paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

Tonight, Freddy’s Bar & Backroom, a bar that’s recently become very close to my heart, closes its doors. The Atlantic Yards Project is pushing this bar out by eminent domain. A new incarnation is in the works, to open in a few months, but until then, Prospect Heights is losing a great bar that nurtures and cultivates artists.

If you’ve never been to Freddy’s it’s hard to explain the vibe. Pictures won’t do it justice, it looks like a dive bar and essentially is. But the people, the music, the art, the culture of the bar in general, I don’t know that I’ve found anywhere comparable in the city. It’s the type of bar that immediately makes you feel at home. My theatre company has done a few shows there, and are looking forward to further cultivating our relationship with them at their new location, but in the meantime, a wonderful, supportive place is closing to be torn down and replaced by the Nets stadium and high-rises and God knows what else that goes against what the bar, and the neighborhood stands for. What I stand for, really. In high school, it always angered me that the jocks got preferential treatment to the artists. It angers me to see this consistently occurring in the real world as well, especially in such a seemingly cultural mecca.

But even though the old Freddy’s is closing, they are closing on their own terms, before eviction. And they’ll be back. And it’s that resilience, perseverance, and supportive community that represents everything I want as an artist. Wherever Freddy’s goes, we’ll be going with them. Though it’s not my neighborhood bar, it’s the homiest, most comfortable bar I’ve found. There’s a culture that you find at certain bars, when you remove the trendiness and the drunk college kids and young “professionals”, and that’s what we’ve found at Freddy’s. The location may change, but that atmosphere won’t.

~ by jadedgirlnyc on April 30, 2010.