Netflix has created a fake bar for its show “Black Rabbit” (named…Black Rabbit) in what was the Bridge Café at 279 Water and Dover — once one of the oldest continually operating bars in the city. But wait, there’s more! to the decades-long history there.

The longtime bar and restaurant under the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, where Ed Koch ate lunch twice every week for three terms, was decimated by Sandy in 2012 and remained closed despite massive investment. A few years back, in 2020, owner Adam Weprin attempted to resuscitate his parents’ business and The Wall Street Journal reported on his efforts at the time:

“The property, which dates to 1794, has been owned by Mr. Weprin’s family for more than 40 years. Its landmarked building, on a now-quiet street in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, has been home at times to a gritty saloon for river pirates, a gambling den and a brothel, and was the site of at least two 19th-century murders. But for Mr. Weprin, that isn’t the roughest part of its history. What’s most difficult, he said, is more personal: seeing the restaurant he managed for more than 12 years — and a bar that had been one of the city’s oldest continually running taverns — sit empty.”

He clearly had to give up because the building was sold a year later, in 2021, with the deed signed away by Michael Weprin for $3.3 million.

The building is not a landmark itself, but it is in the South Street Seaport Historic District, created in 1977. The designation report notes that 279 Water, constructed in 1801, is the only remaining wood frame building in the historic district. Since Water Street is on landfill, at the time it was believed that brick buildings could not be supported.

“Owned originally by a grocer, Peter Loring, the building was used for commercial purposes until 1888, when it was converted to a three-family dwelling…The entrance door is recessed at the corner of the ground floor and an elegant fluted cast-iron column supports the walls above. The two upper stories are sheathed with novelty siding of the Victorian period, and are enriched by finely detailed wood window lintels.”

The property has 5,653 square feet of built space and 4,233 square feet of additional air rights.

So fast forward to this April, when Netflix moved in and painted “Black Rabbit” onto the transom window, setting the scene for its upcoming series starring Jason Bateman and Jude Law. There will be eight one-hour episodes, released in mid-2025, revolving around “a New York City hotspot owner who lets his brother back into his life, which leads to dangerous consequences.” (That’s the interior now, above.)

Then this May, a Bridge Cafe NYC LLC was approved by Community Board 1 to operate a *real* bar and restaurant there again. The applicant once had Bar Clark and Winnie’s on Bayard Street and their plan as of a few months ago was to restore the joint basically as it was. I guess they got a free renovation out of Netflix…