Reopenings

Mars Bar Will Reopen on Second Avenue in Some Form or Another

Mars Bar will ascend in what's now called the Jupiter 21 building.
Mars Bar will ascend in what’s now called the Jupiter 21 building. Photo: Youngna Park

Another nugget gleaned from the newly released May CB3 agendas is that a reincarnated form of Mars Bar is headed to 11-17 Second Avenue, the site of its former home in the East Village. The infamous dive closed in a blaze of glory — and fond recollections of the craziness contained therein — back in July of 2011 to make way for incoming condominiums and a TD Bank. “We are going to reopen,” 80-year-old co-owner Hank Penza told Bedford + Bowery, which notes plans were always on the table to bring Mars Bar back in one form or another.

The establishment’s three other partners own BFC Partners, the firm that put up the Jupiter 21 apartments on the site, and as such, the new Mars Bar decidedly will not resemble the old one: Expect less grit, for starters, and a food menu. Even the name itself has still not been settled. “I miss the old times, but you can’t be the same way no more,” Penza told Bedford + Bowery. “There’s a lot of money invested.”


Mars Bar’s Owner: ‘We’re Going to Reopen’ (Jupiter 21 Developers Will Be Partners)
[Bedford + Bowery]
Related: The Long, Slow Death of Mars Bar

Mars Bar Will Reopen on Second Avenue in Some Form or Another