Emerald Inn owner Charlie Campbell standing outside of the Upper West Side bar. Photo Credit: Gus Saltonstall.
By Gus Saltonstall
A longtime Upper West Side bar will close permanently this week.
The Emerald Inn at 250 West 72nd Street, between Broadway and West End Avenue, will shutter on Wednesday, the bar confirmed on the phone Tuesday.
The Emerald Inn has operated for 82 years in the neighborhood — first on Columbus Avenue and West 69th Street from 1943 to 2013 — and then in its present day location on West 72nd Street.
“We’ve fallen behind on our bills and rent, and like many small businesses, we’re still recovering from the long-lasting impact of Covid-19. Our business has suffered significant losses,” Charlie Campbell, the fourth-generation of his family to run the bar, wrote in a fundraiser last week in a final attempt to raise money. “For more than 80 years, we’ve been a proud part of the Upper West Side—welcoming neighbors, friends, and families through our doors.”
The bar’s GoFundMe raised $2,700 of its $100,000 goal in six days.
Emerald Inn previously came close to permanently closing in October of 2024, when it was shuttered by the New York City Health Department. Campbell told the Rag at the time that he understood the city agency was doing its job, but contended that the majority of infractions found were in the basement, and despite spending thousands of dollars to fix the problems as quickly as possible, the watering hole ended up being closed for more than three weeks and lost valuable business.
Emerald Inn will be open Tuesday night for anybody that wants to stop in for one last goodbye drink.
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