Depending how long you’ve lived in North Brooklyn, you may have heard tale of the legendary bar Kokie’s, which, about 20 years ago sat on the corner of Berry and North 3rd Street. In a true twist of hipster irony, the name Kokie’s really said it all—for $20 you could actually buy small baggies of cocaine out of a closet tucked away at the back of the bar.A longtime…
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What’s “dancing the mamba”? Is that some kind of a snake dance?? Is it anything like mambo?
Thanks for the plug, Ms. Penmann. Your piece brought the memories flooding back (the few that I possess). Perhaps I’ll buy a t-shirt for my three year-old – do they exist in child sizes?
I was a frequent patron in the summer of 99..my night would start at Mars bar and at around 2am I’d cab it over the bridge and hit Kokies where I could always run into one of my hipster Billyburg friends. The feature of the bar that I found most interesting was the shower curtained dressing room where you were encouraged to use your 20 with friends. The stall could fit 4 standing and we’d usually key bump clockwise 2x before the bouncer would knock to alert us another group was waiting their turn. It was very civilized.
OMG… Fond memories. When you say Kokies is back. Does that mean the Latinas and degenerates I associated with would be there as well? Next generation? Do you get 20 bucks of stamped on blow win the shirt cuff? Lol! Thanks for this!
yes, article is 100% true I live in Williamsburg at the end of the 90s only a few blocks away from Kokies. I would check in at the bar Friday evening and not leave until Sunday morning. It was a sad as it is that they close down thank God because it was killing me.
I still have the business card I framed it. It said Kokies- MusicFor your listening pleasure