Friday, September 30, 2005

Downtown Beirut

Back in the 80's, my friends and I used to go to a bar in the East Village called "Downtown Beirut." This wasn't on the tourist strip of St. Mark's Place, but south and east on Houston Street in a neighborhood that looked like, well, Downtown Beirut.

Today, that location is a gentrified, rebuilt, co-op and condo-ized area in which my friends and I would be hard put to afford a decent apartment at market rates.

According to Michael Totten, the same thing has happened with the real Downtown Beirut, where he has relocated for the next six months.

Comments:
Probably only you will get this, but everytime I hear "Downtown Beirut" I hear someone calling "Hi, Norman!"
 
Sorry for the nitpicking, but Downtown Beirut was a great, dirty little dive bar in the East Village at 158 First Avenue at 10th Street (not on Houston). Don't know when it closed, but spent a lot of time there in late 80s and maybe early 90s. Those were its last gritty days before Giuliani, the yuppie invasion, and dot.com/bomb gentrification.
--A former East Villager
 
http://jamzik.blogspot.com/2006/09/god-of-new-york.html

(a story from Downtown Beirut)
 
Anonymous said: "Sorry for the nitpicking, but Downtown Beirut was a great, dirty little dive bar in the East Village at 158 First Avenue at 10th Street (not on Houston)."
True, but there was also Downtown Beirut II on Houston Street, which was a larger music venue. I believe in the space where the Mercury Lounge is now.
 
I might be wrong, but Im pretty sure it was on the east side of 10th, and Mercury Lounge (which is huge, in comparison) was on the west side of the street. I dont know, my memory is pretty spotty
 
Thank for everything James!
 
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