☞ DRINK: Downtown Copies Uptown Speakeasies

We had visited some friends that still lived in Chelsea over the summer and they mentioned that a Harlem style speakeasy had opened up in their downtown nabe recently, so we had to investigate a little further.  The venue turns out to be called Tillman's which is more like a speakeasy in the late 1960's or 1970's based on images found for the interior and the graphics on the lounge's website: LINK.  From what we can see, the bar space does have a more overtly groovy feel to it and not so much a prohibition vibe.  On the storefront end of it, the facade is actually pretty spot on for what we would imagine a nondescript, concealed drinking establishment would look like in the 1920's. Considering that Harlem had around 500 speakeasies before the mid 20th century, it seems odd to us that this trend is so hot downtown and almost non-existent uptown (except for 67 Orange Street). Read more about Tillman's in New York Magazine: LINK