It was only last night, sitting at the recently-cleaned-up-and-now-more-expensive Mama's Bar on Avenue B, that a friend and I bemoaned the state of East Village bars. For the most part it seems like divey spots to enjoy a shot and a beer have gone belly up, and it won't be long before a super-secret speakeasy opens underneath the Rite Aid on Avenue D. There are places, though, that you can always count on. And I thought Holiday Cocktail Lounge was one of them. Hell, just a few weeks back, Josh Bernstein revisited the classic dive and came away just as impressed (and drunk) as ever. But according to reports I'm reading, with owner Stefan Lutak in the hospital, the future of the bar is uncertain.
Reached for comment, Bernstein says, "Every time I visited the Holiday, it felt like it could be the last time. Each visit was like living on borrowed time, because you never know when Stefan—or the bar—would go. Institutions like these don't vanish gradually. It's poof, and they're gone. No time for goodbyes. Or even a last rotgut shot of liquor."
Photo by http://flickr.com/photos/nyctom/
