all you ex-New Yorkers, Chumley's has structure damage and walls collapsed....

[randi]

eeeeek! it's just around the corner from my old apartment on Grove St. it would be tragic to lose it :-0

There's still no sign outside, but it's not as hidden anymore. Famous for being one of the last 1920's speakeasies in Greenwich Village, Chumley's is blessed with its own good beer, cozy cottage-wood interior and a literary pedigree. Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Eliot, Miller,, Steinbeck, O'Henry, O'Neill -- hundreds of photos and book jackets line the wood walls, reminding patrons that the Great American Novel was not only written on that hard corner bench you're sitting on, but also ripped up and torn to shreds in a fit of drunken self-doubt by said luminaries. Though the interior hasn't changed much since the days of prohibition and police raids -- the side door is now used as a freight entrance, not a secret alley getaway -- there was some work done in the 1990s for Woody Allen's 'Sweet and Lowdown' shoot. Despite its popularity with the college crowd, the haunt's overriding romance -- a working fireplace and owner's roaming dog included -- make it one of the best conversation pits in the city. --

http://www.curbed.com/archives/2007/04/05/breaking_curbedwire_chumleys_wall_collapse.php#more

 

[marianne]

Oh, the memories...one of the happiest years of my bachelorette days in New York City was...

in 1961, living on Barrow Street, in a ground-floor studio apartment in the courtyard that opened onto Chumley's side door. That door was always open, and the two most popular songs on their jukebox were Walter Houston singing "September Song", and Andy Williams singing "Moon River". I must admit I grew to hate both tunes, after listening to them streaming through that door, night after night. There were so many interesting people living in the courtyard. How I wish I could find them again. And the Blue Mill is gone, too???. I loved rare steaks and perfect Rob Roys there every week. Oh, horrors, my past is destroyed! Thanks, Randi, for letting me reminisce about an exciting time in my life.

 

[richard-in-cincy]

I hope they can fix it!