Steve Brodie's Saloon

—114 Bowery —

You are standing in front of the former site of bridge jumper Steve Brodie's Saloon. A fast-talking former Five Points street tough turned con man and gambler who had fallen into debt, Brodie took a dare to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge just months after another daredevil perished performing the same stunt.
Whether or not he actually made the July 23, 1886 jump (accounts vary), he became an overnight celebrity, opened up the sensationally popular bar, and recreated his bridge jumping feat at the people's Theatre (199 Bowery) and in theaters across the country. Referenced in novels and depicted in the George Raft film The Bowery and the Bugs Bunny cartoon, Bowery Bugs. Brodie also inspired a long-time saying "Pulling a Brodie," which meant doing a death-defying stunt.
In addition to being a museum of the famous stunt, the saloon's back room was a hangout for sporting men and boxing champs like Tom Sharkey, Terry McGovern and "Gentleman Jim" Corbett.
Asked by legions of sightseers why he had not attempted the jump again, he always answered, "I done it oncet." Brodie died at around age 36 in 1901.
- Eric Ferrera, author of The Bowery and founder of the L.E.S. History Project (leshp.org)

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