A new slate of bars and clubs have opened in the wake of the pandemic that call themselves “speakeasies” — but jaded New Yorkers who experienced the real thing during lockdown say they’re more like “speakcheesies.”
“These places are cute, but they aren’t the real thing,” Torie, 29, who works in business development for an engineering and architecture firm, told The Post.
When New York City’s indoor bars and clubs were closed during the COVID-19 lockdown, she frequented an illegal party at a steakhouse in the Financial District.
“You had to enter through a parking garage. There were a bunch of security stationed there, and you would just kind of nod at them,” said Torie, who declined to give her last name so as not to get into trouble for flouting the law.
“Inside, the dance floor was packed, and they would play the best music until 4 or 5 in the morning.”
The party was not on social media; you could only find out about it through word of mouth. It took place on some Friday or Saturday nights, but not all, so she wouldn’t know for sure it was happening until she arrived. Once she got in, she was not allowed to leave unless she wanted to call it a night.
“They didn’t want people outside because it would draw attention, so you could even smoke in the bar,” said Torie. “I am not even talking about Juul-ing. People were ripping full-on cigarettes.”
‘So overdone now’
NYC bars still can’t sanction indoor smoking, but they can, once again, provide late-night drinks and crowded dance floors. And so the new breed of speakeasy tends to distill legal forms of debauchery with an air of exclusivity or mystery. They’re typically located somewhere hard to find or require a password or reservation to enter. But there’s nothing truly illicit about them.
For instance, two new bars — UnPublished at Midtown’s Serafina in the Sky and Foxtail at the Arlo Soho — are hidden behind velvet curtains. The Cactus Shop, a Mexican cantina in Williamsburg, is disguised as a shop for plants, while the Upper East Side’s Keys & Heels is concealed by a locksmith and shoe repair storefront.
“The speakeasy thing is so overdone now,” said Rachel, 33, who lives on the Upper East Side and also declined to give her last name.
When there was a city-wide curfew, her local bar would close up the front, stacking up bar chairs and barricading the door, but let regulars continue drinking and dancing in the back until the early hours of the morning.
“It felt like prohibition,” she said. “The bouncer wouldn’t let me leave until he could go outside and check and make sure cops weren’t coming. It was so hush-hush.”
Legal libations
Some bar owners say these types of experiences only whetted New Yorkers’ appetite for speakeasy-style bars now that the city has reopened.
“During the pandemic, when people wanted to go out and it was illegal to gather, it probably revived that old prohibition culture of sneaking around and knocking on doors and speaking passwords to get into the bar,” said Ed Yau, owner of One19, a speakeasy that opened on the Lower East Side this past Halloween.
“That is probably why there has been so much interest in speakeasies.”
He said he turned his bar, which specializes in regional Italian wines, into a speakeasy because it was located behind a grocery store and deli.
“We ended up being a speakeasy by default as the wine bar is hidden,” he said. “It became a little secretive.”
Chris Covey, who owns Saint Tuesday, a Soho speakeasy that opened in November in a wine cellar two stories below the Walker Hotel Tribeca, said he is aware that New Yorkers have now experienced real, illegal bars and tries extra hard to stay away from anything overdone.
“We have a liquor license so we are not a real speakeasy, but from people I’ve spoken to, they say it feels very genuine,” Covey said.
Sometimes maybe too genuine.
“We had someone come in and light up a cigarette inside the other day,” Covey recalled. “I said, ‘What are you doing? You can’t smoke anywhere in New York City inside.’ He said, ‘This is a speakeasy right? The rules don’t apply here.’”
Anatomy of a speakeasy
Zoe Malliaros, 27, who lives in the West Village and works in public relations, has some strict advice for new bars that want to call themselves speakeasies.
“There should be no websites, no geotags and no Tiktok footprint,” she said. “There especially should not be seating on the sidewalk,” she said, referring to Employees Only, the West Village speakeasy that opened in 2004 when 1920s-style cocktail bars first became popular.
“If you have that you are not a speakeasy.”
Meanwhile, after her forbidden forays out on the town, Rachel says she doesn’t see herself checking out any of the new wave of secretive cocktail spots.
After all, how can you invoke prohibition when you have a liquor license, carefully follow health and safety codes and shut down at the legally sanctioned hour?
“It’s like going to a reenactment when you go to your typical speakeasy right now,” she said.
Six new speakeasies to try:
Keys & Heels
This Upper East Side lounge is hidden in plain sight behind a locksmith and shoe repair storefront. 1488 Second Ave.; 917-557-0217, KeysAndHeelsNYC.com
Saint Tuesday
This subterranean downtown lounge has live music every night and cocktails made to order. 24 Cortlandt Alley; SaintTuesday.com
One19
This romantic wine bar on the Lower East Side serves regional Italian wine from the tap and Venetian-style snacks. 119 Essex St.; 646-535-1079, One19WineBar.com
The Cactus Shop
This Mexican cantina disguised as a plant shop even has an outdoor courtyard for taking in those summer nights. 231 Kent Ave.; 347-749-8474, TheCactusShopNYC.com
Foxtail
Walk into the Arlo Soho hotel, go past the lobby, and pull back velvet curtains and you’ll be in this cozy spot with cocktails and bites inspired by the 1950s and 1960s. 231 Hudson St.; 212-342-7000, ArloHotels.com/Arlo-Soho
UnPublished
Hidden behind a velvet curtain in a Midtown restaurant, this speakeasy, decorated with chandeliers and a disco ball, requires a secret phone number to get inside. 400 W. 42nd St.; 212-776- 4140, SerafinaRestaurant.com/Serafina-in-the-Sky-Pod-Hotel
