Crown Heights Bar With 'Racist' Name Appears To Have Changed It

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — "Crow Bar," a drinking hole in Crown Heights whose name some neighbors considered to be racist, has apparently changed its name to the more innocuous "Franklin 820" — months after the bar's owner brushed off criticism that its former name was derogatory.

The sign outside of "Crow Bar" at Franklin Avenue and Union Street was recently replaced with one that says "Franklin 820," an apparent reference to the bar's address, leading community members to speculate that the actual name had been changed.

"Victory over the vile racist name of what was formerly 'Crow Bar,' a storefront in one of the CHTU's very first member buildings," reads a Facebook post from the Crown Heights Tenants Union, a local advocacy group.

Crown Heights used to be known as "Crow Hill," and some observers say the word "crow" was a derogatory term for black people. Crow Bar has faced community opposition since it opened.

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Jim Search posted a video of workers changing out the sign Monday afternoon.

A call from Patch to Crow Bar on Tuesday afternoon was not immediately returned. (And the message was left on a day when snow and sleet was raining down and nearly the entire city was at a standstill; it was not immediately clear whether Crow Bar was open Tuesday.) We'll update this story if we hear back.

Owner Dan Wilby defended the name when the bar first opened.

"If people are offended I'm sorry," Wilby told Gothamist. "It's not the intention of it, but it's a free world I guess."

In a statement to Gothamist on Tuesday, Wilby said he still owns the bar but just changed the name: "It was a significant and regrettable oversight on my part not to have done my due diligence in learning the negative aspect of the neighborhood’s history."

He added: "I remain committed to Crown Heights and Franklin Avenue and to offering a welcoming atmosphere with affordable food and drink in the newly reopened 820 Franklin."

"The sign change is a big win for the tenants of 1045 Union St., for the CHTU, and for the community at large," Esteban Giron, an organizer for the Crown Heights Tenants Union, told Patch. "We are glad our demand was met and that the owner decided to stop disrespecting his new neighbors, but after a year of fighting, I don't think he deserves a pat on the back for simply deciding not to be act like racist a--hole."

While the sign has changed, the establishment did not appear to have changed ownership, according to city records. Its state liquor license is still active under the name "CROW BAR INC."

The voicemail message at the number listed for the bar identified the location as "Crow Bar" when Patch dialed it, and the message directed callers to Crowbar820.com. That website now shows a message that says "Site Deleted."

Franklin820.com, though, advertises a bar at the same location and includes the aforementioned phone number.

When the bar opened in September, people in the neighborhood were unhappy with the name.

"I mean, in a black neighborhood, of all the names there is, that's the name you would choose?" 62-year-old Renold Griffith told Gothamist at the time. "I mean come on. I'm not against the bar, but that name brings back a lot of memories."

Gothamist has an excellent history of the term "crow" in the neighborhood that you can read here.

Image courtesy of Esteban Giron