KGB Bar

Critics' Pick

85 E. 4th St., 2nd fl, New York, NY 10003
nr. Second Ave. See Map | Subway Directions Hopstop Popup
212-505-3360 Send to Phone

Reader Rating: Write a Review
Scene: Russian, Neighborhood Bar, Open Mic, Theme

Photo by Youngna Park

Map

Official Website

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Hours

Daily, 7pm-4am

Nearby Subway Stops

6 at Astor Pl.; F, V at Lower East Side-Second Ave.

Payment Methods

Cash Only

Upcoming Events

Ongoing Every Tue	KGB Bar Nonfiction Reading Series
Ongoing Every Sun	KGB Bar Fiction Reading Series
Ongoing Every Mon	KGB Bar Poetry Reading Series

See Full Schedule >>

Profile

Back in the 1940s, this space housed the local headquarters of a Ukrainian socialist party. Today, the red menace congregates here—if graduate-level Marxist theoreticians can be considered "reds," that is. Debate the point underneath looming propaganda posters and framed portraits of bygone party leaders; more than twenty types of vodka should help liven up the conversation. On many nights, though, the point is listening rather than talking: KGB's reading series is legendary, drawing marquee literati like Luc Sante, A.M. Homes and Rick Moody as well as struggling writers hoping to get noticed by the Paris Review editors in the crowd. — Jenifer Van Vleck

Extra

For further reading: The KGB Bar Reader, its follow-up, The KGB Bar Book of Poems, The KBG Bar Nonfiction Reader, and On the Rocks: The KGB Bar Fiction Anthology.