Goodbye, Old Pink
A historic Buffalo dive bar, lost in a fire
Buffalo is suffering the loss of the “Old Pink,” the bar on Allen Street that at one time was called the Pink Flamingo. It burned to the ground this morning. Well, it burned enough so that an emergency demolition was ordered. And in Buffalo whenever an emergency demolition is ordered, oh, it happens within 15 minutes. Everything else takes years. But our emergency demolitions, they happen instantaneously.
That is my drawing above of the Old Pink. I never finished the sketch — I always thought it called out for color, and I never got around to that. However I am glad I drew it. I remember the motorcycle out front, and the people I drew.
I like the sign that appears in my sketch: “Defend Beer.”
I was never hip enough to go to the Old Pink as often as others. I was there maybe a dozen times over the years. However I did enjoy its signature steak sandwich. Everyone in Buffalo has. And I share the grief of the people who loved this ramshackle old tavern. We are all involved on a personal level. Howard texted me this morning about the fire. He knew I would care.
It is heartbreaking when a historic bar burns. I remember that happened to the Little Harlem Hotel, a bar I loved. As lovers of the Old Pink did today, I rushed to the Little Harlem and joined other people there and cried. Another thing, I remember my parents completely supported that decision. They said, “Go down there.”
The fans of the Pink Flamingo on Facebook included judges and poets and William Eddins, Music Director Emeritus of the Edmonton Symphony. I knew him slightly when we were in Chautauqua as teenagers, and I interviewed him for The Buffalo News, and so his name caught my eye. A bar is a great equalizer.
People were composing elaborate eulogies for the bar and making plans to gather and mourn together at Nietzsche’s, its sister dive bar down the street. Nietzsche’s was opening early, at noon, for the occasion.
Goodbye, Old Pink.
Will our old taverns be with us in heaven? I do believe so. They will not be denied us if they are necessary to our happiness.
And they are!
I was never much of a downtown bar hopper in the 60's and 70's. Mostly Brunners, Allengers, and dive bars in Swormville. But a few years ago while in my late 60's I stopped at the Pink in the late afternoon a few times. It was named "Dive bar of the month" in Maxim magazine. The thing I remember most was when walking to the john your feet would stick on the floor with each step.