Fundamentals of Interactive Journalism

The economic crisis that has affected the United States in recent months has made many Americans poorer and more uncertain about the future. But for a small New York community of the Upper West Side it had a positive side. Revenge was sweet.

When the owner of P&G Cafe, a dive bar at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 73rd Street, announced to his regular customers last summer that their favorite drinking spot had to close at the end of the year, some of them fell into a sudden depression.

P&G Cafe, the bar that boasts the oldest neon lights in New York City and one of the coziest spots in town, was going to close for good. The landlord had tripled the rent in an attempt to land a more upscale, higher-paying tenant, said the owner of P&G Cafe Steve Chahalis.

That night Chahalis, a cheerful dude who loves drinking as much as serving drinks, realized that he would really have to pull the plug of the neon “Cafe Bar” sign, 66 years after his grandfather George lit it up.

But Chahalis is not a guy who enjoys complaining. He put on a brave face, offered a round of Sam Adams, and said that it wasn’t the end of the world. The P&G Cafe would just moved a few blocks up to 380 Columbus Avenue.

But the regulars were not ready to surrender. They started a petition drive that netted nearly 4,500 signatures in support of this “old school” bar, as they love to call it.
Although it didn’t convince the landlord, something else brought justice to this institution of the Upper West Side: the economic crisis.

“Someone else was coming in,” said the Welsh barman Andrew Hurley yesterday. “But after the economic collapse the new folks didn’t get their loans. So this might actually be an empty space when we leave.”

The regulars smile.

The old neon lights glitter, buzz and make the sound of aged neon lights that don’t feel like changing their address. Chahalis eats ham from a plastic box and chats with his life long customers.

“I’m really excited about the new place,” said Chahalis while the old fashioned stereo played ‘Dazed and Confused’. “I am going to have a full kitchen and make awesome teriyaki garlic-saffron-rubbed burgers.”