The Demise of 295 (and The) Bowery:
by Matt Levy
As gentrification and cooption of this beautiful city’s seedier underside continues on its relentless path, with naked profiteering posing as economic revitalization, we at Officially want you to take note of some currently dilapidated and unoccupied buildings with brilliant, if grimy, hidden histories of urban folklore. 295 Bowery, the tenement due south of CBGBs between Houston and E. 2nd Street (neighbored by a weed-strewn lot and the Liz Christy Garden) used to be one of the most notorious low-level dives of the Old Bowery. It was called McGurk’s Suicide Saloon and was frequented by down-and-out prostitutes who would purchase carbolic acid from nearby druggists and mix the deadly poison into their booze. This grisly attraction only bolstered the popularity of the dive (which itself was advertised by one of the first electric signs on the Bowery in 1899,) so much that assorted tourists would stop by, in the hopes of catching a ‘real live suicide in the happening.’ John McGurk, the owner and proprietor, was known for brief speeches over the bodies, none too incriminating, seeing as how the suicides were good for business. “Most of the women who come to my place have been on the down grade too long to think of reforming. I just want to say that I never pushed a girl downhill any more than I ever refused a helping hand to one who wanted to climb.” The building has been scheduled for demolition since 1999, but with the rise of the new Chrystie Place million-dollar condos on Bowery and Houston, McGurk’s might actually be murdered before the summer. Try and peek through the dusty windows before another part of the city and its history is long gone. Matt Levy
