The Classic Dive Bar I Visit To Escape The Chaos Of Times Square

There is a middling argument that everyone needs to bathe in the bright lights and commercial enterprises of Times Square at least once in their lives. But having lived in New York City for 20 years, I've mostly avoided the frenetic area whenever possible. I'm certainly not going to start an off-brand Elmo selfie collection any time soon, but I guess you'd be remiss to skip the famed intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and its bustling blast radius if it's your first or only visit. As a local food critic, writer, and editor for almost as long, I'm more inclined to advise any imbibing travelers to visit the last of our dive bars instead. Times Square will probably be there for as long as the Big Apple lives to bite back another day. Our charmingly gritty, grizzled dives are another likely story.

Jimmy's Corner not only happens to be one of NYC's best dives, but it's also only about half a mile from that jumbled junction. Erstwhile boxer and eventual trainer Jimmy Glenn first opened the long, narrow spot at 140 West 44th Street in 1971. Glenn papered the place in sweet science memorabilia and shepherded it to its icon status until his death in 2020. And Jimmy's Corner is still as ingrained in New York City's culinary history as the most august institutions of considerably more expensive drinking. There are dwindling few places where a person can buy a pint, tip, and still get change back from a five. 

I have popped into Jimmy's Corner under as many circumstances as anyone can expect to patronize a place over the years, and it has always risen to every occasion. I've slipped in to find a spot to file copy before deadline in my early days as a newspaper reporter, stopped by to decompress once fancier titles won me stuffy party invitations sometime later, and, in an ever-favorite use case, brought plenty of out-of-towners to see a real slice of NYC, just beyond the so-called Crossroads of the World. Jimmy's Corner is also a kind of crossroads. The tourists have caught up, sure, it's not exactly invisible, but Jimmy's is also forever imbued with an inimitable Manhattan manner that you won't find at the other hospitality efforts nearby. It is also at its own crossroads.

Jimmy's Corner is in danger of closing at press time. Like a lot of great spaces forced to make way for banks, chain cafés, or anything else that sucks, a lease dispute is putting this peak dive in peril. And if New York loses one of the few destinations still selling affordable mixed drinks versus the splashier spots serving $30 cocktails nearby, the city will lose more than just cheap tipples and legitimately vintage decor. It will lose a real bit of magic that can't be packaged inside the big box stores an avenue away. And everyone should bathe in the dim glow and independent spirit of Jimmy's Corner at least once in their lives.