Bridge Cafe was a historic restaurant and bar located at 279 Water Street in the

South Street Seaport The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, centered where Fulton Street meets the East River, and adjacent to the Financial District, in Lower Manhattan. The Seaport is a designated historic district, ...

area of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

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. The site was originally home to "a grocery and wine and porter bottler", opened in 1794, and has been home to a series of drinking and eating establishments. In the nineteenth century, the building was described in city directories variously as a grocery, a porterhouse, or a liquor establishment. Henry Williams operated a

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

there from 1847 to 1860 and the prostitutes were listed in the New York City census of 1855. In 1888, the building's exterior was altered to its present form. The building was damaged during

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

, and the restaurant remains closed . Until its closure, it was the city's oldest continuous business establishment, though the name and ownership had changed numerous times. It had most recently been under the same ownership since 1979, when the former McCormick’s, a bar frequented by local fishmongers, was purchased by Jack Weprin and converted into The Bridge Cafe, a white tablecloth establishment. While in office, Mayor

Edward I. Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayo ...

regularly had dinner at Bridge Cafe and declared it to be his favorite restaurant. ''

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'' considered it to be one of New York City's Top 5 Historic Bars in 2005. A 2020 report states that "it unfortunately closed after Hurricane Sandy inundated the building in 2012 and has remained closed ever since". A reconstruction did commence but a report in March 2020 stated that owner Adam Weprin had encountered difficulties; at that time, he said that "'Unfortunately, many factors will play a part in the opening. In addition to replacing the floors, there are other costly repairs' ... but he remained committed to a reopening.ANOTHER BRIDGE TO NOWHERE? March 18, 2020
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{{coord, 40, 42, 31.3, N, 74, 00, 03, W, display=title, type:landmark_region:US-NY Drinking establishments in Manhattan Defunct restaurants in New York City South Street Seaport 1794 establishments in New York (state) Restaurants established in 1794