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Robert Ripps book
History of Tribeca Buildings
Tribeca Tavern has closed permanently
I feel like I am getting whiplash with the doors closing and windows opening — every time things start looking up, along comes a story like this. I guess New York is an emotional rollercoaster these days.
Tribeca Tavern, which is definitely among the last of the local bar bars, has closed permanently (thanks to A. for the tip) and as someone who only ever pretended to play pool at that one location, it’s a loss. I see the fab neon sign is already gone — hopefully immortalized somewhere close by (maybe Lime House – more on that soon). I don’t have the exact date, but the bar — which goes through from West Broadway to Sixth Avenue — has been there for at least 25 years.
Until now it would have made the list of the diehards (20+ years), which goes like this: Nancy Whiskey, The Patriot, Mudville 9, Puffy’s, Walker’s, Greenwich Street Tavern and Anotheroom. (correct me if I missed one) And RIP to so many, but most recently Raccoon Lodge and of course, Reade Street Pub.
I have to reprint this great description from the bar’s website: “Located across from the posh and trendy Roxy Hotel, The Tribeca Tavern on West Broadway couldn’t be more different.” There you have it.
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Photo of Tribeca Tavern dated 1999, from NY Public Library collection:
https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/bc3bede1-8d5b-cebb-e040-e00a18064596
Very sad to hear.
At least 35 years. Tribeca Tavern was there when I moved in to neighborhood in 1986.
No, it was “LeRoy’s Coffee Shop” until at least 1989…
The Under $15 Good Eating Guide – Page 80
books.google.com › books
Daniel Young · 1989 · Snippet view
Found inside – Page 80
LeRoy’s Coffee Shop 247 West Broadway , near Walker St. TriBeCa , Manhattan 966-3370 Open : Mon. … Reservations : none Classification : Positively NYC Pièce de résistance : eggplant latkes parmigiana can walk from West Broadway to …
Officials Cite 24 Food Outlets
The New York Times
July 26, 1987, Section 1, Page 3
The New York City Department of Health last week released a list of 24 food establishments cited for violating the health code.
In addition, it listed eight restaurants that were allowed to reopen after correcting earlier violations and five that were closed for having failed to do so.
The establishments are these: Violations […] Leroy’s, 247 West Broadway […]
33 FOOD OUTLETS CITED BY NEW YORK OFFICIALS
The New York Times
December 7, 1986, Section 1, Page 83
The New York City Department of Health last week released a list of 33 food establishments cited for violating the health code.
In addition, it listed 10 restaurants that were allowed to reopen after correcting earlier violations and five that were closed for having failed to do so.
The establishments are these: Violations […] Leroy Restaurant, 247 West Broadway (N. Moore St.). […]
Thanks for the memories. So enjoyed Leroy’s.
Glad the Raccoon lodges closing was mentioned…I spent 20 years there, grew up there. And miss the times, greatly, My family were those folks. Ahhh the best of days. I can only hope newer places have a fraction of the love and characters who made it😊
Riverrun closed a long time ago and I still miss it.
Same for How’s Bayou. Cajun style food and New Orleans decor—beads–
Other nostalgic spots (I too miss How’s Bayou and River Run) that bear mentioning:
El Teddy’s, Le Zinc and (for soaking up all that alcohol the next morning) Royal Canadian Pancake House or Socrates…
Leroy’s up until mid-nineties. Also Magoo’s is missed. All those LMLT steering committee meetings in the eighties.
The New Yorker, August 16, 1993 P. 25
The Talk of the Town
“The Ideal”
By Daniel Hurewitz
A talk story about the construction of a fake coffee shop in Tribeca for the filming of the movie “Cop Gives Waitress $2 Million Tip.” [working title of the 1994 movie “It Could Happen to You”]
Richard Baratta explained that they needed to construct a coffee shop because they needed one with removable walls. Mentions LeRoy’s Coffee Shop, directly across the street. LeRoy’s was apparently considered for the role of the Ideal Coffee Shop–along with 3,999 other local coffee shops–but the movie people decided the place was too narrow. LeRoy’s might still get a part, though.
“They came to me the other day and asked me if, with compensation, I would mind changing the sign on my awning, which says’ Coffee Shop,'” Herb David, LeRoy’s owner says. “They want to call it a tavern. They said, ‘Of course, you’ll be compensated for it.’ I said, ‘Fine.'”
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1993/08/16/the-ideal-2
https://tribecacitizen.com/2018/05/28/when-hollywood-built-a-fake-diner-in-tribeca/
“1995 – October 22 / During breakfast at Leroy’s Coffee Shop, the usually taciturn, elderly waiter, Arthur, revealed something of his provenance. He’s a towering old coot, at least 6’4”, maybe 130 lbs., with an Elvis pompadour and oversize rodent teeth. He told me that at birth he weighed 3 pounds. His dad took him and his twin brother home in a shoebox lined with cotton. Each time he buys shoes he keeps the box to commemorate the oddity of his beginnings.”
https://tribecacitizen.com/2017/01/16/the-recollections-of-jane-freeman-part-4/
And let’s not forgot the “gas station” build on that same lot for Zoolander…
And the billboard from the movie Enchanted…
https://www.alamy.com/a-billboard-for-the-palace-casino-stands-in-the-tribeca-neighborhood-image8254582.html
“A billboard for The Palace Casino stands in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City[.] Contrary to the fears of residents the sign is only a set decoration used in the filming of the movie Enchanted which took place in the area[.] The corner of West Broadway and North Moore St is popular with filmakers[.]”
Hopefully a new bar gets started there with lower rent perhaps or an incentive?
yes, RIverrun and How’s Bayou were great and Beach Street Mexican Restaurant as well as 219 (brunch!). Delphi…
McGoverns (before Reade Street Pub); Barnibus (sp?), Salt Peanuts, Mickey’s, etc. Tribeca has changed but Puffy’s is still there right?
Leroy’s was a great place to eat lunch. Bill the owner was very generous; Mark and Mei owners of Franklin Street Cafe, etc.
Michael i remember the LMLT and staying up all night on 6/21/82 to get our Loft Board applications in to the Loft Board when the Loft Law opened for biz. Is chuck delaney still with us? Charles Leslie (Soho Artists Association)?
I’ve decided Tribeca is a vapid, souless neighborhood of abnormally greedy people. I’m officially moving.
Leroy’s was a place where the local artists and working class met for breakfast and lunch. There is a long shot of the interior of this meeting place in Yvonne Rainer’s “The Man Who Envied Women” or perhaps I have it confused with one one of her other films.
What about Warren 77. Best chicken wings ever and best bartenders!
Sure, but not all that old. Opened in 2009.
So sad, I spent many times there, the nachos were superb, and it is impossible to forget the movie pictures on the walls and the one from Angel Heart.
R.I.P. the triangle below Canal.
Dan Alterman mentioned Barnabus. That was Barnabus Rex on Duane- it was a great small dive bar with a pool table. It closed in the early to mid 80’s and the people who ran it then opened the North River Bar on Hudson and Hubert. That was a good old-fashioned but large dive bar that lasted into the 90’s.
These are great memories to read about. I’m a Tribeca resident for 11 years, and went to BMCC from 1994-98, while working full time. I remember the Tribeca of the late 90’s well. I loved it so much back then. I love it today, but maybe not as much. it’s a lot different.
Still miss Sal, who helped open it and passed too soon in 2005. Also Debbie, tough and kind. Then there was Oscar, the chef from one of the islands, who lit lots of candles in the basement when things were slow. Also Rob, the chef from the yacht who went away, then returned. Let’s also not forget the Orange Bear, Mitch’s Place (now Forgione’s), and for the adventuresome in the late ’90’s and ’00’s, Dakota Roadhouse on Park Pl.