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Last week I reported the astounding news that the 1880s-era bar that had once lived inside the old Harvey's Chelsea House, in Chelsea, has somehow survived the destruction of that building in 2006 and now sat inside The Bar Room, a new bar and restaurant on E. 60th off Lexington. I, of course, had to lay my eyes on this wonder myself, and wasted no time getting there, visiting over the past weekend. The bar is indeed there. My eyes recognized it, and the bartender confirmed the testimony of my senses. The bartenders said that the bar used to be longer and had to be slightly shortened to fit the space. Otherwise, it was the same: the grandfather clock embedded on the right-hand side of the bar; the etched glass cabinets; even the massive gold cash register at the center of the bar. The checkered floor was installed in homage of a similar floor that once lined Harvey's Chelsea House. Other parts of Harvey's Chelsea House also survived, included the ornate ceiling railing see...

Last December, I posted a long remembrance of a little-remembered old Chelsea bar and restaurant called Harvey's Chelsea House. It was one of those old, dark-wood, manly places from another era. It stood at 108 W. 18th Street and had a huge, vertical, three-story sign that said "Harvey's." Inside, there was a long bar, high ceilings, tile floors, beveled glass and a dining room in the back. I didn't know it at the time, but the joint had opened in 1889 (under some name or other) as one of the original Annhauser-Busch bars, an d that bar was made of red, burled, Honduras mahogany. A man named Dick Harvey took it over in 1977, hence the name.  After Harvey gave it up, the place remained closed for a while, then was reopened as Tonic by one Steve Tzolis, the principal owner of Il Cantinori, Periyali and Aureole, all restaurants in Manhattan. Tonic didn't work out, and the building was torn down in 2006. In my post, I wondered, "What became of the beautiful ...