FAMED DIVE BAR FALLS TO EARTH
December 15, 2006 — SIBERIA—the legendary dive bar where scores of swill-sipping celebs, journos and pols spent night after night losing countless millions of brain cells—is set to shut its doors for good this weekend.
Owner Tracy Westmoreland says a long-simmering dispute with the landlord of the building at 40th Street and Ninth Avenue is sounding the boisterous booze emporium’s death knell. And last night, expressions of sympathy were pouring in.
“I’m heartbroken,” said Anthony Bourdain, the celebrity-chef author of “Kitchen Confidential” and host of the Travel Channel’s “No Reservations,” who regularly parked himself at the bar. “It’s the end of civilization as we know it.”
“Saturday Night Live” alum Jimmy Fallon, who used Siberia as his late-night playpen, told Page Six: “When I first moved to the city, I lived on the same block as Siberia. I didn’t have cash with me and they didn’t take credit cards—so I asked to start a tab. [Tracy] came over and said, ‘Hey, give this kid a beer.’ Then I asked for money for the jukebox. We’ve been friends ever since.”
Westmoreland, who has branched into acting—he can be seen in the upcoming movies “A Crime” with Harvey Keitel and “Across the Universe” with Evan Rachel Wood—launched Siberia as New York’s first subway bar inside the 50th Street and Broadway IRT station, on Halloween in 1996. After being booted by landlord Mitsubishi, he moved to the current location.
Over the years he hosted Ed Koch, David Dinkins, Robert Morgenthau, Matt Dillon, Julia Stiles, Heather Graham, Lou Dobbs, Shepherd Smith and Winona Ryder, who once did a bartending shift.
“And we’re still open—until we close,” crowed Westmoreland, who’s not yet sure which night will be Siberia’s last and has plans to launch a Web site for friends to stay in touch. “The best thing people can do is come down over the next couple of nights for a final drink. It’s been a great run.”
Fallon says its spirit will live on: “Siberia isn’t about the building. It’s about Tracy Westmoreland and the world he creates. I can’t wait to see what he does next.”
“I’m heartbroken,” said Anthony Bourdain, the celebrity-chef author of “Kitchen Confidential” and host of the Travel Channel’s “No Reservations,” who regularly parked himself at the bar. “It’s the end of civilization as we know it.”
What a douche!
DIVE BAR ADORED BY DOUCHES FALLS TO EARTH
GROUNDBREAKING ‘NO-SWEARING’ POLICY INNOVATIVE BUT ULTIMATELY FUTILE
I know I’m a nitwit, but I honestly thought this was a Russian joke on the level of “Belgium to seccede!”
i thought it was gonna be an article abt russia ending subsidies to siberia and everyone leaving.
siberia is all in the mind.
nu-ilx has no sense of history non-shocker.
How could it be about the building? The “good old days” of Siberia were in a different location altogether.
sry abt yr journalist bar
New Yorkers in being oblivious to the existence of the rest of the world non-shocker!
uh, isn’t that what jimmy fallon says in the article, tracer?
where’s that pic of you next to the sign?
it’s a pretty terrible picture.
WHAT’S YOUR FUCKING NUMBER BITCH?
see, now you can do that, sexyDancer.
yes, but where?
any other bar in new york, duh.
hey tombot, you got that pic of allyzay on the bike somewheres?
grainy bad scan but here ya go
I’ve got to get my laptop and really go through the pix because there’s also that great photo of Alex NYC’s ANCIENT graffiti on my comp somewhere.
I cannot wait until they open up Siberia in Caesar’s Palace.
We all pray for that day.
i love you, allyzay. don’t tell your husband!
We were all so amazing and young and full of life, when Siberia was open. Everyone was in love, then.
they’re moving it next door to cbgb’s i thought
I’ve got to get my laptop and really go through the pix because there’s also that great photo of Alex NYC’s ANCIENT graffiti on my comp somewhere.
I took a picture of it...
I hear they’re opening a store in the East Village ...
Thank you ET!! I knew I had it saved to my computer but it would’ve taken some finding. Alex actually e-mailed me looking for a copy of it.
So is the pay phone outside still there? And is there a Gareth statue yet?
i once had majorly bad drug hallucinations in siberia. salut.
a group of us got thrown out of siberia once thanks to Tom.
Wasn’t Siberia the NYCILX equivalent of the Glasshouse Stores or something, back in the good old days?
the same night as my bad trip also was taken an adorable photo of myself and my girlfriend at the time, making it one of the few happy memories i have of her
what is Glasshouse Stores?
It’s a pub. Where London people drink. In London.
It was ILX central for a time, the scene of many a FAP and at least one bar billiards tournament, the beer is vinegar.
Another Golden Age I’m glad to have missed
it’s very close to glasshouse street but not actually on it, which is pretty cheeky.
OIC, Ed. Anyway, no, not at all in any way was Siberia “ILX Central,” we had one or two larger meet ups there and hstencil used to work there but never would I say it was a usual choice; the place was kind of out of the way for most of the NYC crowd.
“out of the way” = above 14th Street
Haha I didn’t want to say that. It wasn’t really out of the way for me at all which is probably why I frequented it with my friends far more often than there were ever ILX meets there.
I’ve been meaning to give that picture of Hstuncil this treatment for a while now:
MESMERIZED
I’ll say it, Ally! It’s true, life is better since Ian and I figured out how much sense it makes to split cabs home from the LES. I may never venture above Houston again in the late-night hours.
There’s no much reason to, if you’re coming from Brooklyn. What the hell is even left open above Houston?
There’s no much reason to, if you’re coming from Brooklyn.
Williamsburg isn’t Brooklyn?
that reply doesn’t make any sense.
Re above Houston: there’re decent bars in the St Mark’s/2nd Ave/NYU territory but since you can’t smoke in any of them anymore, I can live without ’em (not worth playing darts at Grassroots if you have to step outside every 12 minutes). ANYWAY! Oh, and Heather’s is srsly inconvenient for me what with all my not-living-in-Williamsburg but I CAN LIVE WITH THAT.
Ehhh I never really cared for most of the bars around St. Mark’s to be honest. I’d go out of my way to go to KGB’s, I guess. That place was pretty good and often didn’t make people go outside to smoke. I’m quitting anyway though.
ALLY STOP BEING THICK, SOME PEOPLE RIDE THE L TRAIN.
RE: Grassroots, they still have a ventilation system meant to suck up smoke, but that makes it REALLY LOUD in the back. DO NOT WANT.
I’m not really sure why riding the L Train means you should go to shitty NYU bars, sorry ;_;
xpost oh I hate those things.
THE REASON TO GO ABOVE HOUSTON IS BECAUSE THAT IS HOW YOU GET PLACES
ON THE TRAIN
RIDE THE MTA
THEY DO THE REST
I miss beating my nerve.com dates at darts at Grassroots and smoking and drinking vodka gimlets and swaggering around. Those were (sort of) the days. If you don’t count not getting a paycheck. On second thought, never mind.
Why don’t you answer question about what is even still open and worth going to, you ginormous horse’s ass. I mean FFS Jon I’ve taken the L before specifically to go to the LES because that connect + walk was the easiest from my apt, I walked the rest of the way, all FIVE MINUTES OF WALKING.
I agree with Laurel, who is much smarter than you and dresses well and is talented at darts.
xpost nerve.com!!
Seriously Jon you are kind of missing the point if you honestly believe that I think that it is physically impossible for Brooklynites of any area to get to other parts of Manhattan than the LES.
Yes, another ILXor and I went on nerve.com on a dare, some years ago, and it kicked off about six months of behaving very badly. You didn’t know? Gosh.