Dubious real estate deals are nothing new in New York, but one ultimately sealed the fate of a dive bar in Brooklyn, a loss now captured in a bittersweet documentary.
For over 100 years, Hank’s Saloon existed under various names and owners, but it was always a beloved watering hole in Boerum Hill that later became part of the borough’s music scene.
In 2018, after nearly a decade of speculation and financial uncertainty, the bar in the small two-story building on the corner of 3rd and Atlantic Avenues announced that they would finally be closing their doors for good.
Although Hank’s Saloon, a feature documentary by Brooklyn filmmaker Leon Chase, captures the colorful staff and rotating cast of oddball patrons through its final months, it is ultimately a tribute to how a diverse Brooklyn clientele can come together to form a community around cheap drinks in a nonjudgmental vibe.
“The closing of Hank’s was devastating because it cut us off from a certain type of bar culture, where you can just sit and chat and be part of an atmosphere that felt like anything goes,” Chase told BK Reader.
The film also looks at the history of the building, from its roots as a working-class Irish bar, through its various roles as Prohibition-era speakeasy, to the de facto headquarters of a barmaids union to becoming the Doray Tavern, owned by Dotty and Ray Slattery, a couple that often loaned money and fed local residents who needed it most.
Chase also dedicates a portion of the film to a group of Canadian Indigenous ironworkers who came from the Kahnawà:ke territory in Quebec as they worked on building the Manhattan skyline roughly between the 70s and 90s.
The iconic hot-rod flame logos appeared in 2000 after former owner Dave Sheeran took over, and the bar quickly became a hub for punk, rock, and honky-tonk musicians, including Chase, who loved its tiny DIY stage, first assembled by moving the pool table.
Chase said he secured his first gig by guaranteeing a crowd large enough to move a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
“What was also great about Hank’s was that everyone felt free to dance,” he added.
The filmmaker also tells how the property changed through many hands, especially as Downtown Brooklyn was rezoned during the Bloomberg Administration and nearby Barclays Center and Atlantic Yards- the latter still unfinished- came into existence.
That said, the stars of the film are Jeannie Taliercio, a long-time bartender that is the heart and soul of Hank’s, and Julie Ipcar, the bar’s final owner (but not building owner) who grew up on State Street.
Still bartending at an American Legion post in Gowanus, Taliercio is an old-school bartender who slings drinks and tough love to a devoted following. “Jeannie is the queen of inclusiveness,” Chase said.
Ipcar is depicted as a loving Brooklynite that simply wanted to run a business that was accessible for working-class residents and musicians, or for those who would prefer to stoop over taking elevators.
“Hank’s was a place where people truly got to know one another and you felt accepted,” said Chase, who threw his wedding reception for his East Coast friends at the bar. “New York is interesting when there’s all kinds of people and you can mingle with them.”
After a sold-out premier at the Nitehawk Cinema in Windsor Terrace in January, Chase is now showcasing his film in venues across the city. Sign up here for screening announcements and enjoy the trailer below.
