The Liberty
12pm-4am Everyday
The Liberty is an exercise in what interior decoration can do to define an environment. Opened in 2012 by the owners of its sister bar, the Australian, the kitchen offers modern American fare. I was immediately drawn to the impressive mosaic floor (that was discovered upon lifting the wooden one) left over from its past life dating to the early twentieth century. A random collection of hundreds of old-school New York black and white photos in dark wooden frames hangs on the walls, and large industrial pipes from previous renditions of the space shoot around the ceilings and back walls. An ovular bar in the middle of the room, meanwhile, makes for many points of access to order one of the two specialty drinks dedicated to each of the five boroughs; The Penicillin and Empire 75 are the cocktail tributes to Manhattan. From four to six, and again from ten to midnight, oysters are just one dollar. The clientele is a mixture of midtown professionals and a heap of Aussies, as well as the usual little bit of everything that City bars see pass through. And for a change of pace from the other bars in the vicinity, The Liberty has old black and white movies playing on its flat screens, and a DJ that spins from a booth on the mezzanine level Wednesday through Saturday nights. Perhaps this all sounds disjointed, but it comes together to create an incredibly comfortable and funky atmosphere.