maybe coming soon

It Looks Like Chinatown Karaoke Dive Winnie’s Will Return From the Dead

The old Winnie’s. Photo: Jed Egan

Attention, karaoke-loving New Yorkers: You can stop mourning the shuttering of Winnie’s now. Not because it’s been almost two years since the business closed, but because it looks like it may return. The shuttered bar’s owners have applied for a liquor license for a Chinatown space at 58 East Broadway, in what will reportedly be a brand-new space without many elements from the original bar. There will still be karaoke, of course, so it’s time to start practicing “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac nightly.

The bar was originally open for 28 years on Bayard Street in Chinatown, where it became a destination for Hawaiian Punch–fueled nights and slurred renditions of songs played on a laser-disc karaoke machine. A dive-cum-accidental-nightlife-destination, it closed when its landlord decided to rent the space out to someone else. (There were plans to use the Winnie’s name in a “reboot” of the space, which is now Lalo.)

Chinatown Karaoke Dive Winnie’s May Return From the Dead