Random Nostalgia: McGurk’s Suicide Hall
July 16th, 2004This one’s for Luis.
Yet another decayed building. Ah, New York!
This one, at 295 Bowery, used to be a place of ill repute called McGurk’s Suicide Hall. It’s in danger of being torn down as the neighborhood, bordering on Cooper Square, is being rezoned. Tall tales about McGurk’s (including how it got its name) first came to my attention in Luc Sante’s Low Life.
From a feature I wrote for my college paper, in typical scattershot style:
Originally it was simply McGurk?s, a notorious tavern and hotel which had stood on the spot for 12 years before capturing some of the grim attention of turn-of-the-century New York. The regular prostitute patrons would indeed occasionally commit suicide at the salon, spectacles that teased out the owner?s natural talent for promotion in a very tight market for sensationalism. McGurk made such a name for himself as to attract the ire and reproach of the progressive mayor, and, inevitably, his bar was shut down.
(I also wrote a short story set in the near future that features a renovated Suicide Hall as a kitchy tourist attraction. I’ll spare you that.)
The building is abandoned, though I remember reading a short piece in the NY Press (and god forgive me for reading the NY Press) about an ex-martial arts instructor who was squatting in one of the upper floors, along with a bunch of pigeons. This was a few years ago. I can’t even imagine what it’s like inside now, or even what it was like back then, but as you can tell, I certainly have spent a lot of time thinking about it!
[Picture taken early 2003]