[Virtually] Duking It Out Over Windsor Terrace
A few weeks ago, a reporter for the Daily News did a shop-through of Windsor Terrace, concluding that it had a “quaint retail mix” — that was actually the article’s title. Her take on neighborhood fixture Farrell’s — “Farrell’s smells like beer, has a hardwood floor, and neon Budweiser signs and an American flag in…
A few weeks ago, a reporter for the Daily News did a shop-through of Windsor Terrace, concluding that it had a “quaint retail mix” — that was actually the article’s title. Her take on neighborhood fixture Farrell’s — “Farrell’s smells like beer, has a hardwood floor, and neon Budweiser signs and an American flag in the windows… It’s not my cup of tea – or beer” — inspired a response from a longtime neighborhood resident on Container Diaries, a Windsor Terrace blog. “Institutions like Farrell’s and their survival are critical to the history that is so deeply entrenched in a neighborhood like Windsor Terrace.” The debate that follows is so heated, we thought for a minute we were reading Brownstoner.
Protect Your Turf [Container Diaries]
Farrell’s Pub. Photo by Rob Hoey.
Despite its rep as a cop hangout, I know quite a few neighborhood guys (the nabe being Sunset Park), small time hustler types, not Irish or Italian either, who hang out at Farrells. Birds of a feather …
Um, Biff, Im pretty sure InfiniteJester was living up to his handle.
PLEASE Do not make Windsor Terrace as lame and twee as Park Slope. It would break my heart.
infinitejester….that should be the quote of the day!!!!! A perfectly appropriate response by a bartender to each of your questions!!! LOL
infinitejester, great taste. For some reason, I love hearing Belle and Sebastian in pubs. I have a feeling they were playing something much less moving in this place.
I was in Farrell’s once with my girlfriend, they were so rude to us. First when my g/f asked if there were any organic wines available, the man didn’t even answer her. Then when we asked if we could hang a sign for a Tibetan Freedom discusson group, we were told “this is your last drink.” Then finally a woman with very large breasts came in and all of a sudden the bartender started to completely ignore us, although we were trying to get quarters for the jukebox, which by the way had no Rilo Kiley or Belle and Sebastian.
Signed,
Marvin Milquetoast
Hey WT community,
Think about what would happen if a true old school crime wave hits given the state of the economy. Think about the Koch or Dinkins days (remember walking the streets during those days?). The author of this article will suddenly wonder why she paid Greenwich prices for her home but didn’t get the safety that should come along with prices (her real estate agent didn’ t mention that part). Don’t get too upset about that article and the outward contempt she feels for the working class (inward if its non-white working class). She probably wont be here long.
Once, attempting to kill time before a movie at the Pavilion on a rainy weekend day, I made the mistake of walking into Farrell’s with a friend for a quick pop. I had the unmitigated gall to ask the bartender — an ancient, nasty man, with nary a kind bone in his gnarled body — what kind of scotch he had. Apoplectic, he sputtered “what do you mean ‘what kind of scotch do i have,’ I’ve got scotch scotch, what kind of scotch do you expect?” He wasn’t being ironic .. and he spoke loud enough that a couple of regulars heard him and immediately turned their attention to us … suddenly, an innocent attempt to purchase a drink became menacing.
Screw Farrell’s .. another American Apparel would be preferable to its odious brand of local color and history …
I was born and bred in WT, and I love this neighborhood with all my heart and soul, but I think I have a unique perspective.
I’m an Irish-American, I went to IHM, and then Bishop Ford. And during those years I felt a huge mix of feelings, because I grew up gay and while I belong here and these are my roots, I was born here, I grew up here. I spend my days in the park and I know every square inch of this area. I was never made to feel welcome by anyone because I wasn’t afraid to come out.
So yes, Farrell’s is an institution, and in a way I’m proud of it, because it’s an example of middle class people trying to make a living and hold on to their roots. Have I ever gone in? I tried…once. Couldn’t get in the door. I was stared down until I left.
Even now, I get jeered from Farrel’s occasionally, shouts of “Go back to Village, yuppie faggot!†are hurled at me and my boyfriend, who is a Jamaica, Queens native. We both grew up poor, and we’re still poor. Only just affording to stay in the neighborhood. I wonder if their attitudes would change if they knew I was a native, or if they knew I wasn’t responsible for gentrifying the area.
I doubt it.
One of the bartenders is named Jimmy and sounds like a working-class Irish kid from the 30s. Farrell’s is like the wardrobe to Narnia.