NYC Pols Want White Horse Tavern's Inside To Be A Landmark

WEST VILLAGE, NY — Politicians are joining the fight to landmark the inside of White Horse Tavern.

Speaker Corey Johnson and four other politicians wrote a letter to the Landmarks Preservation Commission chair Sarah Carroll this week, urging the nearly 140-year-old literary watering hole to be designated as an interior landmark, Curbed reported.

"We are deeply concerned about the preservation of the interior of this iconic Village tavern," the letter said, according to Curbed. Rep. Jerry Nadler, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and State Sen. Brad Hoylman signed on the letter with Johnson.

Thursday, locals rallied to save the tavern, known for being frequented by the likes of Dylan Thomas and Jack Kerouac, Gothamist and Curbed reported.

Earlier this month, locals' feared the tavern would be transformed into an pricey, upscale bar after the building was bought by notorious landlord Steve Croman, who did a stint on Rikers Island for tax fraud and is known for harassing his tenants. He ultimately was required to pay his tenants $8 million in restitution.

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation quickly penned a request to Carroll to landmark the interior of the White Horse Tavern, since the building itself, located at 567 Hudson St., is protected under the Greenwich Village Historic district.

The tavern itself also has a new owner: Eytan Sugarman, known for co-owning a Midtown steakhouse with the short-lived White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci (who is not involved with Sugarman's White Horse Tavern venture).

At a recent Community Board 2 committee meeting, Sugarman was open to the idea of an interior landmark, but wanted more details on what it would entail.

At the CB 2 meeting, he insisted the bar's "spirit" will remain — and urged West Villagers to recognize he has no control over the building's landlord.