NYCBP Blog

It was a surreal Monday night at Yogi’s. Mondays have been one of the liveliest nights at this bar over the years, and Monday, Sept. 29, was just that, with girls dancing on the bar, outlaw country music blaring from the jukebox, and the gorgeously frenetic bartender Patience looking as radiant as ever.


But this one was different, as it was the final Monday before Yogi’s closes for good on Saturday, October 4. For those who hadn’t heard or believed the news yet, there were signs posted outside and inside the bar:


There was a countdown clock facing the street:


Even the legendary sewer of a bathroom had graffiti with the news:

It will all be over Saturday. Hopefully, however, it will all resume Thursday, October 9, at The Duck and, we wish, at a new Yogi’s near the present one sometime in the future when the economy, finance, and the real estate markets, i.e., the “big money” which is closing down this Yogi’s, allow.

(All photos by Eddie Goldman, thank you.)

Labels: bars, bartenders, beer, dive bars, Eddie Goldman, New York, Patience, upper west side, Yogi’s

On October 4 Yogi's will join the list of shuttered city bars and saloons. It will be quiet at the spot, 2156 Broadway, at 76th Street, for the first time in many years.

This has been a bad year for dive bars. We have lost Red Rock West, Scruffy Duffy’s, Collins Bar, Kevin St. James, and Time Out. Now comes word that the most beloved dive on the Upper West Side is closing up. The building was sold and will be torn down.

Yogi's has been in the Tom McNeil empire for 10 years. Prior to that, the space was the Bear Bar. For decades before that, it was an Irish pub. As Yogi's, it has been an oasis for country music lovers and fans of cheap bar and rowdy barmaids since Clinton was in office. It always delivered the goods: low-price drinks and raucous times. It has several hallmarks: disgusting restrooms, peanut shells on the floor, broken chairs, and sticky surfaces.

But Yogi's always made the list of great NYCBP bars for it's bartenders. Over the years there have been dozens, maybe hundreds, of women to work behind the bar. Some lasted just one night, other clocked in for years. Who was a regular customer of Jenn? Chaundra? Steph? Myriam? Patience? Theresa? Teresa? Lisa Marie? And so many more…

Tom still has The Patriot, and rumors are that he's opening The Duck in Spanish Harlem soon. But for the next week, make a final stop to Yogi’s and pay your respects.

Labels: bartenders, dive bars, patrons, upper west side, Yogi's

It is doubtful that Yogi Berra ever set foot in any of the incarnations of the bar which currently shares his nickname. It is even less likely that he will be there to help close it, as he did last week with Yankee Stadium. But if he wanted to, he would have his chance next week.

I just got off the phone with journalist and drinker Paul Katcher. He had sent me a text message shortly before 11 PM Thursday night, from Yogi’s, with the dreaded news: the last night for this bar will be Saturday, October 4.

He said he had spoken with bartenders Patience and Brie, and that they had been told earlier today that the closing of Yogi’s will be sooner than expected, on October 4. I may head down there myself a bit later to find out more, and, of course, have a few beers.

Clear your schedules, friends, because Saturday, October 4, will clearly mark the end of an era in our rapidly devolving New York.

Labels: bars, beer, Eddie Goldman, Paul Katcher, Yogi’s

Labels: bars, beer, Eddie Goldman, Fubar, Lauren, manhattan, New York, Patriot Saloon, Yogi’s

Labels: Alyssa, bars, beer, Doc Holliday’s, Eddie Goldman, New York

So all these weatherpeople from the liberal/communist/capitalist/conservative media (just ignore whichever epithets you disagree with) are telling us that there is this big storm coming to these parts Saturday. Well, that didn’t stop a bunch of regulars, rednecks, yuppies, and hippies from descending on that den of debauchery Friday night, the one and only Yogi’s (so far).

Part of the reason, of course, was that on Friday nights, the superstar Patience keeps slinging the beers. If she weren’t such a sweetie, she could start bloody civil wars over her.



Also helping the clientele lose their senses was the lovely Danielle. Just a smile from her could get the Taliban to buy a beer for Toby Keith.



So you stayed home to watch 20-year-old Robin Byrd reruns, did you?



For you unfortunate few who failed to show this Friday, Patience works Friday nights at Yogi’s and Wednesday days at The Patriot Saloon, and Danielle works Wednesday nights at The Patriot Saloon, Monday days at Yogi’s, and scattered weekends where needed.

Of course, you did get a partial pass if you stayed home to watch boxing. There were three lives cards on Friday night, and HBO has a potentially great battle in Juan Diaz vs. Michael Katsidis Saturday night. Also, if you’re really Internet savvy, you could watch numerous other fights from around the world Saturday.

And don’t worry if you are more redneck than hippie, or vice versa. Gretchen Wilson’s new album, due out this fall, has a tune called “Hippies and Rednecks” that attempts to bridge the gap between these sometimes warring subcultures. No doubt this healing process includes a lot of beer.

PS – I know my pictures aren’t exactly the best. I just use my camera phone, which is all I have. I’m a journalist, not a photographer, so all you fellers who do have these 2009 model digital jobs are invited to put your beers down for a second and point, shoot, and e-mail.

Labels: bars, beer, Danielle, Eddie Goldman, Gretchen Wilson, New York, Patience, Yogi’s