Zinc Bar
82 West 3rd Street | Greenwich Village | built 1850
Open on the map6 entries
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1930
The Cinderella Club opens a jazz room on West 3rd where Sylvia Syms and Thelonious Monk perform and Mae West drops in
From the 1930s into the 1950s this building held the Cinderella Club, a popular jazz club. The Landmarks Preservation Commission names singer Sylvia Syms and pianist Thelonious Monk among its performers and lists Mae West among the stars of the day who were known to visit. In later decades the upstairs and lower spaces held a teenage gay hangout and then a lesbian bar.
“…this building was home to the Cinderella Club, a popular jazz club where Sylvia Syms and Thelonious Monk performed, and stars of that era, like Mae West…”
- 1971
A raid closes the Tenth of Always, an alleged Mafia-run hangout for gay teenagers, upstairs
In the late 1960s the upstairs commercial space held the Tenth of Always, an alleged ice-cream parlor said to be run by the Mafia and aimed at gay teenagers. According to the commission, Ed "the Skull" Murphy ran it; he also managed other gay bars of the time and was reputed to have been heavily involved in male prostitution. It was raided and closed in 1971.
“…through 1971 when it was raided and closed, the upstairs commercial space was home to the Tenth of Always, an alleged “ice-cream parlor” run by the Mafia…”
- 1972
Bonnie & Clyde's takes over from the Tenth of Always as a disco and gathering place for African-American women
Around 1972 the Tenth of Always, a mixed gay place with dancing and a collegiate crowd, gave way to a venue called Bonnie & Clyde, also known as Bonnie's Restaurant. It included a disco and drew many African-American women, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission counts it among the lesbian bars of the South Village. The bar's run is dated to about 1981 in one passage and into the mid-1980s in another.
- 1988
Barry Katz opens the Boston Comedy Club, with Louis C.K. the first comic on its stage
Comedy manager Barry Katz founded the Boston Comedy Club at 82 West 3rd Street in 1988. Louis C.K., his first client, helped install the wiring and lighting and was the first comedian to perform there. Katz later joked that he picked the Boston name for a New York club because he was an idiot, and the club ran until 2005.
“C.K. also helped Katz to install the wiring and lighting at the Boston Comedy Club and was the first comedian to perform there.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1994
Jeff Ross does his first stand-up set at the Boston Comedy Club's open mic night
In 1994 comedian Jeff Ross gave his first stand-up performance at one of the Boston Comedy Club's open mic nights. Neal Brennan, later co-creator of Chappelle's Show, began as the club's doorman and met Dave Chappelle there, while Sarah Silverman, Pete Holmes and Bert Kreischer worked as barkers handing out flyers outside.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2022
Village Preservation honors the Zinc Bar, which carries on the live-music tradition of the Cinderella Club's room
Village Preservation named the Zinc Bar, at 82 West 3rd Street, a 2022 Village Awardee, to be recognized at its annual meeting on June 14. Its owners Alex Kossi and Karen Hallam restored parts of the old club and book jazz, Latin and world music. Musician Jack Fine, who played the room as the Cinderella Club, still sits in there, and the owners recount that Mae West once scouted talent in it.
Source: Village Preservation
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