Day 196—Saturday, July 24th, 2010
WCOU Radio a.k.a. Tile Bar (After a screening of Goodfellas at Theatre 80 St. Marks)
Friday I was perusing some local New York blogs and I came upon this post on the EV Grieve blog: Celebrating the 'GoodFellas' anniversary. It’s hard to believe it’s the 20th anniversary of the release of “Goodfellas”. To me “Goodfellas” is filmed somewhat in the same style as another Scorsese (often overlooked) gem, “After Hours.” Both these film take you on an emotional roller coaster ride that have you laughing one minute and then causes your skin to crawl the next. So I was excited to learn that there was to be a special anniversary screening at Theatre 80 on St. Marks Place with a special guest appearance by Henry Hill, the former mobster who Ray Liotta portrays in the movie. So tonight instead of going out early for a cheeseburger, we’re going to the screening and then will venture out on a rare late-night Saturday bar crawl. Hey, what are you laughing at? You think this is funny? What am I a clown here to amuse you? Sometimes you don’t sound like you’re kidding. There’s people around.
Here's the Theatre.
Showtime is 6pm. As usual I'm early so we'll hang around outside till the doors open up.
And who shows up early as well but the real life inspiration for the film, Henry Hill. I gave the former Goodfella a shirt with the original designed "Boris" logo and he happily accepted it. And yeah, I was a little nervous standing out on the street with him, but luckily no one took pot shots at us.
The doors opened and the lobby quickly filled up.
Everyone who bought a ticket got an autographed program and there were other items for sale.
Including paintings by Henry Hill.
A painting of a rat, a gun and one of the first lines from the film.
Here's the inside of the theatre.
The stage and the screen.
And look some asshole has wandered up on the stage.
Whoops, that asshole is me. Okay, I'll take my seat now.
Lou Martini, Jr. opened up the festivities. He's a veteran New York actor and appeared in the last season of The Sopranos. He introduced Henry Hill.
Henry gave a brief talk before the film began.
He's a humble and charming guy and the crowd loved him. And now...showtime!
After the film Henry came back for a question and answer segment but first he brought up Fran McGee, a New York actress who was in the film. She's also appeared in Woody Allen's "Bullets Over Broadway" and is currently working on a film with her daughter titled, "Village Daughter, Village Mom."
Next Henry brought up Ed McDonald. Ed was the prosecuting attorney who put Henry and his family in the witness protection plan. And in a truly bizarre twist, he also played the prosecuting attorney in the film. It turns out that before they started filming, Ed met with some of Scorsese's production people and asked who was going to play him in the movie. They told him it wasn't cast, he jokingly told them that he'd do it and that led to a screen test and he ended up playing himself in the film.
The question and answer period was very entertaining. Henry said that while most everything in the film was true, the infamous "clown" scene was improvised and didn't happen in real life. When asked if he would do things differently if he had a second chance, he said he wouldn't choose the gangster life. He said he'd rather have been a greeter at WalMart than take that path again.
After the Q. and A. there was a spaghetti dinner in the lobby.
Here's Justin, Brian Niemietz and Henry's promoter, Artie. Brian is a writer for the NY Post and wrote an aricle about the American Gangster Museum which is in the theater. Check it out here: Hit Parade.
Here's Lou Martini, Jr. and Liz. Lou opened up the screening and is a veteran New York actor. Check out his website here: Lou Martini, Jr.
Here's Ed and Henry reminiscing.
As the party came to an end I said goodbye to Henry and headed out for bar number 196.
Most places were packed, but I found this place about a block away.
Not too crowded for a Saturday, so this is the place.
Robert the bartender serves up an ice cold Red Stripe.
While there's no sign outside, inside is a neon light inscribed with the words, WCOU Radio. It's also known as the Tile Bar due to the black and white tiled floor.
The sign hangs over the jukebox which has a varied selection of artists such as: Patsy Cline, Bob Dylan, Al Green, Theolonius Monk, Aretha Franklin and John Lee Hooker.
Tables and stools are arranged willy-nilly opposite the bar.
Valentina was seated next to me and enjoying a drink at the bar.
Here's a shot from the other end of the bar.
The bar is well stocked and the prices are cheap here.
And there's free bar snacks!
I love free bar snacks!
Tony and Winnie were seated at the end of the bar and posed for the 365 camera.
As did, Andrew, James and Daniel. Cheers, guys!
Backward neon!
The clearest obligatory bathroom shot ever. Goodnight everybody!
Review
Since there’s no sign outside, this bar is basically whatever you want to call it, but some call it WCOU Radio for the neon sign hanging over the jukebox and some call it the Tile Bar because of the black and white tiled floor which bring Cheap Trick to mind. Whatever you call it, it is what it is, an old school dive bar that’s been a fixture on the block since 1982. There’s no frills, just a long well-worn wooden bar, tables to the side and a jukebox in the back. Black and white photos hang on the wall and the front windows overlooks First Avenue in all its glory. The cliental is strictly neighborhood locals and while the jukebox is well-stocked, it’s volume level is kept at a conversational tone, making this a nice place to sit and chat with friends.
There’s a full bar here with a decent selection of draft and bottled beers and you won’t go broke drinking here. There’s a daily happy hour from 5pm to 8pm where almost every drink is just three bucks. This is an old school no gimmicks East Village tavern where the drinking is easy and it reminds you of bars from days gone by. A nice place where trendiness is kept at bay.
WCOU Radio a.k.a. Tile Bar
115 First Ave. (@7th St.)
212-254-4317