The exterior of the now closed Station Bar (Facebook: Patrick Sweeney)
Aug. 23, 2019 By Shane O’Brien
A popular Irish dive bar in Woodside has been shut down for over a month for operating without a food handling license, causing dismay among the bar’s patrons.
Station Bar at 39-50 61st St. was ordered to cease operations by order of the New York Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene on Thursday, July 18.
One patron scrawled writing over the Health Dept. notice to voice displeasure over the bar’s closure and called for the owners to reopen it. “Paddy, git dat permit fixed and open our pub again,” the patron wrote. Others took to social media to vent their frustration.
One social media user said that they would “lose their mind if anything happened to the Station,” while another called it the “last real bar in Woodside.”
The bar’s food handling license expired on Oct. 31, 2018. However, the operators continued to serve food without a permit thereafter, according to the DOH.
The DOH cited the bar for operating without a permit in February and March this year, before closing the establishment last month.
Closure notice at Station Bar (Patrick Sweeney)
The DOH said that the bar can reopen once the operators obtain a food handling license. The bar’s owners will have to pay a fine and reapply for the license. It is unclear how long it would take for an application to be approved.
The bar’s owners were unavailable for comment and it is unclear whether they intend to reapply for a license or not.
Station Bar was an Irish dive bar featuring memorabilia from Irish sports and the New York Mets among other sports teams. The establishment was formerly known as Station Cafe.
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14 Comments
We call this the welfare bar
I used to get chicken from the corner.store and eat it with an ice cold bud. I’m going to miss this place.
The bar owner can’t comment as she passed away last December ,and I’m sure paddy isn’t the owner!!
Food? Really? What food? Been in there for a lifetime, and not once witnessed food being served!
This is a serious safety issue.
By closing this bar, they’re exposing the rest of the neighborhood to its patrons.
Nyc did the right thing here. Everyone has to pay $280 a year for the permit to operate for a year. Which comes to about $25 @ month. The city sends notices leading up to the expiration date. They did this to themselves.
They transferred the Deed to ADA1, LLC in 2017. That’s a common tactic for pre development properties since the developer can be added as a member of the LLC privately and it can change hands without payments of a Deed transfer tax to the City. Bet they are going residential soon.
Ah, fer fook sake!
Greatest bar in Woodside, welcomed everybody. It’s a shame, hopefully re-opens soon
So unnecessary .
They dont serve food
You forgot to mention this bar was featured in HBO’s Entourage at “Johnny Drama’s”
This bar was also partially owned by celebrity John “Johnny” Drama in the early 2000s during that time frame it was changed into a bar / club atmosphere known as Drama’s.
Just the city looking to take money from small business as usual…..
Let’s hope this isn’t a cover for selling the building to developers.