A Brief History of the East Village Bar Scene

The East Village has always been New York City’s id. While Midtown was built for commerce and the Upper East Side for old money, the East Village was built for artists, immigrants, outcasts, and night owls.

The history of East Village nightlife is the history of American counterculture. It is a story of cheap rent, raw creativity, devastating tragedy, and relentless gentrification. From the punk explosion of the 1970s to the club kid era of the 1990s, the bars and clubs of this neighborhood have shaped global culture.

At FKA: Formerly Known As, our entire concept — “Good Clean Filth” — is an homage to this specific era of New York. We built our bar to honor the people and places that made downtown Manhattan legendary.

Here is a brief history of the East Village bar scene, from the 1970s to today.

The 1970s: the birth of punk and CBGB

In the 1970s, the East Village (and the adjacent Bowery) was dangerous, bankrupt, and incredibly cheap. This environment created the perfect incubator for a musical revolution.

The epicenter was CBGB (Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music for Uplifting Gourmandizers), opened by Hilly Kristal in 1973 at 315 Bowery. Despite the name, the venue quickly became the undisputed birthplace of American punk and new wave. Bands like the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, and Television played their earliest gigs on its notoriously cramped stage.

The bars surrounding CBGB, like McSorley’s Old Ale House (which had only just started admitting women in 1970 after operating as a men-only saloon since 1854) and Holiday Cocktail Lounge, served as the de facto green rooms for these musicians. The scene was gritty, loud, and completely unpretentious.

The 1980s: art, club kids, and tragedy

By the 1980s, the punk scene began to fracture into new wave, post-punk, and the early days of house music. The East Village became a massive, interconnected canvas for artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, who frequently blurred the lines between the gallery and the nightclub.

Venues like the Pyramid Club on Avenue A opened in 1979 and defined the 80s downtown scene. It was a sanctuary for drag performers, queer artists, and musicians. It hosted early performances by RuPaul and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, acting as a crucial bridge between the punk rock era and the emerging club kid scene.

However, the 1980s also brought devastation. The AIDS crisis ravaged the East Village, wiping out a massive percentage of the neighborhood’s young artists, musicians, and nightlife figures. The social fabric of the neighborhood was permanently altered, and the nightlife scene was forced to mourn and rebuild simultaneously.

The 1990s: mega-clubs and the underground

As the 90s arrived, Manhattan nightlife began to scale up. The era of the “mega-club” was born, dominated by massive venues like The Limelight (housed in a former church in Chelsea) and The Tunnel.

While these larger clubs dominated the headlines, the East Village maintained its underground edge. After-hours spots like Save the Robots (operating illegally on Avenue B) became legendary for parties that didn’t start until 4:00 AM and lasted well into the next afternoon.

This era was defined by nightlife personalities and promoters who became celebrities in their own right. Figures like Kenny Kenny, Amanda Lepore, and Al Goldstein were fixtures of the downtown scene, dictating the culture through sheer force of personality. (This is why the cocktail menu at FKA: Formerly Known As features drinks named in their honor — they are the true architects of downtown cool).

The 2000s to now: gentrification and the cocktail renaissance

The late 1990s and early 2000s brought rapid gentrification to the East Village. Rents skyrocketed, pushing out many of the artists and independent venues that had defined the neighborhood. In 2006, CBGB closed its doors forever due to a rent dispute, an event many viewed as the symbolic end of the old East Village.

However, the neighborhood adapted. In the early 2000s, the East Village became the birthplace of the modern craft cocktail renaissance. Bars like Please Don’t Tell (PDT) and Death & Co. opened, replacing the sticky-floored punk venues with hyper-curated, speakeasy-style cocktail lounges.

Today, the East Village is a mosaic of its past and present. You can still drink a cheap beer at historic dives like 7B (Horseshoe Bar) or Lucy’s, but you are just as likely to find a high-end natural wine bar or a $20 cocktail lounge on the same block.

Why we built FKA: Formerly Known As

We opened FKA: Formerly Known As at 221 2nd Avenue because we wanted to bridge the gap between the neighborhood’s gritty past and its current culinary standards.

We missed the energy of the 90s downtown scene — the feeling of a bar where everyone is welcome, where the music is loud, and where you can play Big Buck Hunter or cram into a photo booth. But we also wanted great drinks. We didn’t want to choose between a fun, unpretentious dive bar and a place that serves excellent natural wine, $1 oysters, and craft cocktails.

So, we built both.

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Want to experience a piece of downtown history? Come visit us at FKA: Formerly Known As at 221 2nd Avenue. Craft cocktails, $1 oysters, and good clean filth. Click here for directions.

Frequently asked questions

What are some lesser-known historical bars in the East Village?

While CBGB is the most famous, venues like the Pyramid Club, Save the Robots, and the Holiday Cocktail Lounge were equally vital to shaping the neighborhood's identity in the 80s and 90s.

How did the AIDS crisis change East Village nightlife?

The crisis devastated the downtown artistic and queer communities in the 1980s, leading to the tragic loss of countless musicians, artists, and nightlife figures who had defined the neighborhood's culture.

Are there any current East Village bars that embody the spirit of the 80s and 90s?

FKA: Formerly Known As was specifically designed as an homage to the 1980s and 90s NYC bar scene, featuring retro arcade games, a vintage photo booth, and cocktails named after downtown nightlife icons. Historic dives like 7B and Lucy's also maintain their original grit.

When did CBGB open and close?

Hilly Kristal opened CBGB in 1973 at 315 Bowery. It closed in 2006 after a rent dispute, which many people treated as the symbolic end of the old East Village. The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, and Television played early gigs there.

What does FKA: Formerly Known As have to do with East Village history?

The bar at 221 2nd Avenue is an homage to 1980s and 1990s downtown: arcade games, a photo booth, cocktails named for Kenny Kenny, Amanda Lepore, Al Goldstein, and the rest. It is not a replica of CBGB. It is the feeling, with $1 oysters attached.