For the hundreds of Tribeca kids that Azikiwe Mohammed taught at Church Street School who are now legal to drink, I’ve found your new hangout. The lifelong Tribecan and full-time artist was tapped by a longtime pal to put his creative touch on one of the best bar spaces at the Seaport: the former Hideaway, now Quick Eternity.

The bar itself is the brainchild of Bryan Schneider, who founded it after years as a master bartender at hotspots (some with Michelin stars) such as Quality Meats, Bad Roman, Daniel, Monkey Bar. It’s a concept without being a concept bar — more of a series of Easter eggs once you figure it out, especially if you’re the literary type.

To start, the name comes from chapter 41 of Moby-Dick, aka The Whale, the 1851 epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. “…to chase and point lance at such an apparition as the Sperm Whale was not for mortal man. That to attempt it, would be inevitably to be torn into a quick eternity.” This was Bryan’s longtime dream, a Moby-Dick themed bar, and Azikiwe ran with it from there. (He and Bryan met in the photo department at Bard College, and took a chem class together. “We were both shaking things. And then we both tried to figure out how to keep doing the same thing.”)

He designed, painted or sourced just about every visual element in the bar, down to the sketches in the menus. The original ask was to recreate The Spouter-Inn, in chapter 3, a smoky, maritime tavern in New Bedford where Ishmael first encounters the harpooner Queequeg. The place is filled with whale bones and harpoons, so to start off Azikiwe had a craftsman create the whale bones from wood and fiberglass, to keep them light.

He created murals above and below the bar; upholstered benches in fabric is from recycled sea plastics; had tables designed with inlay to mimic a compass rose. He stumbled across a carved shell that had been made into a lamp and then sourced more. All the paintings were done by Azikiwe just for the space, so he tried to hide his hand a bit — but not fully.

“It’s designed but it’s open enough so people’s own Moby-Dick can also exist here,” Azikiwe said. “We are joining a larger Moby-Dick community, so we want to make sure we are not speaking over anybody.”

But if this kind of theme can fit in anywhere naturally, it’s the Seaport. Plus the raw space is just so special.

“It’s not a fake installation,” he said. “You come to a bar to think away from whatever you’ve been dealing with. We wanted to make a space that’s super themed but allows for people to make it their own. It should feel like a mini vacation.”

Quick Eternity
22 Peck Slip at Water
917-267-9030
Monday to Thursday, 4p to midnight
Friday 4p to 1a
Saturday 2p to 1a
Sunday noon to 11p
Kitchen open until 10p