Save the Palms!

The Royal Palm Tavern is slated to close the end of February. This tragedy must be averted. We can't stand idly by and let this happen.
Any suggestions [buyers] out there?

Why is it closing? Are the owners tired of running the business? Landlord raising the rent?

It is losing money. Sad to see it go, since I spent a lot of time there. [cornellsun.com]

Was my second home senior year, many years ago. Was thinking of retiring there. There must be a way to keep it open!

ugarte
It is losing money. Sad to see it go, since I spent a lot of time there. [cornellsun.com]

The comments to the Sun article imply that the owners of the bar also own the building and are selling it to developers who will put up more apartments.

Yikes! So sad. Occupy the Palms?!
So many memories of drinking PBRs there. We can't let the special places go...

Everyone's going nuts about this. Am I the only person who thought it was one of the tooliest bars in Collegetown?

ftyuv
Everyone's going nuts about this. Am I the only person who thought it was one of the tooliest bars in Collegetown?

Guess so. It was definitely the "senior" bar in '94 - a good place to just chill with a few friends without any annoying freshmen out to prove how cool they were. We always wondered how they stayed in business with $1.25 Schaefers...

Robb
We always wondered how they stayed in business with $1.25 Schaefers...

Volume.

Robb

ftyuv
Everyone's going nuts about this. Am I the only person who thought it was one of the tooliest bars in Collegetown?

Guess so. It was definitely the "senior" bar in '94 - a good place to just chill with a few friends without any annoying freshmen out to prove how cool they were. We always wondered how they stayed in business with $1.25 Schaefers...

In 1994 I would say the "tooliest bar" was Dino's. Guess it depends on how you define tool.

As for the owner's assertion in the Daily Sun that most of their business came at the end of the night, that's how I recall it in the early 90s.

ftyuv
Everyone's going nuts about this. Am I the only person who thought it was one of the tooliest bars in Collegetown?

I'm not sure when you went. It wasn't when I went. In the early 90's they checked IDs for real, so the crowd was all seniors, grad students and some young townies. I spent most of my time with the subset that played darts so I guess I can't speak to the larger ethos of the place.

ugarte

ftyuv
Everyone's going nuts about this. Am I the only person who thought it was one of the tooliest bars in Collegetown?

I'm not sure when you went. It wasn't when I went. In the early 90's they checked IDs for real, so the crowd was all seniors, grad students and some young townies. I spent most of my time with the subset that played darts so I guess I can't speak to the larger ethos of the place.

I graduated in '06, and the Palms was plenty popular back then. To be fair, I only went once or twice, but I remember a lot of popped collars and people standing on the benches for no reason and looking at each other. Looked like a bunch of popped-collar fratboy prairie dogs.

Wonderful place back in the early 80's, with a bowling machine and deep, spacious booths. It was a place for groups of 4-6 to get seriously drunk on those cold Ithaca nights.

It must be saved.

Ha. Finally read the Sun article. The owner was my landlord my senior year on Dryden Rd., and is a pretty big creep. He can give as many sappy stories as he wants, I think he saw the chance for a big payday from developers and is taking the money & retiring. So I'm not surprised, knowing his money-grubbing nature. I'm sure he realizes he's selling out generations, given the "kids these days are txting instead of drinking" excuses.

Soon the center of Collegetown won't get any natural daylight with all the sterile high-rises.

During my time, The Palms was a shithole with stale beer. While I don't like the look of C-Town right now, I won't miss the Palms.

Jeff Hopkins '82
During my time, The Palms was a shithole with stale beer. While I don't like the look of C-Town right now, I won't miss the Palms.

You say tomahto, we stay tradition. The longer you've been out of school, the more you hang on to what memories remain in professors still teaching, bars still in business. Gnomon Copy continues as a viable business going back to the 1970s? 1960s? but it's not as warm and fuzzy as, uh, The Palms.

What's money grubbing about maximizing the return on your real estate investment? I know you can get a lower tax rate in some states by declaring farmland forever agricultural. Maybe in Ithaca, Berkeley or Cambridge you could get an abatement for a rundown bar if you agreed not to turn it into doorman-staffed apartments or Forever 21.

In the late '70's, the Palms was a rare place in Collegetown which attracted both students and some townies. Had quite a streak going there in my senior year. Looks pretty much the same today as it did over 30 years ago. It needs to be saved. Maybe Elynah can start a fundraising campaign...

CAS
In the late '70's, the Palms was a rare place in Collegetown which attracted both students and some townies. Had quite a streak going there in my senior year. Looks pretty much the same today as it did over 30 years ago. It needs to be saved. Maybe Elynah can start a fundraising campaign...

I have no doubt that this little online community could raise a few bucks for a good cause. But enough to match what a developer is going to pay for prime real estate in Collegetown? I think you've had a few too many Schaefers...

KeithK

CAS
In the late '70's, the Palms was a rare place in Collegetown which attracted both students and some townies. Had quite a streak going there in my senior year. Looks pretty much the same today as it did over 30 years ago. It needs to be saved. Maybe Elynah can start a fundraising campaign...

I have no doubt that this little online community could raise a few bucks for a good cause. But enough to match what a developer is going to pay for prime real estate in Collegetown? I think you've had a few too many Schaefers...

Ithaca Bucks are the
one Bucks to have when you're
saving Royal Palms.

ftyuv

KeithK

CAS
In the late '70's, the Palms was a rare place in Collegetown which attracted both students and some townies. Had quite a streak going there in my senior year. Looks pretty much the same today as it did over 30 years ago. It needs to be saved. Maybe Elynah can start a fundraising campaign...

I have no doubt that this little online community could raise a few bucks for a good cause. But enough to match what a developer is going to pay for prime real estate in Collegetown? I think you've had a few too many Schaefers...

Ithaca Hours are the
one Bucks to have when you're
saving Royal Palms.

Fixed.

KeithK

CAS
In the late '70's, the Palms was a rare place in Collegetown which attracted both students and some townies. Had quite a streak going there in my senior year. Looks pretty much the same today as it did over 30 years ago. It needs to be saved. Maybe Elynah can start a fundraising campaign...

I have no doubt that this little online community could raise a few bucks for a good cause. But enough to match what a developer is going to pay for prime real estate in Collegetown? I think you've had a few too many Schaefers...

Change isn't necessarily bad. For every Olin Library and Milstein Cave, there's a "new" CTB, or Ale House, or new west dorms replacing the U-Halls, or "new" Wegman's, etc. The key is to always replace something with a strict upgrade, so things don't get worse over time.

In general, I'm amused when people romanticize their own experiences, as if most of the people lauding the Palms now would even be caught dead going to such a dump for the first time now that they are no longer poor college students. I don't think we need to worry overly much about students lacking sufficient opportunities to drink themselves silly: without Dino's, Johnny O's, and the Palms, more people will just crowd into Chapterhouse, Pixel, Ruloff's, the Nines, and Dunbar's, and you can't count out the notion that some spiffy joint will open in a new ground-level storefront. No, it won't be the Palms; but it will serve the same purpose for today's students as the Palms did for you all.

Sacrificing all potential for change on the altar of tradition or history without regard to the merits of the change is dumb. I personally would be fine with something replacing Lynah as long as it was just as raucous. Maybe that's impossible in a new facility, which would be a good reason to keep it around; but I am failing to see the irreplaceable uniqueness of the Palms that justifies any futile effort to save it.

Kyle Rose
without Dino's, Johnny O's, and the Palms, more people will just crowd into Chapterhouse, Pixel, Ruloff's, the Nines, and Dunbar's,

I have to say, that's my biggest worry, that the Palms' clientele will move to the Chapter House and mess it up.

(Actually, I have occasionally noticed that happening already...)

jtwcornell91

Kyle Rose
without Dino's, Johnny O's, and the Palms, more people will just crowd into Chapterhouse, Pixel, Ruloff's, the Nines, and Dunbar's,

I have to say, that's my biggest worry, that the Palms' clientele will move to the Chapter House and mess it up.

(Actually, I have occasionally noticed that happening already...)

It's hard enough to get a seat there past 10pm as it is. But if things get too busy, I suspect another bar will just open up. There's too much money to be made making students stand next to a velvet rope in the freezing cold.

Kyle Rose
In general, I'm amused when people romanticize their own experiences, as if most of the people lauding the Palms now would even be caught dead going to such a dump for the first time now that they are no longer poor college students.

(1) You need a little more nostalgia in your life. If you don't romanticize where you used to get stupid, why bother being young at all?
(2) The only reason I wouldn't drink at the Palms now is because everyone else would be 21 and I'd accurately look like a sad old man. That the place is a dump would have nothing to do with it. Dumps are where the best drinking takes place. Even back in the 90's, when I was in grad school I liked going to the Royal Palm and drinking with the regulars in the early evenings before the students came in and the regulars left.

ugarte
(1) You need a little more nostalgia in your life. If you don't romanticize where you used to get stupid, why bother being young at all?

I certainly didn't get out enough in college. But seriously, it's when romanticization turns into action to preserve the physical manifestation of the memory that people have gone over the line into missing the point. IMO. YMMV.

(2) The only reason I wouldn't drink at the Palms now is because everyone else would be 21 and I'd accurately look like a sad old man. That the place is a dump would have nothing to do with it. Dumps are where the best drinking takes place. Even back in the 90's, when I was in grad school I liked going to the Royal Palm and drinking with the regulars in the early evenings before the students came in and the regulars left.

I like drinking at places that have good beer. Usually, these places aren't dumps. But I guess I'm just a snob at heart: I certainly spent my share of time in Dino's when I was a senior, but we insisted on getting the best beer on the menu, $6 pitchers of Saranac Black Forest.

Those were the days. But I didn't shed one bloody tear when I heard it had closed. There are new experiences, new bars, new levels of dank, all conspiring to break people out of their comfort zones. Every man dies, but not every man truly lives, etc., etc.

Good beer can be had at many places. Magic at only a chosen few. Save the Palms...

CAS
Good beer can be had at many places. Magic at only a chosen few. Save the Palms...

You first.

jtwcornell91

Kyle Rose
without Dino's, Johnny O's, and the Palms, more people will just crowd into Chapterhouse, Pixel, Ruloff's, the Nines, and Dunbar's,

I have to say, that's my biggest worry, that the Palms' clientele will move to the Chapter House and mess it up.

(Actually, I have occasionally noticed that happening already...)

Level B is where those people will end up. For some reason, Chapter House is still too much of a walk for some of my friends.

Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class … and we’d be busy all afternoon,” he said. “But drinking habits have changed.”,

then it's a good thing.

ugarte

Kyle Rose
In general, I'm amused when people romanticize their own experiences, as if most of the people lauding the Palms now would even be caught dead going to such a dump for the first time now that they are no longer poor college students.

(1) You need a little more nostalgia in your life. If you don't romanticize where you used to get stupid, why bother being young at all?

For me that would be Dunbar's. I lived right around the corner from it on Dryden Rd. and was there several nights a week. The owners knew me and even cashed personal checks for me (in the days before ATMs). The bartenders all knew me and my friends, too, and knew what I wanted to drink on a given night.

Ahhh, memories

ajh258
... Chapter House is still too much of a walk for some of my friends.

For most people departing and headed home, it's uphill, which is work. But if you're stumbling down drunk, you haven't got as far to fall.

Places that were mediocre in life take on epic proportions. I probably spent a dozen nights at the Palms; now I'll say it's hundreds. The Palms deserves credit for lasting so long. How many other places can you drink where Kurt Vonnegut could have drunk?

Joe's downtown was always okay never great in its first life. We lamented the passing of an Ithaca landmark, it came back, and again the food is okay not great. But to give credit, it's relatively affordable and that counts for a lot.

Jim Hyla
Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class … and we’d be busy all afternoon,” he said. “But drinking habits have changed.”,

then it's a good thing.

Nothing wrong with hitting a happy hour, on occasion. Indeed, I remember the days when I fit that profile: have a couple of drinks after class, head home, make dinner, study, go to sleep. What's wrong with that?

Now, the kids don't make it out before 10PM, ever, for anything. What are they doing in the interim? Perhaps some are studying, but I figure that many are wasting their time on the internet, texting, whatever, instead of heading out early. More time spent socializing would be good for this generation.

"What a difference in this generation!"

Scersk '97

Jim Hyla
Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class … and we’d be busy all afternoon,” he said. “But drinking habits have changed.”,

then it's a good thing.

Nothing wrong with hitting a happy hour, on occasion. Indeed, I remember the days when I fit that profile: have a couple of drinks after class, head home, make dinner, study, go to sleep. What's wrong with that?

Now, the kids don't make it out before 10PM, ever, for anything. What are they doing in the interim? Perhaps some are studying, but I figure that many are wasting their time on the internet, texting, whatever, instead of heading out early. More time spent socializing would be good for this generation.

"What a difference in this generation!"

I don't mean to imply that "hitting a happy hour on occasion" is wrong, the vast majority of us, sans Mitt Romney, have done it. It's the amount of drinking that concerned me then and now. I don't know if there is less now, but that was what I was reading into the original quote.

I don't think there is less in terms of volume. It's more concentrated which aligns with the studies showing increasing binge drinking.

The Palms always seemed odd to me during my tenure ('88-'92)........I lived right across the street but I didn't go there very often. It seemed pretty quiet until around last call. Almost as if people went there to connect with friends before moving on to further drinking at someone's home/apartment, food or sleep. The crowd from 8 pm - 11 pm didn't seem as robust as at other bars. Maybe I didn't invest enough time there.

Most of my friends lived near Dunbars so we would generally go and watch Pep give beer to the hockey team (no free beer for us despite thousands of dollars "invested" at Dunbars) while Lee worked the co-eds. If someone was ambitious we might go to Dinos for a while to witness a broader co-ed audience.

Nobody ever accused us of being geniuses, but we had a good time in general.

RatushnyFan
Nobody ever accused us of being geniuses, but we had a good time in general.

Shorten it by a word or two, change it to Latin, and you've got a motto worthy of Faber College.
[clear]

RatushnyFan
The crowd from 8 pm - 11 pm didn't seem as robust as at other bars.

Precisely why it was my favorite, and why I said "a good place to chill with a few friends." It definitely got packed by last call, but that was my least-favorite time to be there.

Jim Hyla
Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class … and we’d be busy all afternoon,” he said. “But drinking habits have changed.”,

then it's a good thing.

Not really. Everyone just pre-games in their residence all night (whether to save money or because no one else is out), then shows up from 11:30p-1:00a and drinks as much as they can in a short span. Not safer and not better for anyone except perhaps the convenience and liquor stores. The drinking's just been displaced and probably exacerbated, not curtailed.

CowbellGuy

Jim Hyla
Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class … and we’d be busy all afternoon,” he said. “But drinking habits have changed.”,

then it's a good thing.

Not really. Everyone just pre-games in their residence all night (whether to save money or because no one else is out), then shows up from 11:30p-1:00a and drinks as much as they can in a short span. Not safer and not better for anyone except perhaps the convenience and liquor stores. The drinking's just been displaced and probably exacerbated, not curtailed.

Pre-gaming in residences not bars because of the 21-year drinking age as well?

billhoward

CowbellGuy

Jim Hyla
Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class … and we’d be busy all afternoon,” he said. “But drinking habits have changed.”,

then it's a good thing.

Not really. Everyone just pre-games in their residence all night (whether to save money or because no one else is out), then shows up from 11:30p-1:00a and drinks as much as they can in a short span. Not safer and not better for anyone except perhaps the convenience and liquor stores. The drinking's just been displaced and probably exacerbated, not curtailed.

Pre-gaming in residences not bars because of the 21-year drinking age as well?

And Xbox.

Robb

billhoward

CowbellGuy

Jim Hyla
Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class … and we’d be busy all afternoon,” he said. “But drinking habits have changed.”,

then it's a good thing.

Not really. Everyone just pre-games in their residence all night (whether to save money or because no one else is out), then shows up from 11:30p-1:00a and drinks as much as they can in a short span. Not safer and not better for anyone except perhaps the convenience and liquor stores. The drinking's just been displaced and probably exacerbated, not curtailed.

Pre-gaming in residences not bars because of the 21-year drinking age as well?

And Xbox.

Xbox over meeting Ms. Right at the Palms? What's the world coming to?

billhoward
Xbox over meeting Ms. Right at the Palms? What's the world coming to?

There was a lot of this going on, have no fear.

I have to say, while the Palms is a complete dump on the inside, the real appeal is the crowd: on Saturday night, the bar went from basically empty to completely packed with people dancing on the seats in about 5 minutes. I have never seen anything like it. You can't see the dinginess through the wall-to-wall people, but that just points up even more strongly that the venue isn't the important part: it's getting a large number of young people in the same place, dancing on the seats. Surely this will just move elsewhere once the Palms closes?

billhoward

Robb

billhoward

CowbellGuy

Jim Hyla
Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class … and we’d be busy all afternoon,” he said. “But drinking habits have changed.”,

then it's a good thing.

Not really. Everyone just pre-games in their residence all night (whether to save money or because no one else is out), then shows up from 11:30p-1:00a and drinks as much as they can in a short span. Not safer and not better for anyone except perhaps the convenience and liquor stores. The drinking's just been displaced and probably exacerbated, not curtailed.

Pre-gaming in residences not bars because of the 21-year drinking age as well?

And Xbox.

Xbox over meeting Ms. Right at the Palms? What's the world coming to?

Meeting Ms. Right via an online forum you moderate, apparently. Don't knock it!

billhoward

Robb

billhoward

CowbellGuy

Jim Hyla
Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class … and we’d be busy all afternoon,” he said. “But drinking habits have changed.”,

then it's a good thing.

Not really. Everyone just pre-games in their residence all night (whether to save money or because no one else is out), then shows up from 11:30p-1:00a and drinks as much as they can in a short span. Not safer and not better for anyone except perhaps the convenience and liquor stores. The drinking's just been displaced and probably exacerbated, not curtailed.

Pre-gaming in residences not bars because of the 21-year drinking age as well?

And Xbox.

Xbox over meeting Ms. Right at the Palms? What's the world coming to?

I have to figure a lot more of the Palms' customers were looking for Ms. Right Now than for Ms. Right, but I think most of us would agree that that's an equally laudable pursuit.

The Sun reports that the property was actually sold a year ago.

David Harding
The Sun reports that the property was actually sold a year ago.

The Sun reports the deal was several multiples of the properties' $800,000 assessed value, as if there's something amiss. This is the norm: a $500,000 house and lot are assessed at say $200,000. So long as this charade is equitable, everyone assessed at 40% of value, then it's okay. Still, it's amazing that the bar and 2 other Dryden Road properties in the deal sold for that much. Every generation of Cornellians thinks Collegetown is overpriced and then kicks themselves for not having bought in.

So is there any one out there with a little extra cash [maybe $3.8MM] to top the existing deal, and save our beloved Palms? Would need to sell a lot of PBR to earn a reasonable return on the investment, but that's not the goal!

CAS
So is there any one out there with a little extra cash [maybe $3.8MM] to top the existing deal, and save our beloved Palms? Would need to sell a lot of PBR to earn a reasonable return on the investment, but that's not the goal!

Let it go. The Palms will be a better place in our memories than it was most days in reality.

billhoward

CAS
So is there any one out there with a little extra cash [maybe $3.8MM] to top the existing deal, and save our beloved Palms? Would need to sell a lot of PBR to earn a reasonable return on the investment, but that's not the goal!

Let it go. The Palms will be a better place in our memories than it was most days in reality.

Truth.

Zinck's probably sucked, too.

Last night at the Palms. On the internet.

[bambuser.com]

Truly a sad day. Today's Sun has a nice story about the closing.

CAS
Truly a sad day. Today's Sun has a nice story about the closing.

From the front page of the Sun, Michael Bloomberg is the convocation speaker this year.

CAS
Truly a sad day. Today's Sun has a nice story about the closing.

If it went well, maybe they can do it again during reunion. Furniture stores go out of business, it goes well, they do it again.

A The New York Times article this week has a story that continues a lot of the topics we've discussed in this thread. It focuses on Collegetown, as the author is a CU classmate of mine. Choice quote: "I can’t imagine what it was like before Facebook when you could just spend the morning after a big night out recovering. Now you have to spend, like, an hour untagging photos." Sometimes living in the future is a bitch.

Last Call For College Bars

RichH
A The New York Times article this week has a story that continues a lot of the topics we've discussed in this thread. It focuses on Collegetown, as the author is a CU classmate of mine. Choice quote: "I can’t imagine what it was like before Facebook when you could just spend the morning after a big night out recovering. Now you have to spend, like, an hour untagging photos." Sometimes living in the future is a bitch.

Last Call For College Bars

Note that the editors have added a comment to the effect that they didn't bother verifying the names and Cornell affiliation of six of the students supposedly quoted for the article, and it's now coming back to haunt them. I hope your classmate's not pulling a Stephen Glass.

Beeeej

RichH
A The New York Times article this week has a story that continues a lot of the topics we've discussed in this thread. It focuses on Collegetown, as the author is a CU classmate of mine. Choice quote: "I can’t imagine what it was like before Facebook when you could just spend the morning after a big night out recovering. Now you have to spend, like, an hour untagging photos." Sometimes living in the future is a bitch.

Last Call For College Bars

Note that the editors have added a comment to the effect that they didn't bother verifying the names and Cornell affiliation of six of the students supposedly quoted for the article, and it's now coming back to haunt them. I hope your classmate's not pulling a Stephen Glass.

Ah. Seeing this now. So, drunk under-aged kids in bars approached by reporter give out fake names. Somebody call the New York Tim... Oh.

RichH

Beeeej

RichH
A The New York Times article this week has a story that continues a lot of the topics we've discussed in this thread. It focuses on Collegetown, as the author is a CU classmate of mine. Choice quote: "I can’t imagine what it was like before Facebook when you could just spend the morning after a big night out recovering. Now you have to spend, like, an hour untagging photos." Sometimes living in the future is a bitch.

Last Call For College Bars

Note that the editors have added a comment to the effect that they didn't bother verifying the names and Cornell affiliation of six of the students supposedly quoted for the article, and it's now coming back to haunt them. I hope your classmate's not pulling a Stephen Glass.

Ah. Seeing this now. So, drunk under-aged kids in bars approached by reporter give out fake names. Somebody call the New York Tim... Oh.

"This guy is either gonna think 'Here's another kid with a fake ID' or 'Here's McLovin, a 25 year-old Hawaiian organ donor'. Okay? So what's it gonna be? "