Ever since the demise of Battle of the Network Stars, you've assumed you won't have a chance to watch dozens of sitcom personalities hanging out together. We thought the same. Until last night, when the cute boy with whom we saw The Threepenny Opera (verdict: meh) brought us for a post-theatrical drink to a little spot called Bar Centrale, upstairs from Joe Allen on Restaurant Row.
Two weeks ago the Times — both in print and in a video walking tour — directed its readers to the wonders of Menahata, the crazy second-floor Bulgarian bar at Broadway and Canal. Just days later, word came that the bar would be temporarily shut down while the building housing it was under construction. But now there's worse news, as reported by the blog Slavs of New York:
Perhaps it's the within-the-city, streaming-video version of the Sports Illustrated cover curse: In Friday's Times, and in an accompanying video tour on the Times site, Ariel Kaminer sang the praises of that weird Bulgarian Bar — it's called Mehanata — on the corner of Canal and Broadway. The next day, the blog Slavs of New York received this email:
It seems that some downtown bars, including the Tribeca Tavern, the Bubble Lounge, and several places we've never been to, are in danger of having their liquor licenses pulled. Why? From today's Sun:
A neighborhood bar in Windsor Terrace closes. For a few days. To replace its floor. And somehow Metro metrosexual Nick Confessore spins that general-contracting squib into an elegaic 750-word narrative with a huge B1 teaser.
Like drinking? (Of course you do.) Like the East Village? (Can't imagine why you wouldn't.) Have a spare $670,000 lying around? (Aha. You knew there was something.) If you answered yes to these three questions, then have we got an eBay auction for you.
