SECOND STORY
Hank’s Saloon re-opens above a food hall
By Julianne Cuba Hank’s for stopping by!
Fans of the century-old
honky-tonk dive bar Hank’s
Saloon celebrated its revival on
Monday night, as it quietly re-opened
on the second floor of Downtown’s
Texas eatery Hill Country Food Park.
But the watering hole will really kick
off at its grand opening on Feb. 2, featuring
the new spot’s first live music,
from the New York Fowl Harmonic.
The bar’s owner is eager to see how
the saloon fits into its new home, just
a month after closing the original
Hank’s on Third Avenue.
“We’re just trying to see what the
neighborhood wants, how we can
make it better for everyone in a new
neighborhood,” said Julie Ipcar. “It’s
going to be really interesting and
really fun to do it again. I’m sure we
will have some of the regulars in here
from the old place.”
The new iteration of the bar
boasts some memorabilia from its
past life, including the old cash register
behind the bar and some of the
stools, said Ipcar.
“It’s a nice little walk down memory
lane,” she said. “Some Hank’s
memorabilia in there.”
Band stickers notoriously plastered
the walls of the old location, and Ipcar
hopes that new bands coming through
will recreate that tradition.
“Feel free to put your stickers
everywhere,” she said. “I have a
bunch saved from the past six months,
a big pile of them, but I want it to be
more organic than me putting it up, so
Raising the bar: Hank’s Saloon owner Julie Ipcar stands behind the bar at its new location, inside
the Hill Country Food Park Downtown. Photo by Julianne Cuba
bands can come and do that.”
The new Hank’s Saloon on Adams
Street can pack 150 people inside —
nearly double the crowd that could fit
in the Third Avenue haunt — which
will be a plus when bigger bands come
to play, according to Ipcar.
“It’s a larger capacity than the
original Hank’s, which is really nice,”
she said.
Monday was a “soft opening” for
Ipcar to test out the new space and
neighborhood, but the bar will eventually
be open every day, she said.
“I’ve been meeting a lot of people,
looking forward to who is going to
come in and watch shows,” said Ipcar.
About 40 longtime regulars stopped
by on Monday evening, many cracking
COURIER L 54 IFE, FEB, 1-7, 2019 24-7
jokes about the contrast between the
run-down former dive bar and the
shiny new spot.
“It doesn’t smell … I’m not sticking
to the seat — that’s different!” said
one visitor.
“Don’t worry, that’ll change,”
quipped another.
Patrons can enter the saloon through
the Texas-inspired food hall, or through
a separate entrance on Adams street,
once the hall closes at 8 pm.
Hank’s at Hill Country Food Park
345 Adams St. near Willoughby
Street Downtown, (718) 885–2427,
www.hcfoodpark.com/hanks. Open
Sun–Wed; 4 pm–midnight; Thu–Sat,
4 pm–2 am. Free. Grand opening on
Feb. 2 at 9 pm. $10.
SBy Alexandra Simon he wrote from the bottom of
her heart.
A Jamaican-American
actress from Brownsville will celebrate
her new book with a Valentine’s
Day–themed launch party in
Greenpoint on Feb. 9. First-time
author Jacinth Headlam said that her
memoir “Love After…” reflects her
survival of childhood abuse and a
messy divorce.
“This book came from a time in
my life where I was at rock bottom
and I was broken,” she said.
Headlam, best known in the
United States for her role in the indie
film “Diary of a Badman,” was a
married mother of two when she
learned that her husband had cheated
on her, and was expecting a child
with the other woman. Devastated,
she took the kids and moved into her
mother’s attic, where she poured her
heart into her journal.
“My journal is a big part of this
book because it helped me come to
a place of healing and I had feelings
I didn’t know I had,” said Headlam.
“These were feelings that pretty
much laid dormant for years, but
were very necessary to my identity.”
Her memoir builds on those journal
entries, chronicling her journey
towards acceptance after her separation
and eventual divorce. While
writing about her feelings, Headlam
realized that dealing with her traumatic
past was a necessary part of
her journey. She had grown up in a
abusive home and been the victim of
sexual assault in her childhood —
memories that she had worked hard
to forget, she said.
“I had to revisit a place in my
life that I didn’t want to, and I was
struggling with the fact that I was
molested as young child, because I
blocked it out of my mind and was
numb to it,” said Headlam.
At the release party, the actress
and author will read from her book,
and screen a short documentary
based on her memoir.
“Love After…” book release at
Stuart Cinema and Cafe 79 West St.
between Milton Street and Greenpoint
Avenue in Greenpoint, (347) 721–3777,
www.stuartcinema.com. Feb. 9 at 7
pm. Free.
First draft pick: The bar at Fulton Hall will offer prime viewing of the
Super Bowl on Feb. 3.
IBy Bill Roundy t’s a whole new ball
game!
With the New York
Giants long knocked out
of competition, Brooklyn
does not have any skin in
the 53rd annual Super Bowl
game, broadcasting on Feb.
3. But for those who wish to
root against the hated New
England Patriots (or in favor
of the Los Angeles Rams),
here are three new spots in
town where you can watch.
Super Bowl LIII. Kick-off
is scheduled for 6:30 pm.
Stage plays
The new Dekalb
Stage, which opened this
week beneath City Point
Downtown, will host its first
Super Bowl viewing party on
Sunday. The giant space fits
250 people, and will project
the game onto a 15-foot
screen, with more televisions
scattered around the
space. Tickets include one
drink and an unlimited buffet
with food from Dekalb
Market vendors, including
Likkle More Jerk Chicken,
sandwich spot Lioni Heroes,
and donut dealer Cuzin’s
Duzin.
Dekalb Stage (445
Albee Square West, basement,
between Fulton
and Willoughby streets
Downtown, www.dekalbmarkethall.
com). 5–10 pm. $40
( $35 in advance ).
Full on Fulton
Another new spot is just
a few blocks away. Fulton
Hall, a beer bar that opened
at one end of the Gotham
Market at Ashland last summer,
has televisions on each
wall, so each one of its 150
seats will have a view of
the day’s sporting contest.
All day long, the space will
offer $1 buffalo wings and
$15 pitchers of beer (the latter
offer is limited to Coors
and Miller High Life, so
you might want to start with
some of the bar’s 20 craft
beers first). Groups of six
or more can reserve a booth
or table by emailing party@
fultonhall.com.
Fulton Hall 250 Ashland
Pl. at Fulton Street in Fort
Greene, (718) 301–8480,
www.fultonhall.com. Open
11 am–midnight. Free.
It’ll be Liiit
The most unlikely spot
hosting a Super screening
this weekend is the dance
club Shimanski, which is
rarely open during the day.
The Williamsburg hotspot
will devote its 60-foot wide,
six-foot high projection
wall, which normally shows
trippy visuals, to showing
the football showdown. Disc
jockeys will spin before and
after the game, as well as
during the commercials,
and the kitchen will turn
out wings, fries, and other
finger foods all night. Table
space is limited, so email
vip@schimanskinyc.com for
guaranteed seats.
Schimanksi (54 N. 11th
St. between Kent and Wythe
avenues in Williamsburg,
www.schimanskinyc.com). 4
pm–midnight. Free ($10 with
one drink; $30 with buffet
plate).
Get out: Headlam wrote her memoir “Love
After…” to encourage others to free themselves
from abusive relationships.
Game on!
Her ‘After’ words
Three new places to
catch the Super Bowl
/www.schimanskinyc.com
/www.stuartcinema.com
/www.dekalbmar-kethall.com
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/www.fultonhall.com
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