The Navy Yard Lounge
Note: this is now gone.
This is probably familiar to anyone who drives down Flushing Ave off of the old Brooklyn Navy Yard, but I’ve always loved the exterior of the Navy Yard Lounge, which looks like what I imagine a lot more bars were like about 20 or 30 years ago.
Doesn’t this look like the kind of place Popeye Doyle would be kicking back drinks in while cracking drug smuggling operations? It’s right across the street from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, an enormous complex of warehouses and docks that dates back to the 1800’s.
This place has been a mystery to me for years. I’ve never seen the roll-gate up, and the upstairs windows are all boarded up…but occasionally, the neon beer signs in the windows are lit.
This sign is great. I love the raised lettering on “COCKTAIL LOUNGE,” and the faded “JJS NAVY YARD” wording complete with anchor. It’s too bad they partially covered it with that annoying new air-brushed sign.
As it turns out, the place is open, apparently Wednesday through Sunday. A writer did a great article for the NY Press on his experiences there after learning that it was indeed still in business.
Perceived Scariness (on a scale of 1 to 10): 8
Actual Scariness: 6 (during happy hour); / 9 (during bikini time)
-SCOUT
That looks like a bad ass bar. I can’t believe you had the stones to go in there at happy hour. Very gutsy. Do they mix up a mean martini?
Aso, Im insanely jealous of your job. I had no idea such a position even existed. That’s awesome.
Nice Blog,
Josh
i think that “Love, and Other Impossibly Long Titles” filmed a couple hooker scenes here. Best. Day. Ever.
Thats not a far cry from the normal hookers hanging out there.
GReat stuff
This has long since been closed and gutted to make room for new retail. I did a walk through of the premises and there was some interesting things going on in the back of the lounge. There were private booths in the back and dancers would work there for “tips”. I found old signs(do not touch the dancers) and stripper shoes in a cubby holes in the back of the place.
I was stationed there in the early 1980’s as my ship was getting overhauled in the Navy Yard. I am “pretty” certain J&J stands for Jimmy & Julia Constantino or very similar name. It was barely hanging in then. They ran a bar, you could get food at lunch. Very rough neighborhood at the time. The Navy put single sailors in some rat trap building in the yard and you had to go to war to get through the nearby projects (ironically Navy housing from way back) to the subway. The ratrap was right on the fence with flushing ave, I recall the sailors drinking beer on hot summer nights, then filling the bottles as small molitovs from the parked motorcycles and exchanging them for the rocks the natives would occasionally launch. Another great scene coming back 4AM on a Monday morning was a dumptruck on blocks, engine stripped, etc. It lingered all summer, graffiti, then arson, then finally gone. South of the yard is developing into a more trendy hip area. If I only knew I would have been buying up the war zone back then..
Someone mentioned “Admirals Row” These were abandoned and crumbling in the early 1980’s! Only a government can waste such prime real estate in such a crowded city, and they still do.