While much of Williamsburg is 99% condo and Duane Reade by now, there are some old treasures left if you look closely enough. And we're not just talking about the old Kokie's. On North 5th and Berry there has long been a boarded up storefront in a (sort of lopsided) building. Years ago, a friend told us there was a bar fully intact behind the locked doors, and we've been forever intrigued. We passed this information on to Nick of Scouting NY, who was also curious about the little place, and leave it to him, he found a way inside.
Photo by Scouting NY
He writes:
Founded in 1980 by John Gallagher, the Ship’s Mast was forced to close its doors over a rent dispute on September 14, 1993. As far as I can tell, its been boarded up ever since. At the time of its closing, the Ship’s Mast had developed a fiercely loyal following from the new wave of artists converging on Williamsburg, which, at the time, was still primarily a working class neighborhood of Italian, Polish, and Hispanic immigrants. The highlight of what remains is the beautiful old wooden bar, which I’m sure dates at least as far back as the picture taken in 1960, if not before (and is actually for sale if anyone out there is interested).
Old photos and articles dating back to the early 1900s show that before the place was a bar and grille long before the Gallagher's stepped in, however.
Photo by Scouting NY
Today, the bar still houses an old piano, mint green fridge, signs for a disco contest, a chalkboard announcing the next court date (likely written in the early 1990s), amongst many other relics. The place closed in 1993, and at the time, owners John and Nora Gallagher told the NY Times, “This is strictly vindictiveness on the part of the landlady. The landlady is my husband’s ex-girlfriend. As soon as they broke up, about four years ago, she evicted him from his apartment above the bar, and then she went after the bar.”
Photos by Scouting NY
Did anyone here ever go to this bar? (Not to be confused with Rock Star Bar, which apparently also adopted the name for a while, according to this write-up.") One Scouting reader says the Ship's Mast "made Turkey’s Nest look like a Starbucks," while another refers to it as being straight out of a David Lynch film. Here's a regular, Arthur, at their open mic night, who does nothing to negate this idea that the place is straight out of a Lynch film:
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