Bronx Bar closed, to reopen soon

We journalists are thirsty creatures, so when we heard that the Bronx Bar was closed, we had an admitted interest in following up on this story. The establishment is dear to us for its weekend Build-Your-Own-Bloody-Mary bar, its two jukeboxes, its outdoor smoking patio, its restoring sandwiches and burgers, and Char, the cool-headed barkeep from the bar's old days. We know a journo who practically lives there. He's been hoping and praying the place opens back up soon.

Here are the facts, as best as we were able to ascertain.

First of all, the bar has been closed since Friday, April 10. On the night of Thursday, April 9, during a thunderstorm, the building behind the Bronx Bar was struck by lightning. Bricks from that building fell on top of the Bronx Bar. It's rumored that the bar was open at the time and that bricks were seen falling into the bar space. The next morning, this sign appeared on the door of the bar:


We got in touch with a co-owner of the building behind the Bronx, Carol Baker, a longtime resident of Cass Corridor and Woodbridge. Baker told us that she got a call from her tenant as soon as the catastrophe happened. Her tenant, who is reportedly now staying temporarily with immediate family, also sent an image via cell phone of what happened. According to Baker, "My building fell on their building; it's as simple as that."

"I’m thankful it’s property and nobody got hurt, but I'm sick about the whole thing. Right now I'm just working the best I can to get everything resolved," said Baker, who told us that crews were at work on her building within a few hours. An eye-witness reports fencing up in between the two buildings, and that crews are hard at work on the roof of the bar.

The general manager at Bronx Bar was understandably too busy to speak with us today, but a source close to the bar tells us that the bar could be open again as quickly as Saturday.