Winnie's, The Dive Bar Once Beloved By Chinatown Gangs, Is Closing In March

Winnie's Bar and Restaurant, the 28-year-old Bayard Street dive bar that was, during a more exciting time in its history, the favored locale of more than one Chinese gang "meeting," will close by the end of March, a bartender has confirmed to Vanishing New York.

Winnie's had reportedly been without a lease for the last three years, and the landlord has finally rented the space to someone else.

In more recent years, Winnie's has become better known as the ultimate karaoke dive. Chinese patrons in particular will recognize it as the only place where it was possible to recreate the living room karaoke parties at the nexus of every family gathering.

Even before Winnie's inhabited the space, 104 Bayard knew what it wanted to be.

"It was a bar before that, and a bar before that, and a bar before that," a bartender told Vanishing New York.

Here's hoping that the next owner knows the value of this important piece of Chinatown history and will let 104 Bayard continue in its role as a gangster's paradise-turned-kitschy karaoke bar.