{"id":1406,"date":"2025-10-14T12:13:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T12:13:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/1406\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T12:13:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T12:13:15","slug":"subway-grit-vs-sky-lobby-glitz-two-speakeasies-square-off-above-and-below-columbus-circle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/1406\/","title":{"rendered":"Subway Grit vs Sky-Lobby Glitz \u2014 Two Speakeasies Square Off Above and Below Columbus Circle"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re the kind of New Yorker who measures time by last call and train headways, you\u2019ll appreciate this: Siberia \u2014 the infamous Hell\u2019s Kitchen dive once wedged into the 50th Street subway station \u2014 has slipped back into our lives, this time at Turnstyle Underground Market in the Columbus Circle concourse. <\/p>\n

\"\"Siberia has slipped back into our lives, this time at Turnstyle Underground Market in the Columbus Circle concourse. Photo: Sophia Michelen<\/p>\n

Two escalators and 35 floors above, Mandarin Oriental has relaunched The Bar, a Silk Road-themed, 45-seat \u201cspeakeasy\u201d pouring jasmine-baijiu and pomegranate-spice concoctions with a skyline view. Same circle. Very different planets.<\/p>\n

If the sign for Siberia is easy to miss, the attitude isn\u2019t. Inside, the app-enabled TouchTunes jukebox hums, lights glow red-violet (a signature Siberia theme that\u2019s followed every incarnation of the bar), and a wall of portraits by Hell\u2019s Kitchen artist Dana Nehdaran stare back like a chorus of neighborhood ghosts and future regulars.<\/p>\n

Siberia\u2019s 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\u2019s back where it belongs \u2014 within earshot of rumbling trains and commuter footsteps. \u201cThey wanted somebody who could survive in the subway \u2014 and thrive,\u201d the owner, Tracy Westmoreland, said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Siberia owner Tracy Westmoreland in their new location at Turnstyle Market in the Columbus Circle concourse. Photo: Steve Hill<\/p>\n

The new Siberia is cleaner than the memory and there\u2019s a deliberate keep-it-simple price ethos: \u201cWe price about a dollar less than everyone else \u2014 it\u2019s New York, it\u2019s expensive enough,\u201d Tracy said, adding that what passes for happy hour here is \u201chappy all the time.\u201d House rules? \u201cBe nice. No creeps.\u201d It\u2019s 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\u2019ve been coming for years. Mid-sentence during our chat \u2014 over Coronas \u2014 regulars leaned over to hug Tracy, swap gossip or shout hello. In between anecdotes, he was welcoming back patrons he\u2019s known for decades.<\/p>\n

That instant d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu became literal when a couple wandered in \u2014 they\u2019d met at the original Siberia 30 years ago, they told him, and had come to toast the reboot. \u201cPeople met at the original Siberia 30 years ago and walked back in last week. That\u2019s New York,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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\nSiberia\u2019s latest iteration has a \u201ckeep-it-simple\u201d price ethos, with drinks costing about a dollar less than other local bars. Photos: Sophia Michelen<\/p>\n

Tracy is a storyteller, who\u2019ll slip from talking rents to reminiscing about his first New York job \u2014 working security at the infamous Studio 54 \u2014 without missing a beat. His bar, like his stories, mixes grit and glamor in equal measure.<\/p>\n

Dana Nehdaran\u2019s portrait wall<\/a> 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\u2019t make it to his studio, so Dana brought the studio to her. \u201cI wanted the portraits to feel like the neighborhood \u2014 different ages, faces, stories. It\u2019s the diversity that calls to me,\u201d he said. The series will rotate and grow \u2014 the point is community, not curation.<\/p>\n

\"\"Local artist Dana Nehdaran\u2019s portrait wall anchors the space and will continue to grow and rotate with a focus on \u201ccommunity, not curation.\u201d Photo: Sophia Michelen<\/p>\n

Alongside Dana\u2019s portraits and that signature red glow, there\u2019s a nod to old-school Siberia: the vintage Ms Pac-Man machine humming in the corner, ready to swallow your quarters between rounds. It\u2019s muscle memory from a dive that never cared if you spilled your beer while button-mashing.<\/p>\n

So is Siberia a speakeasy? Tracy smirked. \u201cHard to call it a speakeasy when riders are rolling by \u2014 but the spirit\u2019s here.\u201d Fair. The entrance is hidden in that New York way \u2014 there if you\u2019re looking, invisible if you\u2019re not. Spiritually, it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tracy and a patron hanging out by the vintage Ms Pac-Man machine. Photo: Sophia Michelen<\/p>\n

Ride the elevator 35 floors up and the tone changes from gravel to velvet. The Bar at Mandarin Oriental calls itself a \u201creimagined speakeasy\u201d \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s plush and theatrical, and designed to transport you away from Midtown rather than deeper into it. If Siberia is the city\u2019s ID, The Bar is its daydream. Only one gets your shoes dusty.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Bar at Mandarin Oriental is plush, theatrical and designed to transport you away from the bustle of Midtown. Photo: Sophia Michelen<\/p>\n

The real fun is in the contrast. Siberia\u2019s prices are a small act of mercy; The Bar\u2019s menu is a curated passport stamp. Siberia\u2019s soundtrack is a TouchTunes jukebox; The Bar\u2019s soundtrack is the vibe that happens when you\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n

The Corona I drank with Tracy at Siberia set me back $8. At the Mandarin, I had an Istanbul Sultan\u2019s Delight \u2014 an espresso martini made with Turkish coffee and fig \u2014 that was four times the cost. After leaving The Bar, I discovered they\u2019d already tucked in a 20% service charge, and I\u2019d unknowingly left a double tip. Consider it a tax on altitude.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Istanbul Sultan\u2019s Delight, a play on an espresso martini, at The Bar at Mandarin Oriental. Photo: Sophia Michelen<\/p>\n

Columbus Circle has always been a crossroads. Maybe that\u2019s the perfect metaphor for Columbus Circle in 2025: at the bottom of the escalator, a bar where you\u2019re welcomed back like family and a round won\u2019t wreck your paycheck \u2014 or up to the clouds for a glass that tastes like someone mapped the spice trade onto your palate\u2026 if you\u2019re 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\u2019re only a few steps from the A train \u2014 and a story.<\/p>\n

Know Before You Go<\/p>\n

Siberia \u2014 Turnstyle Underground Market (enter subway station at W57th St and 8th Ave) \u2014 Look for the low-key entrance in the concourse. Currently open evenings with late-night hours evolving. Portrait wall by Hell\u2019s Kitchen artist Dana Nehdaran, vintage Ms Pac-Man machine, signature red glow. Prices intentionally modest. Cash only.<\/p>\n

The Bar at Mandarin Oriental \u2014 (W60th St bw 8\/9th Ave) \u2014 Silk Road-inspired cocktails (expect $40+ once you factor in tax and tip). Plush d\u00e9cor, 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].<\/p>\n

\"\"Watch out for the 20% service fee at The Bar! Photo: Sophia Michelen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019re the kind of New Yorker who measures time by last call and train headways, you\u2019ll appreciate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,1886,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-1406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-newcomers","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-staten-island","13":"tag-staten-island-headlines","14":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}