy is also a lover of Queens history, and therefore a threat to development, he was totally disregarded for years. Except, that is, after he became so desperate that he felt forced to plead with the mayor on his radio program. How utterly sickening.
How the hell did we as a society get to this point?
And another question for those of you out there in Crapland… did you hear those January crickets yesterday? That sound was coming from every borough president candidate out there as an establishment dating back to 1829 almost went dark.
And why did the owner really have a change of heart? The NY Times explains:
Mr. Holden, a Democrat who represents the area, said the negotiations were tense until it became clear that a major problem for Mr. Shi was that he could not get a mortgage because the building lacked a proper certificate of occupancy and did not meet current zoning rules.
Mr. Holden said an agreement was reached under which his office would work to ensure that the building met all requirements; the city would make a small business grant available to improve the property; and Mr. Shi would raise the rent much less than he had proposed.
So while we can all celebrate that a piece of Queens history has been temporarily spared, keep in mind that the lease is only for 5 years and in 2026 this might happen all over again. And in the meantime, it's very likely that the next piece of Queens history that gets threatened won't have the stars align for it the way this one did. Because we keep electing the same lame tweeders over and over and over again and the rare ones who actually give a damn like Holden will be gone. (Why the hell did Michael Gianaris show up to the victory party when he did absolutely nothing?)
A big thank you and shout out to the media who realized the significance of this story and what it would have meant to lose Neir's and used the power of the press to call attention to it. All of the stories were pretty good (and I read or watched them all), but 2 really stood out to me: Corey Kilgannon's original NY Times piece and PIX11's story. Check out the reaction of the news anchor at the end. He totally gets it.
It's 2020, people. Wake up already, heh?
- QC
I like to add (again) that de Blasio's Landmark Preservation Committee refused to give Loycent and Neir's landmark status because they felt that a bar that has existed 190 years was not historically significant enough.
Congratulations to Mr. Gordon and the staff at Neir's and a great job done by Councilmember Holden and Assemblyman Miller (leave it to de Blasio to try to bigfoot credit for it). Here's to five more years, hopefully there will be better and moral officials running this city in the future.
Friends, Yesterday I was forced to make one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make. Sunday January 12th I will have to step down as owner of Neirs Tavern and I have no one available to replace me. I’ve been unable to obtain an affordable long term lease to reach our goal of the 200th anniversary in 2029. I’m operating month to month with an unaffordable rent and insufficient sales to overcome a year of losing money every month. Due
to increase personal obligations I’m unable to put in the time
necessary to overcome increase business challenges I’m faced. Everyday I pray I would find a way to dedicate more time to overcome these challenges until yesterday I had to face the truth. Neirs Tavern is losing money and I don’t have the time to help to overcome it. I want to be a good father and husband. I hope my Neirs Team will be here until Sunday in the event a miracle happens. But I have no more money after Sunday.
I’m sorry i let you down. I’m sorry I couldn’t get landmark status. I’m sorry I couldn’t buy the building. but I’m grateful for all the memories we’ve created together saving Neirs Tavern the last 11 years I’ve been here. Thanks to everyone past and present who made Neirs Tavern our 2nd living room for the past 190 years.
With gratitude, Loycent, Neirs Tavern and the entire team
Even the late great Anthony Bourdain couldn't save it.
The city landmarks a Pepsi ad and they wouldn't give Neir's one.
Greed is killing this city.
Update:
As everyone has seen, a miracle has happened and Neir's Tavern lives another day.
A Woodhaven watering hole will be celebrating its 190th anniversary on Oct. 5 — making it older than more than half the states in the country.
Neir’s Tavern has been around since 1829, beginning the same year that Andrew Jackson became president. Called the Old Blue Pump House at its inception, it became Neir’s when Louis Neir bought it in 1898. He added a bowling alley and hotel, and even ran the place as a speakeasy during Prohibition.
Neir’s changed hands several times up until 2009, when Loy Gordon, an FDNY lieutenant and the current owner, bought the bar along with some friends to save it from closure.
For most of its history, Neir’s notoriety was largely limited to the working class of Woodhaven. It is a friendly den of chatter, where neighbors are regulars, and camaraderie is enjoyed over cold pints of beer. On the outside, nestled on a quiet corner of a residential neighborhood, the place looks more like an aging two-floor townhouse than a tavern.
Daniel Goderich tends bar during a gathering of supporters for the tavern’s landmark status. Credit Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times
But longtime patrons say that Neir’s does not get the recognition it deserves. Now they are campaigning for the tavern to be declared a New York City landmark because, they note, some historians believe that it is, in fact, the city’s oldest bar.
Neir’s, its patrons say, deserves the historical status of McSorley’s Old Ale House, which, its manager argues, is the oldest in operation, having served customers since 1854, and Fraunces Tavern, from 1762, which burned down and was rebuilt several times.
In 1829, when Queens was mostly farmland — and livestock, not the J train, rumbled down what became Jamaica Avenue — the manager of a racetrack called the Union Course opened a nearby tavern, the Blue Pump Room. It offered a drink to bettors before and after the races, years before McSorley’s served its first light or dark ale in Manhattan.
Over time, the Blue Pump Room went by different names — The Old Abbey, The Union Course Tavern, and finally, Neir’s Tavern — and had different owners, including the Neir family, who had immigrated to Woodhaven from Germany, the current owners say. The family bought the bar after the racetrack closed in 1898, and added a one-lane bowling alley, a ballroom and a hotel over the tavern. It was renamed “Neir’s Social Hall,” and a sign with that name is on display by a stage in the back room.
So, on a recent Saturday, a rally was held to try to win landmark designation for Neir’s. Standing in front of a cutout of Mae West, Mr. Gordon urged patrons to fill out postcards he had addressed to the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. The commission rejected the bar’s application last year.
When Mr. Gordon applied for the designation last August, he cited Neir’s history and interior decorations, including its artifacts and antiquated ice-coil tap system. The tavern needed protection, he said, even if the commission could not prevent someone from buying it.
But the commission, a spokeswoman said, did not believe the bar rose “to the level of an interior landmark” because it “contains standard commercial finishes,’’ making it difficult, without proper documentation, to prove the tavern’s age.
Neir’s Tavern has 186 years of history inside it — and now Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Glendale) is endorsing a proposal to have the city officially recognize its significance by making it a city landmark.
The Woodhaven bar, located at 87-48 78 St., is the oldest bar in the city to continually operate in the same location.
Opened in 1829, it first served patrons who were on their way to watch horse races at the Union Course ractrack, formerly located a few blocks away.
Loycent Gordon, the owner of Neir’s, said he is only seeking to have the interior landmarked — but added he’d like to have the exterior done as well.
“Eventually we’d like to do the exterior,” Gordon said.
Crowley, too, would like to see the whole building preserved.
“It’s not just any other building. It’s historic and it should be kept that way,” the councilwoman said. “By landmarking it, it will stay for the enjoyment of generations to come.”
Once a structure has been designated a landmark by the city, the owner of the building must obtain the approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission to make any changes to it.
The oldest gin joint in the city is located in the middle of a quiet Queens neighborhood, according to a borough historian.
Neir’s Tavern in Woodhaven opened in 1829, almost 30 years before the fabled McSorley’s Old Ale House was constructed, said Richard Hourahan of the Queens Historical Society.
Hourahan said he conducted the research with a Neir’s owner, Loycent Gordon, to try to sort out fact from fiction about city bars. They were also exploring whether Neir’s can be included on the National Register of Historic Places.
Italicized passages and many of the photos come from other websites. The links to these websites are provided within the posts.
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