Grassroots Tavern To Close After 42 Years In The East Village

EAST VILLAGE, NY — The longtime East Village dive bar Grassroots Tavern will close at the end of the this year, the owners announced this week.

Grassroots Tavern, located at 20 St Marks Place, was a beloved East Village institution. The bar first opened on the legendary street in 1975.

One of the bar's co-managers, James Stratton, told Bedford and Bowery that the rent had simply become too high for the bar to sustain.

"We were not forced out by any means, it would just have required a radical change for the business and the way we operate," he told Bedford and Bowery. "We basically decided we had to throw in the towel."

Grassroots Tavern now joins a long list of beloved East Village institutions that have shuttered in the face of spiraling real estate prices. The restaurant Cafe Orlin, located just down the block from the tavern, closed in October after 46 years. The International Bar, 120 1/2 First Ave., served its last round in November after decades on First Ave. The local favorite is combining with the nearby Coal Yard, 102 First Ave.

Continental, located just steps from Grassroots Tavern, said in November that it would also shutter after nearly 30 years. Continental was famous on Astor Place for its shots deal, which offered 5 shots for $12, any time the bar was open. The plot of land where Continental currently sits is set to become a new office building.

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