[rating:5]
“The most famous bar you never heard of”, also dubbed one of, if not NYC’s and possibly America’s oldest living bar. This place has played host to the movie “Good fellas”, the new “tower” movie with Ben Stiller, Mae West, and countless other celebs. Most recently they added this up and coming superstar to their roster, me. LOL..
I decided on a whim to go in tonight for their open mic, and I was able to get on and read not one, not two, but 3 of my favorite poems. It was exhilarating, fun, unnerving, stimulating, I loved it. The atmosphere was great, the crowd was very supportive of this poetry reading virgin, and they had some really good talent present. I was very impressed with the poets tonight.
The readers ranged from a black gentlemen wearing glasses, suspenders, a bow tie and a beret who could spit lyrics and flow with the best of them, to a white gentlemen who was dressed somewhat preppy and appeared like a golfer that put a display of lyricism that is on par with any I have ever heard. From there you had everything in between. Amazing, really.
The space itself is very intimate and comfortable, old furniture, cool little couches, and old style decor give the place the feeling it should have with a heritage that goes back over 100 years. It’s quaint, I enjoyed it and felt very comfortable. The staff was extremely friendly and overall just lovely. I had a burger and fries for dinner, and man was that burger good. Cooked medium well to perfection, the fries were cooked just the way I like them and the ginger ale was perfect. The best part? All that cost me under $10… And it’s really good. Really good..
The vibe here was very welcoming, and non-threatening. These guys host shows throughout the week and the weekend. They are putting Queens on the map. Tonight we were streaming on http://gothamradio.com and also a newspaper person stopped by. It was really cool.
It’s slightly out of the way for me, but believe that this will not stop me from becoming a regular at the open mic’s here as I really enjoyed it. The group was awesome, the venue was awesome, I can’t say enough good things about this place. I loved it and I will be back.
A big shout out to Neir’s, Aisha and Loy for putting this event together and giving Queens poets an opportunity and a venue to perform, it was a pleasure losing my “poetry reading virginity” to you guys.
Just a life long New Yorker sharing the journey through my lens. Please take note of a post’s date. The views I express here are subject to change and evolving as I grow and learn.
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