New York City’s landmark Spring Lounge is the stuff of legend and lore. Open 365 days a year, 20 hours a day, the watering hole has shut down only for the direst emergencies, like the Covid pandemic of 2020 that shuttered business establishments all over the city by order of the state and local governments.

Even then, though, the doughty bar was back in business after a hiatus of just three and a half months. Now it’s not just back, but back on its feet and better than ever.

The Bar Is Open, now on sale, is a celebration of the establishment in essays, photography and art, from the dark days of the plague year to the present prosperity. Spring Lounge is renowned for many things, including three massive stuffed sharks, one a hammerhead, that grace the walls and were caught by the bar’s former owners.

The predators that hover over the publicans and patrons alike are the source of Spring Lounge’s nickname, Shark Bar. Kegs ‘n’ Eggs breakfast and beer spreads, chili cook-offs, an ever-changing menu of the finest craft beers, aged whiskey (at a premium price), and a boisterous regular clientele keep the bar humming.

When the door swings open at 8 a. m.

sharp on weekdays and 10 a. m.

on Sundays, the famed Early Morning Drinkers Society convenes, as attested by the bar’s motto: Life Is Short. Drink Early.

Here you’ll meet colorful characters past and present: Jeff the neighborhood sot, barred from the bar, but flitting round it nonetheless, often falling asleep in an inebriated lump on the sidewalk. Whenever a kind soul would offer him a few dollars, he’s whip out a huge wad of bills and add the contribution to it.

Richie the garrulous, windy bore with the Popeye face and a voice like an ice pick on the eardrums. Jay the legendary bartender with his vast fund of stories from his days in Hollywood; a star on the sitcom The Jeffersons, among other venues including the daytime soaps.

Annie the 70s-something postal lady whose signature, “Oh, hell no!” defines her personality. Artists, writers, photographers, Jen the general manager who worked her way up from bar back, Slap Shot Tom, who once had a tryout with the Dallas Stars, Fireman Johnny of Ladder 20 — that gang’s all here.

“Gentleman, the bar is open” — with those words, uttered on July 1, 2020, the bar’s enforced closure because of the pandemic came to a blessed end, inspiring the title of this book. And now this book opens the famed bar to a wider public beyond New York City.

You can virtually step through the front door by merely opening the cover, and beginning your tour. But beware — as noted on the index page, and by a sign in the front window of the bar, hippies must use the side door.

Readers, The Bar Is Open — buy now, and enjoy. A Pood Paw Prints publication.

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