Third-generation owner Charlie Campbell takes down the Emerald Inn sign on Sunday. Photo by Shahnaz Mahmud.
Historic Upper West Side bar The Emerald Inn will be closing this week after 70 years in the same spot on Columbus Avenue between 69th and 70th street. In that bar, Jack Lemmon drank away his sorrows in the film The Apartment (image below). After Tuesday, the bar will be closed and begin its transformation into a Kate Spade store.
On Monday, the bar will open with just burgers and appetizers on the menu. On Tuesday, it will be standing room only, and the bar will be putting out food, owner Charlie Campbell tells us.
The bar and restaurant plans to reopen on 72nd street between West End Avenue and Broadway in the former home of PD O’Hurley’s West End.
A group of ABC staffers and former ABC folk met up there last week to toast the place. So weird to think the bar where we learned to drink “like men” 20 years ago will become the spot where trendy handbags will be sold. Though we kept up our visits over the years, many of us moved on from ABC and the Emerald and needing to drink that much to wash the day off of our tired little souls. Sigh. Signs of the times for sure.
I wish they had a site so I could contact them by email and let them know how much we liked them. 🙁
Happy memories of — years ago — stopping by for a burger and beers after softball games in the Park. Nobody cared that we were all sweaty, it was a good stopover. I’ll be back tonight for a quick reprise, and to wish the place good livin’ further west.
I have lived worked and been drinking right near there for decades but they were never even a little friendly so I have always imbibed elsewhere. Three new bars have opened recently nearby so its clearly not the tide of history that is washing them away.
Dear huh,
I am sad to say that I disagree with you. I have been going to that bar for nearly thirteen years, where I have known every bartender and barmaid and they have known me, and I am not a frequent flyer. They have known our friends, our jobs, our children, our joys and sorrows. I am sorry you have never had that experience. It has been sad to see the neighborhood change, the number of bars and restaurants go away – you can barely find an affordable sandwich these days let alone a reasonable drink! So many of these beloved places have been replaced by retail stores, surely a sad sign of things to continue to come.