EAST VILLAGE — Evelyn Drinkery, a cocktail bar that opened its doors on Avenue C weeks before Hurricane Sandy hit, persevered for years despite extensive and costly damage from the storm — but the watering hole was finally forced to close last week, in large part because it never fully recovered, according to the owner and operator.
When Sandy struck in Oct. 2012, the basement of the bar at 171 Avenue C was completely submerged, said owner Jared Shepard. The draft beer system, two ice machines, and walk-in fridge were destroyed — hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage — while roughly $30,000 worth of liquor was lost.
The basement floor, bottoms of the walls, and electrical wiring all had to be repaired or replaced as well.
While some neighboring businesses were forced to shutter due to storm damage, the fledgling bar — which had only been open for six weeks — managed to stay afloat despite the setbacks by operating creatively, said Shepard, and was a local hit in the storm's dark aftermath.
"We opened and there was kind of a little light coming out of the window nobody else had, so it got people to come for the first five or six nights and it was kind of inspiring," said Shepard. "It gave people a place to go, for the few who stayed in the neighborhood with no power and no running water."
Shepard kept the power running with generators, had ice delivered, bought a few small fridges to replace the walk-in, and served beer in bottles and cans — he was never able to replace the beer lines that were destroyed.
But ultimately, he was unable to make up for all the materials and money lost so soon into his venture.
"We didn't really have a chance to recover because that happened six weeks after we opened, and we stayed open," said Shepard. "You don't feel it for your first year, because your first year is always your best and you can kind of cover up some things, and we got creative about how we operated. We operated creatively for far longer than we should have. But after the second year, the numbers weren't there."
The bar didn't do enough business in the following years to make up for the loss, he explained. The stretch of Avenue C tends to wind down early on weeknights, drawing few bar patrons, while there was no substantial food menu to rake in extra cash.
Shepard did not purchase flood insurance when he opened, he explained, because he did not think it would be needed.
The bar shuttered on Oct. 10, operators announced via Instagram.
Shepard said he was glad to have made it work for as long as he did — the closure is no "sob story," he said, and he is grateful for the bar's four years in the neighborhood.
"This was a business experience, and some things worked and some things worked really well," he said. "And for kind of a brief shining moment there was something that was maybe special for a few people. We’re grateful we had people who supported the business and liked what we did, and ultimately there were foo few of those people
