This bar looks like it’s had one too many.
Upper West Side watering hole Malachy’s has been in the process of replacing its facade since late April, and what remains on its ghastly exterior are pieces of dilapidated plywood — and a few Irish flags.
“Clearly, the current situation looks more like a disaster zone and needs to be fixed,” said Jon Hill, who runs the Instagram handle Architecture of the UWS. “Projecting that kind of vibe isn’t great for the business, the neighborhood or the city.”
Irish — and plenty of other — neighborhood eyes are not smiling.
“It’s a shame to leave something looking that way on an otherwise very pretty block,” said Haley Fox, owner of Alice’s Tea Cup, one block over. “At least throw some paint on it.”
But Malachy’s — a fixture on West 72nd Street off Columbus Ave. since the late ’80s — is the kind of place people like “because it’s old and ugly,” insisted Mike Mishkin, owner of news site ilovetheupperwestside.com.
“It kind of went from dive bar to burnt down crack den, but hopefully it will look nice once they’re done renovating,” he said.
The “old and ugly” bar could look like this when renovations are finished.
Owner Theresa Kelly McCarthy explained that plans to renovate — replacing the ripped awning and adding windows that open out — were in the pipeline pre-pandemic.
“We said, ‘Maybe it will attract more people,”’ explained the Eire-native, who was a waitress there before she bought the bar in 2015 with Billy Raftery.
It was her idea to add the flags.
“I said, ‘We have nothing out there, let’s put the Irish flags all around it. And I cut them off the St. Patrick’s Day [decorations] and stuck them all up,” she explained.
McCarthy claimed the bar hasn’t gotten any negative feedback about its appearance.
For some patrons, the shoddy facade is more of a draw than a deterrent. J.C. Rice“They just thought we were burned out,” she said.
The work began in late April, but the project came to a halt because contractors are waiting for additional permits.
Some residentssaid the state of the bar gave the neighborhood — known more for baby and dog carriages — a hip new vibe.
“I actually think it looks kind of cool like a little piece of the East Village on the Upper West Side,” said Sophie Orlich, who lives a few blocks away.
And it might be good for its bottom line.
“I thought it was closed down, but then I kept seeing people walking in and out of it and I became intrigued to check it out,” said Matt Meoni, a Bed-Stuyvesant resident who was working in the area.
