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Old New York’s going up in smoke!
Smith’s Bar, the iconic, neon-sign dive near Times Square, has closed for good and is set to be replaced by a marijuana dispensary — leaving broken-hearted regulars feeling burned.
The beloved watering hole — where theater-going hipsters knocked one back alongside old drunks and businessmen for 70 years — shuttered for good last week on 44th Street and Eighth Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen.
“It was a piece of history,” said Al Diaz, 49, an engineer who works nearby. “You don’t have things like this anymore, where you can sit and chill, like Cheers.”
“Look at how old-school this is, look at these lights,” he added, gesturing to the building. “It’s like going back in time.”
A cannabis dispensary will replace the 70-year-old bar. Matthew McDermott
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The time-worn Irish bar, which opened in 1954, is now set to become a legal cannabis shop, according to a license filed with the state.
But some neighbors are crying into their beers over plans for the new joint.
“There are so many other dispensaries now. We don’t need another dispensary for marijuana,” Christopher Conkling, 71, who’s retired and lives nearby.
“These mom and pop shops are going out of business,” he said. “It’s sad to see a piece of old New York go.”
Others said they were happy to trade beers for buds.
“It’s all about the money, and if [the owner] found that marijuana is going to make him more money, then why wouldn’t he?” said Brad Zorfas, who works in the area.
Smith’s announced it was closing in 2014, citing a rent hike but staying mum about other possible problems.
It reopened the next year under new ownership with Skip Panettiere at the helm, according to the blog w42st.com, which was first to report a weed dispensary would take over Smith’s.
Panettiere said Thursday he hasn’t owned the bar for years and wasn’t sure why it shuttered.
Asked if he’s sentimental about the place closing, his response was very old-New York.
“I couldn’t care less,” he told The Post. “Things change.”
“]] Smith’s Bar, the iconic, neon-sign dive near Times Square, has closed for good and is set to be replaced by a marijuana dispensary — leaving broken-hearted regulars feeling burned. Read More
