This year marks the 400th anniversary of New York’s founding and, for 300 of those years, locals have gathered in the city’s taverns, pubs and clubs. To celebrate these prestigious watering holes, renowned photographers James and Karla Murray have captured many of these iconic buildings and share their long history in a new coffee table book.
The Murrays are a husband-and-wife team renowned for their architectural and interior photographic work. For the last 25 years, they have turned their lenses to capturing life in the Big Apple, with their previous large-scale project – Store Front NYC: Photographs of the City’s Independent Shops – praised for showing authentic New York culture.
Great Bars of New York City is their new photography book, published by Prestel, and follows the same trend of delving deeper into New York’s history and famed traditions – this time via 30 of the city’s legendary watering holes.
The bars, clubs and speakeasies of New York have become a thing of myth and legend, immortalized in film, television, writing and song. Examples include The King Cole Bar at the St Regis Hotel, eternalized in movies such as The Devil Wears Prada, and the White Horse Tavern, a frequent hangout spot for Jack Kerouac – so much so that the bathroom was graffitied with the etching, “Jack go home”.
On the topic of great writers, for Great Bars of New York City, the Murrays teamed up with writer and journalist Dan Q Dao to shine a light on the iconic and historical landmarks, as well as some lesser-known but just as important smaller establishments.
“In a city of over eight million people, New York City’s bars, pubs, dives, speakeasies and cocktail lounges provide respite from the relentless pace of daily life, offering an intoxicating blend of camaraderie and ambiance,” says the publisher.
“They’ve even helped to influence major world events over the years, from Fraunces Tavern being turned into George Washington’s official headquarters during the Revolutionary War, to the uprising at Stonewall Inn which ignited the queer liberation movement, to the King Cole Bar at the St Regis Hotel, which features a mural by the early 20th Century painter Maxfield Parrish”.
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As with the Murrays’ other projects this book acts as an archive, preserving the memories of these spots that are becoming less and less frequented in the modern age. Although many of these establishments are still in operation today, since 2020, more than 85 historic New York bars have permanently closed.
This book raises a glass in celebration of the history of these famous places and the impact that they have had on the culture of the city of New York.
Great Bars of New York City by James and Karla Murray is published by Prestel and is available now for $40 / £30 / AU$50.
