2023-06-24 08:09:00
At 21, peak time, the place is full of people but not even a tourist. It’s strange to think about it, because McSorley’s Old Ale House, more than an Irish pub in Manhattan’s East Village, is a museum of New York history. To understand this definition: between its two wooden rooms, covered with photos, memorabilia, posters, they sat down to drink beer Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Lincoln came in for a pint after his speech at the Cooper Union and John McSorleythe founder of the pub, was so upset when his old customer was shot dead by John Wilkes Booth who decided to hang the poster with the $100,000 bounty released by the police on the wall to track down the killer.
Teresa Maher de la Haba
“It’s still here,” says Teresa Maher de la Haba, pointing to the yellowed sheet. And she too, the current owner of the brewery, is a piece of both the history of McSorley’s and that of New York: Teresa is the first woman to work in a place that has let women enter in recent times: only in 1969 (the bathroom for the ladies, however, arrived in 1986). But let’s go in order because this is a special museum, as Teresa recalls: “A museum where you drink, therefore the best of museums”.
“The place was opened in 1854 by John McSorley, an Irish immigrant who set up shop here, a few blocks from what was then the Five Points – he says -. Since then only three families have run the brewery. Mine is the last”. Even the handover from one owner to another seems to be the result of daring twists of fate. In fact, the co-owner of McSorley’s was on holiday in Ireland when he had a car accident. Teresa’s father rescued him and in exchange for that gesture he was offered a job in New York. He accepted, moved, and after a few years became the owner of the restaurant. “Three families and almost 170 years of history – remarks the owner -. Everything happened within these walls”. Presidents or future presidents, but also young people who went to the front. Above the counter hang from the chandelier the chicken bones from the last meals eaten by the boys who embarked for the First World War. “It was an auspicious gesture to leave them there.” Among photos, newspaper articles, a stove lit in winter, there are the handcuffs used by the magician Harry Houdini for his shows (he’s been a customer) and a collection of firemen’s helmets. “Many firefighters in the area, once they retire, bring their helmets here”, a bit like the ex voto of the military who left their insignia in the church, but done in the pub.
But the McSorley is not just any museum: we drink (well) and eat (equally well). There are no bottled beers, only standard draft beers (an exceptional blonde and an exceptional dark stout with a non-invasive aftertaste of coffee). Both are made by the pub. “There were complex times for the production of beer – explain from the local – Those of Prohibition. But McSorley stayed open and got away with it.” As? “In the front room they sold non-alcoholic beer, in the back room real, alcoholic beer”. And the police? “Most New York politicians spent Prohibition drinking in the back room, so no, he didn’t show.” The food, excellent, has prices that are rarely seen in the city: the hot dog served with sauerkraut and a very intense mustard for $6.50, the corned beef hash, a sort of non-spicy white chilli made of meat, potatoes and onions, for 10 dollars, chili for 6, lentil soup for 5. In short, a museum where you don’t pay to enter, you eat and drink well. Only rule? Respect the local motto: “Be Good or Be Gone”. Warn yourself.
#York #pub #loved #Lincoln #Jfk