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EMOTIONAL REVELRY ON THE LAST NIGHT AT BOURBON STREET BAR

April 18, 2017 | 1:09 PM - Updated on April 19, 2017 | 10:35 AM
in NEWS, OPEN/CLOSED
10

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Bourbon Street bar owner Jason Gelfand (second from left) and friends on the last night at the bar.

By Jeff French Segall

Old friends and boisterous newcomers toasted the last night of Bourbon Street Bar on Saturday, which closed after 25 years at 407 Amsterdam Avenue between 79th and 80th Street.

The bar was packed for the final celebration, with raucous singing and dancing — some of it on top of the bar. Bourbon Street was a fixture on the avenue, a dive bar that offered 50-cent beer specials at a time when the neighborhood was getting more upscale.

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Several people also milled around outside and reminisced. Raymond Curtis, who was taking a breather on the sidewalk with his husband, said he knew for a while that the bar was going to close and that he and his friends had shown up for one another. He said that Bourbon Street is much more than a bar. It’s also a social institution that has provided friendship and support to many of the students at Columbia University.

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Raymond and many other denizens of Bourbon Street are veterans, having seen violent conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said that one of the bartenders is a student and a veteran who has been supporting himself through college by bartending. Several of the bartender’s friends showed up to toast him and Bourbon Street.

Jason Gelfand, the owner of the bar, is himself a veteran and was also in the NYPD for five years before he opened the bar. Gelfand told us that his rent was going to rise to $26,000 from $16,000, and he couldn’t afford the increase. After closing he’ll focus completely on his other job as a contractor. A master carpenter, he loves designing and building furniture. Saturday was his last hurrah as a tavern owner. Tomorrow was another day. On Saturday, each in his and her own way said: Adieu, Bourbon Street, adieu.

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Photos by Jeff French Segall.

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AC
AC
8 years ago

Racking my brain , , , anyone remember what business existed here before Bourbon Street?

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ursus arctos
ursus arctos
8 years ago

It was a not dissimilar bar called Gecko’s that gets a line in this New York Magazine story from the early 90s.

https://books.google.com/books?id=euMCAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA38&ots=muyXU4orIK&dq=gecko's%20amsterdam%20avenue%20nyc&pg=PA38#v=onepage&q=gecko's%20amsterdam%20avenue%20nyc&f=false

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AC
AC
8 years ago
Reply to  ursus arctos

WOW, this article brings back memories! All the bars that have come and gone. My favs were Quarter Moon Saloon (present day Gin Mill), Raccoon Lodge, Wilson’s, Wildlife (before that it was called Primetime, after Wildlife, Vermouth – present day Chirping Chicken). Good find!

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Wijmlet
Wijmlet
8 years ago

My kinda fun

0
Reply
Luna
Luna
8 years ago

Something must be done to stop the rent hikes. Such a shame!

0
Reply
Lis Krosov
Lis Krosov
8 years ago

One after another, the great bars go. What a shame!I remember the Blackout in the 70’s when we were playing volleyball on W. 74th Street and wandered over to Tap-A-Keg on Columbus. It was a fun time when we formed the Block Associations, Landmarked the Streets, only to have the dopey Landmark Commission allow any old thing the greedy developers want.

0
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Cat
Cat
8 years ago

Looks like fun. I recognize a couple of people who work in the neighborhood. Strange seeing them out of their usual business setting.

0
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MSF
MSF
8 years ago

Nice article Jeff

0
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Zeus
Zeus
8 years ago

Just what we needed.
Another cool place closing.
Another bank or pharmacy to open.
There goes the fun out of our lives.
There comes another boring place instead.

0
Reply
Mark
Mark
8 years ago

Anyone have any info on T&R pizza on the same block?

0
Reply

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