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February 10, 2011
PHOTOS: The Return of Freddy's
Park Slope Patch
by Kristen V. Brown
The new Freddy’s is here.
The famous Freddy's Bar and Backroom reopened last week in South Slope, months after Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project forced the bar from its longstanding Prospect Heights home on Dean Street.
We know these photos are a bit late, but we figured some of you would still like to see them.
On Feb. 10 the new Freddy’s opened its doors to friends and family of the bar, who crowded its new location on Fifth Avenue between 17th and 18th Streets, in the old Ellis Bar space.
The new space is different to be sure, but still boasts the same spirit of the original Prospect Heights location.
Photo: Kristen V. Brown, Park Slope Patch
Related coverage...
Here's Park Slope, Know Your Bartender: Donald O'Finn, Freddy's
As Freddy's Bar slogged through the wretched, seven-year battle against the city that culminated last year in its seizure by eminent domain--and subsequent demolition--in order to construct developer Bruce Ratner's Barclays Center, longtime bar manager and artist Donald O'Finn rose to the top of the fray, taking the fight to the streets, television, and anyone who would listen. The fight brought Freddy's into the national conversation about abuse of power and the forcible seizure of land, and by installing chains to the bar and organizing protests, he brought a human element to the legal wrangling. By the time of the bar's demolition (along with the surrounding buildings), it seemed that the only two people that weren't on O'Finn's team were the only ones who really mattered, sadly: Mike Bloomberg and Bruce Ratner.
The re-opening last Friday night of the new Freddy's, about a mile and a half away on Fifth Avenue between 17th and 18th, was a big deal, for obvious reasons. Just about all of the things that made Freddy's unique made the journey, including the bar, the tables, the chains, the art, and O'Finn, who is now co-owner along with former bartenders Matt Kuhn and Matt Kimmett. It's a larger space, with a vaguely nautical/steampunk theme, and it's warm and welcoming.
Click through for lot's more, including HPS's excellent interview with O'Finn.
The Brooklyn Paper, Freddy’s returns — and it’s just like Freddy’s
Andy Campbell sings the praises of the reborn Freddy's.
I’ve seen the positive side of gentrification — the scorned Freddy’s bar, which reopened in Park Slope last week after torn down to make way for Atlantic Yards, proved that good can truly come of bad.
Yes, the Prohibition-era tavern has a new location, but still pays homage to everything that made it Freddy’s in the first place: the same dark wood bar, the same wacky video montages by co-owner Donald O’Finn, the same old barflies, the same feel of a great tavern.
...The only real differences at this Freddy’s are the new location, the new sound system, the new owners and the memory of a Downtown favorite that was bought out by the man. The whiskey, the dim lights, and the cheers are all the same.
Everybody partied hard, with little mention of the Atlantic Yards behemoth that thought it had driven the former watering hole into the ground. It was almost like Freddy’s was, well, Freddy’s.
The Brooklyn Paper, Bar Scrawl, by Bill Roundy: And our cartoonist weighs in
Posted by eric at February 10, 2011 10:53 AM