by Geoff Cobb 
Gazing through the luminous 100-year-old stained glass windows at Teddy’s Bar and Grill(96 Berry St.) in the Northside of Williamsburg, it’s possible to imagine that time has stood still. The bar is in fact so old that it predates the windows by about three decades. The 130-year-old mahogany bar and tiled floor are original, adding to Teddy’s 19th-century ambiance. Opened in 1887, the bar makes the claim…
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Great story Geoff. Yes Felice is a proponent of Mae being born upstairs above the bar. Hey whether it’s true or not, it is a great tale! Felice and I met at the local dog run.
I have not been there in awhile but when Felice ran it, they also had great food, maybe nine or ten dishes but they all were excellent and inexpensive. A burger, fish dish, veggie dish, etc. etc.
She might have lived there, but she certainly was not born upstairs.
Hi Jeff, I am Felice Kirby. I am not & never was a social worker. I was hired as a community organizer (very different if you are one or the other) in 1979 to work for Adam Veneski & the Peoples Firehouse after they won a legendary battle to keep Engine 212 open in the first fiscal crisis. My job took me to every building and business facing abandonment during the disinvestment & economic hard times in Greenpoint & Northside through the mid 1980s. My husband, a skilled tradesman & I helped Teddy & Mary with issues of their building and that relationship led to us acquiring the business and building in 1987. I worked in the field of community organizing and running the business, along with partners Glenn Kirby and Lee Ornati ( local also) until selling in 2015. The information about Mae West came to us when the oldest descendant of the Doelger family read a version of the history which we put together from others writings. We met 30 descendants when we organized a reunion of the disparate wings of the Doelgers in 2012. My partner Lee, might have more information. Mrs. Doelger told us that Mae was a distant relative and her mother gave birth in the building. My good friend owns The West. She believes West was born there. I doubt Mae would mind have multiple strong women claiming affinity with her amazing self!
Hi my name is Enrique was raised in Williamsburg & also lived in Greenpoint. I still live in the area and I am fascinated to here that Mae West family once lived upstairs from Teddys. I have been there a few times and once had an incredible night there by myself in the mid 1990’s. I discovered sometime ago that Mae is from Williamsburg & Greenpoint area which made me feel very proud of being raised in the same area as her and also being a Leo like her. It is so wonderful and great to learn and hear some history of Williamsburg especially when Mae West is involved or her family. Thankyou so much for sharing that. I was happy to read your comment today. Thankyou again.
Is this the bar talked about in I have a secret podcast the bar owned by Rita Star