Neir's Tavern

One of the oldest bars in the country is Neir's Tavern, whose slogan is "the most famous bar you've never heard of." It opened in 1829 as the Old Blue Pump House. The tavern was right across the street from the entrance to a horseracing track, the Union Race Course. The name of the business changed several times before Louis Neir purchased it in 1898 and renamed it Louis Neir's Social Hall. Some scenes from the movie "Goodfellas" were filmed in Neir's. The wooden interior mahogany bar dates to about 1860. Neir's Tavern was almost forced to close in 2020 due to rising rents. A grant from the City of New York saved the business. A historical marker has been erected outside the bar, which continues to serve food (including the Goodfellas burger) and drink.

Neir's Tavern was founded as The Old Blue Pump House in 1829 by Cadwallader R. Coldon (his cousin, Cadwallader D., was Mayor of New York City). Cadwallader R. is said to have been the manager of the Union Race Course down the street from the tavern. The name was changed to The Old Abbey in the 1830s. A local politician, Nathan F. Graves. bought the business in 1851. In the old street address system, the bar was at the northwest corner of Snediker and Grand streets.

Louis Neir reportedly took over the business in 1898. In an 1899 business directory for Queens, Louis Neir is listed as owner of the Junction Hotel, also in the Woodhaven section of Queens, on Broadway at the corner with Rockaway Rd. The only Neir listed as having a liquor license in Queens in 1899 was Charles Neir, at University Place on the corner with Benedict Ave. in Woodhaven. Perhaps the 1898 date is off, or the directory wasn't up to date.

By the late 1919s, the combination bar and hotel of Louis Neir was on the corner of 78th St. and 88th Ave., as it is today; around 2021, the block of 78th St. by the bar was renamed Neir's Tavern Way in honor of the local landmark. It is said that the bar was a speakeasy during Prohibition with a bordello upstairs. The Neir family sold the tavern in 1967. The bar closed briefly in 2009, but Gordon Loy purchased it and undertook a renovation. The grand reopening was held in June 2010. Loy had given up hope of keeping Nier's Tavern open after running the business for ten years. A new owner of the building sharply raised the rent, and the building needed repairs. Loy called into a local radio show in January 2020 and spoke to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. The mayor and the Queens Chamber of Commerce came through and helped Loy save the bar. They convinced the landlord to lower the rent and gave Loy a $90,000 grant. Loy was able to convert his planned goodbye-to-the-bar party into a celebration of its salvation.

The walls of Neir's are covered with photos of regulars and movie stars, and a former patron who lived in the neighborhood before becoming a famous actress - Mae West. There's a Mae West portrait in one of the alcoves. Since Neir's is a long block from the main road (Jamaica Ave.), it almost didn't get chosen as a filming location for Goodfellas. The bar was found by accident when a film scout in 1990 was looking for a pay phone and recognized its visual appeal. At least one real-life local "wise guy" admits to using the tavern as a place to conduct business. The Goodfellas scene where the Lufthansa heist was planned was filmed in Neir's. Besides Goodfellas, another movie filmed in Neir's was Tower Heist (2011) starring Ben Stiller and Tea Leoni. One of the late chef and foodie Anthony Bourdain's last episodes of his television series was on his native Queens eateries, part of which was filmed in Neir's.

The wooden bar made from a huge slab of mahogany around 1860 and the pressed tin ceiling are some of the interior architectural highlights. The pair of sliding pocket doors that appeared in the Goodfellas movie no longer lead to a bowling alley but lead to a closet with a new back wall (the other half of the building is now a martial arts center).

CBS New York. Historic 190-Year-Old Neir's Tavern in Woodhaven Saved After Threat of Closure, CBS New York. January 10th 2020. Accessed May 25th 2022. https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/neirs-tavern-to-close/.

NY State Legislature. New York Legislative Documents, One Hundred and Forty Second Session, 1919. Edition 12. Volume V. Albany, NY. J.B. Lyon Co., 1919.

Project Woodhaven. Oldest Bar in New York!, Project Woodhaven. June 1st 2010. Accessed May 26th 2022. http://www.projectwoodhaven.com/2010/June/neirs-reopens.html.

Trow Directory, Printing, & Bookbinding Co.. Trow's Business Directory of the Borough of Queens, 1899. New York, NY. Trow Directory, Printing, & Bookbinding Co., 1899.

Tuder, Stefanie. One of NYC's Oldest Bars Forced to Close after 190 Years in Queens, Eater New York. January 9th 2020. Accessed May 25th 2022. https://ny.eater.com/2020/1/9/21058579/neirs-tavern-closed-nyc.