RIP Motor City

As you may have heard one of the last bastions of rock n' roll sleaze left in the LES is shutting down. The legendary Motor City will be closing their doors at the end of this week. I wasn't able to attend the closing party on Sunday but I saw a ton of pictures coming through my social media feeds and all the old regulars were there saying goodbye.

Motor City was one of the very first bars I ever hung out at on the LES. Back then there were plenty of dirty dive bars to hang out at downtown but most are sadly gone now. Motor City hung in their as long as they could but the condo class has moved in and the wine bars and cocktail lounges have taken over.

One of my best (or worst) memories of that joint was on my birthday a few years back. After a booze fueled BBQ celebration we hit the LES for even more drinks. After making the rounds to a few spots - Welcome to the Johnsons and a friends show at Piano's I believe - we ended the night at Motor City. At some point I went outside, roamed around aimlessly and passed out on a big window ledge a few doors down.

My friends started getting calls from a stranger claiming to have my phone. Apparently I dropped it somewhere on Rivington. Anyway, my girlfriend got my phone back and headed home assuming I pulled an Irish exit and went home - I hadn't. I was still sound asleep on that ledge. Eventually I came too and in the morning sun headed home. I didn't get the best greeting, as you may imagine, but it was one Hell of a birthday party.

While I may have missed the farewell blowout on Sunday I'm still going to try and pop in a few times this week for a few drinks and remember all the nights I forgot in that dump.