Bye Bye Passerby

Passerby was the kind of bar that defined what made New York worth living in. Owned by Gavin Brown of Gavin Brown Enterprises gallery on the southern edge of Greenwich Village, the whole place breathed art — some great, some terrible, all of it present. The floor was the star: an installation by Piotr Uklanski that lit up like Saturday Night Fever, warm glowing light that made everyone inside look like the best version of themselves.

Down the street from Phillips de Pury and across from Chelsea Market, Passerby occupied a specific niche in the ecosystem. It was where you went after getting chewed out by your gallery owner, where the drinks were reasonably priced by Chelsea/Meatpacking standards, and where the world’s smallest dance floor somehow held art world staffers, artists, models, FIT students, the occasional celebrity, and people who had no business being there but fit in anyway. That mix — the democratic ambient glow of it — was exactly what New York nightlife was supposed to be.

Passerby is gone now, replaced like almost everything else.

Location: 436 West 15th Street, New York, NY 10011