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Brady's Bar Becomes 'Manning's' for the Super Bowl

By DNAinfo Staff on February 3, 2012 11:35am

Eli Manning #10 of the New York Giants celebrates with teammate Brandon Jacobs #27 after defeating the Green Bay Packers during their NFC Divisional playoff game at Lambeau Field on January 15, 2012 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Eli Manning #10 of the New York Giants celebrates with teammate Brandon Jacobs #27 after defeating the Green Bay Packers during their NFC Divisional playoff game at Lambeau Field on January 15, 2012 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
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Jamie Squire/Getty Images

By Trevor Kapp and Julie Shapiro

DNAinfo Staff

UPPER EAST SIDE — Brady is out and Manning is in.

Just in time for the Super Bowl, Brady's bar on the Upper East Side switched its name to Manning's Friday morning, as a show of support for the New York Giants' quarterback.

Workers hung a new red, white and blue "Manning's" sign above the bar at the corner of Second Avenue and East 82nd Street, declaring the bar's loyalty for Eli Manning over Tom Brady.

"I think it's hysterical," said Jocelyn Taub, 37, an Upper East Side resident who was walking past the bar Friday morning. "It's great. It's very smart and clever."

Brady's also renamed itself as Manning's for the 2008 Super Bowl, when the Giants upset the Patriots, 17 to 14 — and the owners repeated the stunt Friday in hopes of producing a similar outcome.

Patrick Proctor, 41, an Upper East Side building super who was wearing a Giants hat on Friday, was surprised to hear the reason behind the name change.

"I thought there were new owners or something," he said. "It's amped up. I like it!"

Not everyone who passed the bar Friday morning was a Giants fan.

Simon Desjardins, 30, an Upper East Side resident who moved from Westport, Mass., five years ago and still roots for the Patriots, said the name change was "too bad."

"I can understand why and I don't blame them," Desjardins said. "Brady's a phenomenal quarterback. I'd change it, too, because he's unbelievable. They're courting bad luck."

Brady's was originally known as McGrath's when it opened in the early 1900s but was later renamed for bartender-turned-owner Dan Brady, who took over in 1961, according to the bar's website. Dan Brady Jr. replaced his father as the bar's owner in 1991 and turned it into a Giants bar.  

Mayor Michael Bloomberg was scheduled to visit Brady's Friday afternoon to officially unveil the temporary "Manning's" sign. The bar will return to its original name following the Super Bowl.