If you’re the kind of New Yorker who measures time by last call and train headways, you’ll appreciate this: Siberia — the infamous Hell’s Kitchen dive once wedged into the 50th Street subway station — has slipped back into our lives, this time at Turnstyle Underground Market in the Columbus Circle concourse.

Siberia has slipped back into our lives, this time at Turnstyle Underground Market in the Columbus Circle concourse. Photo: Sophia Michelen

Two escalators and 35 floors above, Mandarin Oriental has relaunched The Bar, a Silk Road-themed, 45-seat “speakeasy” pouring jasmine-baijiu and pomegranate-spice concoctions with a skyline view. Same circle. Very different planets.

If the sign for Siberia is easy to miss, the attitude isn’t. Inside, the app-enabled TouchTunes jukebox hums, lights glow red-violet (a signature Siberia theme that’s followed every incarnation of the bar), and a wall of portraits by Hell’s Kitchen artist Dana Nehdaran stare back like a chorus of neighborhood ghosts and future regulars.

Siberia’s return is like rediscovering a favorite leather jacket in the back of the closet and finding a MetroCard tucked in the pocket. The legendary bar was first a subterranean haunt lodged along the 50th Street 1/9 platform, later reincarnated on 9th Avenue, and forever memorialized by the late Anthony Bourdain and a generation of night-shift romantics. Now it’s back where it belongs — within earshot of rumbling trains and commuter footsteps. “They wanted somebody who could survive in the subway — and thrive,” the owner, Tracy Westmoreland, said.

Siberia owner Tracy Westmoreland in their new location at Turnstyle Market in the Columbus Circle concourse. Photo: Steve Hill

The new Siberia is cleaner than the memory and there’s a deliberate keep-it-simple price ethos: “We price about a dollar less than everyone else — it’s New York, it’s expensive enough,” Tracy said, adding that what passes for happy hour here is “happy all the time.” House rules? “Be nice. No creeps.” It’s all low-tech and neighborly: a late-night pizza hand-off down the corridor, early coffee across the way, and a steady trickle of people who already act like they’ve been coming for years. Mid-sentence during our chat — over Coronas — regulars leaned over to hug Tracy, swap gossip or shout hello. In between anecdotes, he was welcoming back patrons he’s known for decades.

That instant déjà vu became literal when a couple wandered in — they’d met at the original Siberia 30 years ago, they told him, and had come to toast the reboot. “People met at the original Siberia 30 years ago and walked back in last week. That’s New York,” he said.


Siberia’s latest iteration has a “keep-it-simple” price ethos, with drinks costing about a dollar less than other local bars. Photos: Sophia Michelen

Tracy is a storyteller, who’ll slip from talking rents to reminiscing about his first New York job — working security at the infamous Studio 54 — without missing a beat. His bar, like his stories, mixes grit and glamor in equal measure.

Dana Nehdaran’s portrait wall anchors the space. He started painting portrait-stories during the pandemic and has been building a roll call of locals ever since: actors, musicians, a jazz-singing gym receptionist, and a 94-year-old Broadway actress who couldn’t make it to his studio, so Dana brought the studio to her. “I wanted the portraits to feel like the neighborhood — different ages, faces, stories. It’s the diversity that calls to me,” he said. The series will rotate and grow — the point is community, not curation.

Local artist Dana Nehdaran’s portrait wall anchors the space and will continue to grow and rotate with a focus on “community, not curation.” Photo: Sophia Michelen

Alongside Dana’s portraits and that signature red glow, there’s a nod to old-school Siberia: the vintage Ms Pac-Man machine humming in the corner, ready to swallow your quarters between rounds. It’s muscle memory from a dive that never cared if you spilled your beer while button-mashing.

So is Siberia a speakeasy? Tracy smirked. “Hard to call it a speakeasy when riders are rolling by — but the spirit’s here.” Fair. The entrance is hidden in that New York way — there if you’re looking, invisible if you’re not. Spiritually, it’s closer to a clubhouse than a concept: the kind of place where a can-and-a-shot still makes sense, where the lighting forgives, and where conversation outruns Instagram. Hours are still settling in (think evenings into late, with later nights coming), and the crowd already reads like a city sampler: commuters, old heads, celebrities and curious locals pivoting off the escalators.

Tracy and a patron hanging out by the vintage Ms Pac-Man machine. Photo: Sophia Michelen

Ride the elevator 35 floors up and the tone changes from gravel to velvet. The Bar at Mandarin Oriental calls itself a “reimagined speakeasy” — intimate, with a Silk Road narrative that threads through the cocktail list: Imperial Jasmine (baijiu, jasmine tea, yuzu), Siam Sunset (coconut, pineapple/pandan), Serenissima (gin, Campari, basil, prosecco), Medina Mirage (Moroccan spices, white rum, pomegranate), plus a Manhattan Spice built on 12-year rye.

It’s plush and theatrical, and designed to transport you away from Midtown rather than deeper into it. If Siberia is the city’s ID, The Bar is its daydream. Only one gets your shoes dusty.

The Bar at Mandarin Oriental is plush, theatrical and designed to transport you away from the bustle of Midtown. Photo: Sophia Michelen

The real fun is in the contrast. Siberia’s prices are a small act of mercy; The Bar’s menu is a curated passport stamp. Siberia’s soundtrack is a TouchTunes jukebox; The Bar’s soundtrack is the vibe that happens when you’re transported through time zones. At Siberia, the portraits watch you; at The Bar, the skyline does the job. One bar is underground by design; the other makes you feel above it all. Pick your New York for the night.

The Corona I drank with Tracy at Siberia set me back $8. At the Mandarin, I had an Istanbul Sultan’s Delight — an espresso martini made with Turkish coffee and fig — that was four times the cost. After leaving The Bar, I discovered they’d already tucked in a 20% service charge, and I’d unknowingly left a double tip. Consider it a tax on altitude.

The Istanbul Sultan’s Delight, a play on an espresso martini, at The Bar at Mandarin Oriental. Photo: Sophia Michelen

Columbus Circle has always been a crossroads. Maybe that’s the perfect metaphor for Columbus Circle in 2025: at the bottom of the escalator, a bar where you’re welcomed back like family and a round won’t wreck your paycheck — or up to the clouds for a glass that tastes like someone mapped the spice trade onto your palate… if you’re not careful, an extra gratuity on top of your gratitude. Both are stories worth telling. Only one leaves you with change for the jukebox. Either way, you’re only a few steps from the A train — and a story.

Know Before You Go

Siberia — Turnstyle Underground Market (enter subway station at W57th St and 8th Ave) — Look for the low-key entrance in the concourse. Currently open evenings with late-night hours evolving. Portrait wall by Hell’s Kitchen artist Dana Nehdaran, vintage Ms Pac-Man machine, signature red glow. Prices intentionally modest. Cash only.

The Bar at Mandarin Oriental — (W60th St bw 8/9th Ave) — Silk Road-inspired cocktails (expect $40+ once you factor in tax and tip). Plush décor, sweeping views. Watch the check: a 20% service charge is included, but the credit card slip still invites you to tip again (rookie mistake!), no reservations needed [for now].

Watch out for the 20% service fee at The Bar! Photo: Sophia Michelen