The Bitter End
147 Bleecker Street | Greenwich Village | built 1831
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1831
Thomas E. Davis builds a Federal rowhouse at 147 Bleecker Street
Developer Thomas E. Davis erects a three-and-a-half-story Federal-style house, designed by Samuel Dunbar, on a Bleecker Street block that Davis renames Carroll Place two years later. The 28-foot-wide brick house has an English basement and two dormers with arched hoods, part of a fashionable row built for the city's merchant class before Bleecker Street's commercial transformation.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1837
Stock exchange leader Robert D. Weeks buys the house at auction
Banker Robert Doughty Weeks, a co-founder and twice president of the New York Stock Exchange, purchases the house at auction. He lives there with his second wife, Harriet Strong, until his death on June 16, 1854, during the years when Bleecker Street was still a fashionable residential address.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1843
A fake curl-delivery man gains entry to the Weeks house and steals a cap and hat
On February 11, 1843, a man posing as a curl merchant's messenger delivered a small box to the maid at the Weeks house, then 8 Carroll Place, and slipped the night latch on the front door so it would not lock. He returned that night and took a cap and hat valued at $14. The thief, Eugene Barron, used the same ruse two nights later at another house. It ended when children told the story at school, and Augustine Averill seized him at the door.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1874
Major Poole opens a basement saloon whose reported deadly bottle fight proves minor
In 1874 Major R. Poole, whom The Sun called the colored leader of the colored Republicans, opened a saloon in the basement. In December 1875 The Sun reported a man fatally injured by a blow from a bottle in a fight there, but the Herald reported that a policeman found he had been struck by a fist and had suffered just a minor cut above one eye. In January 1884 the Globe announced a billiard tournament at Poole's billiard rooms, and Poole moved to Sixth Avenue in January 1889 after fifteen years here.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1897
Resident Louis Fugazy raises a 150-man regiment to fight for Greece
Louis V. Fugazy, who lived at 147 Bleecker Street by 1889 and headed the Italian Benevolent Society, answered the news of Garibaldi's son leading Italian Redshirts to the Greco-Turkish War in 1897. The New York Journal and Advertiser reported on April 24 that Fugazy had raised a regiment of 150 countrymen, who had been meeting for two weeks and would soon sail to fight under the banner of Garibaldi's son.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1904
Police raid the Fortune Pleasure Club and arrest 22 craps players
In August 1904 Captain Tighe and detectives from the Mercer Street station raided the Fortune Pleasure Club, located at 147 Bleecker Street, in the early morning. The proprietor, William Rosetti, and 22 patrons were arrested for shooting craps. The patrons were each fined $3, while Rosetti was jailed pending trial for running a gambling house.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1961
Fred Weintraub opens the Bitter End nightclub
Fred Weintraub opens the Bitter End, a 230-seat coffeehouse and nightclub, hosting weekly folk hootenannies through the early 1960s. The stage helps launch or showcase performers including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and comedians Woody Allen and Billy Crystal, building the club's reputation as a launching pad for new talent.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1969
James Taylor bombs at the Bitter End, according to Paul Colby
By Paul Colby's account, James Taylor bombed when he played the Bitter End in 1969, and Neil Young also had a bad night on its stage. Colby had become the club's manager and booking agent in 1968.
“According to Colby, James Taylor bombed when he played the club in 1969, and Neil Young also bombed at the club.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1975
Paul Colby buys the club after befriending a landlord who drank at his bar next door
Fred Weintraub fired manager Paul Colby in 1974 after Colby bought the Now Bar next door, where patrons went because the club had no liquor license. Colby then bought the Bitter End in 1975, helped by his acquaintance with the landlord, who drank at that bar. He called the bar The Other End, took down the wall between the two rooms, and ran the combined club under that name until The Bitter End name became available a few years later.
Source: amny.com
- 1975
The club, renamed The Other End, becomes known as the birthplace of Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue
In June 1975 the club was renamed The Other End. During the mid-1970s it gained a reputation as the place where Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue began, a show whose guests included Joni Mitchell, Roger McGuinn, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Joan Baez, T-Bone Burnett, Ronee Blakley and Mick Ronson. The owners later restored the original Bitter End name.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1992
Benefit concerts save the landmarked Bitter End from eviction
The city designates the Bitter End a landmark in 1992, the same year the club faces eviction. Benefit concerts headlined by Peter, Paul and Mary and Kris Kristofferson raise enough money to keep the venue open, preserving one of the last surviving rooms from Greenwich Village's 1960s folk scene.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2016
Lady Gaga returns to play the club on her Dive Bar Tour
In October 2016 Lady Gaga performed at the Bitter End as part of her Dive Bar Tour. She had played the club before, as an unsigned act, ahead of the release of her debut album. The club describes itself as New York's oldest rock club.
“Lady Gaga performed at the bar in October 2016, after previously performing there as an unsigned act, before the release of her debut album.”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- The Bitter EndWikipedia
- The 1831 Robert D. Weeks House - 147 Bleecker StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
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