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Best Five Barkeeps In NYC

By

John Del Signore

Published Mar 31, 2011

Modified Mar 31, 2011

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Sunny Balzano with Lillie Haus, formerly of Lillie's Bar. (John Del Signore/Gothamist)Red Hook native Sunny Balzano, 76 years young, still lives above what is arguably the best neighborhood bar in Brooklyn, but he doesn't come down to party in the eponymous bar that often these days, instead choosing to spend his evenings upstairs with his young daughter. Balzano also knows that if he appears downstairs, he'll likely linger there until closing time, smoking and drinking until dawn. But his spirit fills the big old ground floor bar, which is decorated with his art and filled with his favorite live music on Friday and Saturday nights. Still, if you're there on a night when Sunny surfaces, the experience is definitely enhanced; to know this fascinating Brooklyn character is to love him, in part because Sunny is so full of love. Yeah, we just said that, and we're not even that drunk yet. So go soak up some Sunny's to see for yourself—the bar's open Wednesday nights, Friday nights, Saturday nights, and on certain Sunday afternoons when they hold a semi-regular reading series (also good for Sunny-spotting). This Sunday they'll have L.A. poet Chiwan Choi, among others. (You can subscribe to Sunny's weekly mailing list to keep up with who's playing when at sunnysbar@earthlink.net.) For more on Sunny, check out this expansive NY Times profile on the man, and this intimate video portrait.

 

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By

John Del Signore

Published Mar 31, 2011

Modified Mar 31, 2011

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By our count of active liquor licenses, there are approximately 11,362 bars in New York City. And after a rigorous, scientific analysis—entailing countless hours of exhaustive research—we've decided which five establishments have the best barkeeps. These elite five are our favorites because of the way their personalities fill the room (sometimes in subtle ways) and keep us coming back for more than just their succulent alcohol. A cynic (or physician) might call them enablers, but we consider them buddies—and in some cases, dare we say role models? And so here is the definitive list of the best barkeeps in town:

Sunny Balzano at Sunny's in Red Hook, Donald O'Finn at Freddy's in South Slope, Lucy Mickevicis at Lucy's on Avenue A, Mark Penza at Billy Mark's in Chelsea, and Dave Pollack at The Diamond in Greenpoint are the best barkeeps in town. PERIOD. We LOVE these barkeeps, they're our BEST friends, we would TAKE A BULLET FOR THEM, have we ever told you that? Click on the images for why they win.

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barkeeps

bars

bartenders

best of new york

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gothamist best of nyc

nightlife

John Del Signore

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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

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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