The Fanelli Cafe on the corner of Prince Street and Mercer Street is a SoHo institution and one of my all-time favorite bars in the city. When the New Yorker published in 2012 a wonderful story about Bob Bozic, the article started with this historical wrap-up: Fanelli's is "the second-oldest continuously operating drinking establishment in New York City. The original building, erected in 1847, housed a grocery store, where customers could drink liquor and beer and perhaps gain access to the bordello in the back. After a new building went up, in 1853, the ground floor was described as a saloon. Michael Fanelli bought the place in 1922 and operated it as a speakeasy during Prohibition; his name remained on the neon marquee even after his family sold it, thirty years ago, to a Roumanian named Hans Noe, who passed it on to his son, Sasha." (Nick Paumgarten: "The Ring And The Bar. The Bob Bozic Stories" in New Yorker, January 30, 2012, p. 28-34.)
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