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You Could (And Should) Be Drinking at McSorley's Today
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 17, 2011
Modified Feb 17, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 17, 2011
Modified Feb 17, 2011
Share
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Today is the 157th (or 149th?) birthday of McSorley's Old Ale House, the venerable establishment that the indispensable Joseph Mitchell once described as "a drowsy place; the bartenders never make a needless move, the customers nurse their mugs of ale, and the three clocks on the walls have not been in agreement for many years." Seven years ago, Mayor Bloomberg officially declared today McSorley's Day, and EV Grieve once again reminds us the East 7th Street institution will be celebrating all day today. Here's another priceless excerpt form Mitchell's McSorley's Wonderful Saloon:
The backbone of the clientele is a rapidly thinning group of crusty old men, predominantly Irish, who have been drinking there since they were youths and now have a proprietary feeling about the place. Some of them have tiny pensions, and are alone in the world; they sleep in Bowery hotels and spend practically all their waking hours in McSorley's.
Women are now allowed over the threshold, but ladies, watch out for that cat. Also, watch out for nationalistic sing-a-longs of the Star Spangled Banner. We're a long way from Woddy Guthrie and e.e. cummings.
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McSorley's
McSorley's Old Ale House
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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