The oldest bar in Brooklyn is back pouring pints after a contentious closure almost emptied its kegs for good.
The Carroll Gardens bar, which was called P.J. Hanley’s for the past 20 years before shutting down last winter, will reopen this weekend as Goldenrod, the name of a local beer that flowed from the tavern’s taps over a century ago.
Owner James McGown bounced back from the troubles that shuttered P.J. Hanley’s and has restored the bar interior to simulate the saloon’s 1890s glory days. The proprietor decided to make the changes after he found out that the former owner was one Otto Huber, a Bushwick brewer who showcased steins of his beers, including Goldenrod, at the Carroll Gardens alehouse.
“This was his flagship bar,” McGown said.
McGown restored the floor and the bar, touched up the tin ceiling, and took the radical step of removing all of the televisions. The only parts of the bar that did not get a vintage overhaul are the bathrooms.
“There used to be huge urinals,” said McGown. “But they don’t make those anymore.”
He hopes the new business will help put the problems of P.J. Hanley’s behind him. The bar shut down in February when Mcgown filed for bankruptcy, citing thieving managers who he said gave away too many drinks and a landlord he said was slow to make repairs. The renovation idea prompted him to halt the bankruptcy proceedings just shy of auctioning off all the bar’s booze.
The bar first opened in 1874 as Ryan’s, and managed to survive Prohibition as a speakeasy with covered windows and hidden entrances. John Hanley bought the pub in the 1950s and ran the place until he sold it to his nieces in 1995. They kept the bar going for nine years before selling the business to McGown in 2005, but held onto the building.
Goldenrod is not the first borough watering hole to do away with televisions. Sharlene’s Bar banished the picture boxes when they redid Prospect Heights favorite Mooney’s, saying that not having TVs pushes people to talk to each other.
Goldenrod [449 Court St., at Court Place in Carroll Gardens.]
Reach reporter Danielle Furfaro at dfurfaro@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2511. Follow her at twitter.com/DanielleFurfaro.
