Featured on New York Originals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLwKonDqq8Y
History of Neir’s Tavern:
In its beginnings at 1829, Neir’s was called The Blue Pump Room and owned by Cadwallader R. Colden, manager of the famed Union Course Race Track. The famed horse track covered the street all the way down to Woodhaven Blvd, which is currently referenced by the horse-shaped logo of the sign hanging above the establishment. Louis Neir took over in 1898 and it made into a speakeasy, then later upgraded it with a ballroom, a bowling alley, and an upstairs hotel under the name of Neir’s Social Hall. In 1967, the new ownership renamed the place as the Union Course Tavern. The current owner Loycent “Loy” Gordon, a Jamaican-born Queens resident and FDNY lieutenant, took up the establishment in 2009 giving the tavern back the Neir’s namesake and completely refurbishing the place.
Primary Sources:
Photograph circa 1898
Scene from Goodfellas, shot in Neir’s Tavern
Secondary Sources:
Census report on Woodhaven, Queens: https://censusreporter.org/profiles/79500US3604111-nycqueens-community-district-9richmond-hill–woodhaven-puma-ny
More census data: http://www.socialexplorer.com/
Official Neir’s Tavern website: neirstavern.com
News articles covering Neir’s Tavern:
http://gothamist.com/2015/02/26/oldest_nyc_bar_neirs_tavern.php#photo-1
http://queenstribune.com/neirs-tavern-185-years-of-greatness-in-woodhaven/
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/queens-bar-oldest-city-historian-article-1.2127001
