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Party on Tap for Bars and Restaurants During Irene

By DNAinfo Staff on August 27, 2011 11:22pm  | Updated on August 28, 2011 4:39am

People were out partying Saturday night despite Hurricane Irene bearing down on the area.
People were out partying Saturday night despite Hurricane Irene bearing down on the area.
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By Serena Solomon and Tom Liddy

DNAinfo Staff

MANHATTAN — It may have been dark and stormy outside, but the party was on around the city Saturday night.

While Hoboken shuttered its watering holes at 8 p.m. as Hurricane Irene bore down on the area, many eateries and bars around Manhattan stayed open well after that.

Revelers lined the bar at Fanelli's Cafe in SoHo and bars along Avenue B and C in the East Village and some in the West Village were open as well.

At O'Lunney's in Times Square, the party was going until nearly 3 a.m. 

"We were very busy and a lot of peole were saying we're so grateful that you're open because we had nowhere to go," said Maureen O'Lunney.

Guinness and beer flowed at the 45th Street pub throughout the day, but at least one patron ordered a hurricane, she said.

"It was a great spirit. People were having a lot of fun," she said.  At closing time, "we had to say folks you've gottta go home."

Many of the patrons, a number of whom were tourists stranded because of the closed airports, came in to grab a meal.  Half of the TVs were tuned to sports but the others were tuned to coverage of the storm.

"It was a fun atmosphere because there was an event going on around you," she said.

Bartender Michael Donnelly said that he was shocked by the volume of customers on the stormy night. 

"Tonight was surprising. I was not expecting it to be as busy as it was," he said. "The hotels were full and our doors were open so they just kept coming.

"Everybody was in a good, cheerful mood."

At Ace Bar, at 531 East 5th St., in the East Village, about a dozen locals were still hanging out as of 3:30 a.m.

"It's just a really cool local, small crowd," said Lucy, a manager. "We're having fun.

"We're listening to some rock music and hanging out."

Those who braved the storm to party could fill their bellies at several eateries around the area.

McDonald's in the Village was open as Irene approached as was Arturo's on Houston Street.  And the Washington Square Diner on West 4th Street whipped up hundreds of sandwiches for hungry MTA workers.   

Not brave enough to go outdoors?

Several Domino's Pizza shops were open around Manhattan, including the one on West 8th Street, near Sixth Avenue and at 205 Allen St., which expected to stay open until 2 or 3 a.m. 

Some even took the party outside, despite the dangers accompanying the massive storm.

In the West Village, a group of streakers was spotted running around Hudson Street, near Morton Street around 2 a.m.

And in the East Village, a pair of cyclists took advantage of the warm temps and the rain to ride through the deserted streets.

"Its beautiful," one said before putting a shirt on and walking into a bar on Second Avenue and East 9th Street in the East Village. 

Another gushed about a bike ride through the evacuated area in Battery Park.

"I have lived in New York for seven years and I have never had a moment like it," he said. The absence of people allowed him to hear sounds, like insects, that he had never heard before in the city.

Some in the East Village sat on their stoops and gathered in doorways waiting for the hurricane to strike.

Many normally busy thoroughfares, like St. Mark's Place, however, were deserted.