New Yorkers drank illegally at lockdown 'speakeasies' during COVID-19 pandemic

Some New York City residents are scoffing at the new bars and clubs that call themselves “speakeasies,” saying they’re nothing like the real thing they snuck away to during pandemic lockdowns.

Speakeasies, short for “speak softly shop” or “smuggler’s house,” sold liquor in secret during America’s Prohibition era in the 1920s and 30s. The New York Post reports that the illegal establishments returned during the COVID-19 pandemic while bars and clubs were closed.

“These places are cute, but they aren’t the real thing,” said Torie, 29, who said she frequented an illegal party at a restaurant in the Financial District.

“You had to enter through a parking garage. There were a bunch of security stationed there, and you would just kind of nod at them,” she continued.

“Inside, the dance floor was packed, and they would play the best music until 4 or 5 in the morning,” Torie said, adding that they could not re-enter once they left to avoid suspicion. Patrons were even told to smoke indoors to avoid going outside.

The party was not on social media, requiring guests to learn through word of mouth.

Rachel, a 33-year-old, concurred that speakeasies were “overdone.” Her local bar closed up the front and barricaded it with stacked chairs, but continued to let regulars in the back to drink and dance.

“It felt like prohibition,” Rachel told The Post.

“The bouncer wouldn’t let me leave until he could go outside and check and make sure cops weren’t coming. It was so hush-hush.”

Restauranteurs say that lockdowns that closed bars and restaurants has generated interested in speakeasies.

“During the pandemic, when people wanted to go out and it was illegal to gather, it probably revived that old prohibition culture of sneaking around and knocking on doors and speaking passwords to get into the bar,” Ed Regall, owner of new speakeasy One19, told The Post.

But Rachel doesn’t see herself visiting any of these new “secret spots.”

“It’s like going to a reenactment when you go to your typical speakeasy right now,” she said.

For those who are interested, the New York Post had some recommendations at the bottom.