UPDATE, Friday, October 11 at 8 p.m.: Emerald Inn passed its Health Department re-inspection Friday evening and officially reopened for business at 250 West 72nd Street, owner Charlie Campbell told West Side Rag. The reopening on Friday means the longtime Upper West Side bar will not consider permanently closing.
By Gus Saltonstall
Emerald Inn has continued to serve customers on the Upper West Side through World War II, the JFK assassination, multiple recessions, the September 11 attacks, and the COVID-19 pandemic. But, the neighborhood bar might not survive the New York City Health Department.
Charlie Campbell, the fourth generation of his family to run the bar at 250 West 72nd Street, told West Side Rag on Thursday that the neighborhood watering hole was in serious danger of shuttering permanently following its closure on September 17 by the Health Department, due to evidence of rodents and bugs in the establishment.
Emerald Inn was first opened in 1943 by Campbell’s great-grandfather on Columbus Avenue and 69th Street, before moving to its present-day location in 2013.
Campbell contends that the majority of infractions were found in the basement of the bar, emphasizing that he has done his best to fix the problems, calling in multiple exterminators, “foaming” the tiniest cracks in the walls at a cost of nearly $1,000, and, with the help of staff and friends, scrubbing everything down. So far, the Health Department has visited three times to check their progress.
“Each time an inspector comes back they don’t look at what we fixed, and are finding something new or a single small, dead bug,” he told the Rag when we visited the bar on Thursday. “‘Fix the gaps, crevices, cracks in the wall,’ they say, which in an old building like this is close to impossible.”
“I know they (the Health Department) are just doing their job, but it is killing us,” Campbell continued. “Every day we’re closed it hurts; we have already lost close to $100,000 with this closure. If we don’t reopen on Friday, we might just close down for good.”
Emerald Inn has its fourth Health Department inspection set for Friday evening.
A spokesperson from the city agency told the Rag that the pest issue remains the reason for the closure.
“The Department has repeatedly inspected The Emerald Inn to assess whether it is able to safely reopen and continues to observe pests,” the Department of Health spokesperson wrote in an email. “Once the infestation has been addressed, the Department will authorize reopening.”
Campbell took West Side Rag on a walk-through of the bar and basement on Thursday, and, while our eye is not that of a trained inspector, we did not observe any bugs or rodents.
“We keep thinking we’re ready, if we can reopen we can try to get back on our feet. But if the Health Department keeps failing us, I’m thinking tomorrow might be the last try. I can’t keep doing it,” he said, standing behind the bar. “I can’t keep having staff and friends come in to clean, with everybody donating their time.”
Since the closure, regulars of the bar and neighboring business owners have also been coming into the Inn to help clean it and conduct mock health inspections.
“It is extra tough because my grandfather, who ran the bar for 60 years, just passed away, and my father is very sick in the hospital,” Campbell said. “And I am dealing with this. Luckily I have people here on the Upper West Side that care about me, and care enough about the bar to help.
“If we do reopen, all I ask is that you come see how clean the space is. We’ll be looking for as much business as possible to help us get back on our feet,” he added.
We will update this article on Friday as soon as we hear whether Emerald Inn passed the inspection.
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It’s always sad news when a small business is struggling for any reason.
That location already had a sordid past. The previous bar was the place where he poor victim who was loosely portrayed in “Looking for Mr. Goodbar” used to frequent and eventually met the man on New Year’s Day who killed her.
The bar was once the All State Cafe, which was was vibrant and lively and had good food. I miss the All State. Before it was the All State, it was called W.M. Tweeds, during the Mr. Goodbar error (1973). It probably goes back before that W.M. Tweeds, which has a distinct 70s “fern bar” sound to it.
YES! All State. We went there every Sunday night for years. Had our rehearsal dinner there too. Miss the zucchini chips, the tex mex burger, the pies (yes, from little pie company which still exists but just not the same when not eaten at all state). Nothing has come close since.
Never a health department problem when his grandfather and father ran both places.
Emerald Inn was awesome and loved it especially when it was on Columbus Ave. So much history was lost when the landlord didn’t renew the lease at their Columbus Ave. location. Kate Spade moved in for a short time. If your in an old building or even a new building its super hard for restaurants to get rid of vermin, pests etc. I hope they are able to reopen as it would be a big loss for the area.
It’s unfortunate that the business is closed/struggling. However, these are very serious issues that absolutely need to be addressed before welcoming people back in. Hope this is a lesson to be proactive and not cut corners.
Classic burdensome NYC regulations: completing disregarding the benefits business provide to workers, customers, and families.
While it’s sad to see businesses struggle, I’m very glad that we have a health department that makes these inspections. I don’t think ensuring that restaurants are free of threats to public health are overly burdensome.
It’s too bad DOH had to force them to clean up their act. Lots of other bars in older neighborhood buildings have managed OK.
Ironic as the City has completely ignored the rat fests in restaurant street sheds throughout NYC.
The problem is the envelope hasnt’t gotten into the right hands.
Exactly. Slip a few bucks to Eric Adams’ “minister’ and the problem goes away !
i was thinking the same thing!!!!
I hope Charlie and his team can get the Emerald Inn back on its feet. When I called there was no answer, and they took down their website, so I concluded their were finished. If not, then Charlie should restore the website and update the phone message so we know they’re still kicking.
Yelp has the Emerald Inn listed as permanently closed. I don’t know who manages the listings, but I hope it’s only temporary until the next inspection is done. The social media pages haven’t been updated for a long time so I hope we’ll see a positive update here soon!
I’m just going to say that posting an article Thursday night about a climactic and interesting event happening Friday afternoon is very good, suspenseful journalism that will measurably reduce my productivity as I refresh the WSR website throughout the day for updates. Nice work!
Go on Twitter and shout this out. You may get someone to help out. It usually works!
For years, my friends and I ate at the Emerald Inn when it was on Columbus Avenue. Sadly, we’ve now dispersed and moved away. (We used to refer to it as “The Irish.”) I have fond memories of the neighborly, warm atmosphere where everyone seemed to be friends. It was emblematic of the good old days. It would be terrible if it were closed because of a few harmless bugs. New York is replete with bugs. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and I send my best wishes to Mr. Campbell and hope his father recovers soon.
If ever there were an occasion for a “good faith efforts” exception. The bar has been more than reasonable to try to fix things that to a degree are out of its control.
Asking friends to help clean up the place is not a high level of good faith efforts. They should have contracted a service that does this type of work professionally and is an expert about what the DOH requires.
This was their new location, following a decades-long tenancy on Columbus Avenue. Surprising that they didn’t work the “kinks” out prior to rebooting.
Sounds like he needs to make friends with Mayor Adams.
The City poured support and resources to institute restaurant “street sheds” during Covid.
Though the restaurant street sheds have been well known as havens for rats (and other issues), the City (esentially behind the scenes without notification to residents or resident weigh in) instituted a new permanent “street dining program.”
So the City is fine with the rats in restaurant street sheds (which mostly benefit larger, cool or upscale places).
But it is a problem if there are a few bugs inside a restaurant.
As someone who lives near this bar/restaurant I think it should be compliant with Health Department regulations, as are thousands of establishments.
Is there any evidence that this business is being held to a higher standard by inspectors than other businesses?
Sad to think of the actual Upper West Side without the Emerald Inn.
I am ready for a pint of Guinness right now.
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Open it up. It is a part of us like and lore.
They are open for business now. Stop by for a pint.
Have there been any incidents of customers getting ill? And the few they found were in the basement.
The Emerald Inn is open for business right now.
Stop by!
Glad they were able to re-open. It sounds as though the owner made enormous efforts, and during such trying personal times. However, he relied upon friends, instead of the experts who know about compliance issues. The experts can be costly, but likely not as much as the cost of the business being closed for a protracted period of time. I’d love to hear the Health Department’s take on this matter.