They've been here a long time and every trip to the Cove is like walking into a Bukowski poem. I went in recently for what is likely my last drink. Here's some of what the regulars had to say.
"This place is closing. Fucking NYU bought the whole thing, from the corner on down. All these boys here gotta find another hole."
"How'm I doin'? Could be worse. Next week I'm getting a full-body everything. They're gonna look at my brain to see if I'm crazy."
"I'm so happy! I love you!"
"All the old bars we used to hang out at are gone. The Ukrainian Club. That's gone. Verkhovyna. That's gone. Vazac's was great, but now it's been yuppified. Yuppies? I mean the hipsters. When they changed the Christodora to condos, that's when it all changed. Giuliani kicked 'em all out. And fucking NYU. Back when Giuliani was, whattayacallit, the mayor."
"The cigarettes make you more nervous."
"Since this place is closing, I'll probably end up at O'Hanlon's."
"Every day, a person has 20 minutes when they feel so tired they could drop right off to sleep."
"I like the International Bar. They got no televisions, which I like. They got kind of a liberal, independent crowd. And cheap beer."
"I shouldn't drink so much, but I feel good. I'm working out at the gym now. I'm so happy! I can look forward now!"
"She's more dangerous than a guy. I'm more afraid of her than a guy."
"I started drinking way too much and then I went fucking crazy. If you don't have something to occupy your brain, you go crazy. And drinking doesn't help. Now I've got crossword puzzles. I'm up to five or six puzzles a day."
"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy."
"The Japanese and the Irish eat the most seaweed in the world."
I remember the first time my wife and I went to the Blarney Cove. It was still when we first met 17 years ago, and it was Saint Pats Day. We were trying to weave our way through the crowds of drunken testosterone-laden buffoons and their 'Biffy' girlfriends amid the shouts of 'Everyone's Irish on St. Pats Day'.
ReplyDeleteMy wife, who is indeed Irish, says 'This is a damn embarrassment. I swear I'm going to lose it if we don't get out of this mess.' We keep walking quickly passing full bar after full bar of dance club music and the sounds of breaking glass until I spot the sign for Blarney Cove. "Let's look at that place. I have a good feeling."
I scouted out the inside, and it was quiet. A few ladies in bowling shirts, a couple of old guys with canes and no pop music. In we went. We said our hellos to everyone and got a table in the back and I went to get our drinks. Two Glenfiddichs on the rocks. A little bit later one of the old guys sits at our table and starts chatting us up, and we're having fun when he asks my wife 'Want to see my shamrock?'
She laughs a bit and then says 'Wait a minute ....' as she looks at his hat that has no shamrock adornment in sight. We laugh some more and have fun into the night and many more drinks.
Glad I checked here as I was planning to spend all of Wednesday in there.
ReplyDeleteBlarney was were I went to mourn the loss of Mars bar. Where will I go to mourn the loss of Blarney Cove?
Same deal, Goggla. I kind of had Wednesday set aside, too. I guess Tuesday will be a late night out.
ReplyDeleteThe comment about International is true, nowhere near as comfortable as Blarney Cove on Fri, Sat nights but one of the few solid paces in the area.
ReplyDeleteWhat of the Blue & Gold... used to be a good place. Off hours?
ReplyDeleteThis calls for live on-site blogging, Jeremiah. You or EV Grieve -- flip a coin (or do it jointly).
ReplyDelete