Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Last Bus From Port Authority & Dive Bar Discovery.



Stayed a little late at work tonight and had plans on catching the 9pm bus. My plans went a wry when the subway decided to sit in the tunnel between stops for over 45 minutes. Missed the 9pm ACF by 3 minutes. Now I get to ride the 11pm bus, the last bus. Standing in line now half hour before it leaves, it's packed.

To kill the extra 2 hours I had a burger at film cafe on 9th ave, it never let's you down. Then I discovered a hidden nugget from the seedy past of NYC. Port 41 an incredibly skanky bar on the forgotten block of 41st street between 8th & 9th aves. The college aged girl bartenders wear the prescribed hot pants and bikini tops. They have 16oz PBRs in a can. This place is a hidden piece of schmootz that gets stuck in the corner that never gets swept. The disneyification of Times Square never found this place. Port 41 is right outside the exit where all the buses snake their way into the Lincoln Tunnel. It's an amazingly sad and pathetic location, not one trace of ironic hipster cool. I may have fallen in love with this place. The clientele is a mixed plate of every Union flavor and hardened going nowhere mid-level office drone. The uber-uncool crowd. They chat with me as if I had my name on the stool, sports, the insanity of the tanking market. What's truly great is that every Bukowski character that spoke with me had all the answers. If these guys were in control the Yankees and the Mets would win the world series every year, and the market would be in Gordon Gecko shape.

Port 41 took me back to my 10+ years of working in various factories during my 20's, for the exact length of time it took to drink 2 PBRs.

I hope it survives.

1 comment:

nevermore said...

Bry, i want to go there with you sometime. 16 oz PBRs in can! I love it. Bet the girls get some good "tips."