The Bitter End sits at 147 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, and it holds a title no other New York City club can claim: continuously operating live-music venue since 1961, making it the oldest rock club in New York. Bob Dylan played it, Joan Baez played it, and more than sixty years later the same red brick wall still backs the stage.
Ask New Yorkers about the venue and you’ll often hear it called Paul Colby’s The Bitter End, a nod to the booker-turned-owner who ran the room for decades and helped shape its identity in music and stand-up comedy alike. Below: exactly where it is, how big it is, who’s owned it, and what to expect if you walk in tonight.
Quick Answer
The Bitter End is a roughly 230-capacity live-music club at 147 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Opened in 1961 by Fred Weintraub and later purchased in 1974 by Paul Colby (giving rise to the nickname “Paul Colby’s The Bitter End”), it’s recognized as New York City’s oldest rock club still running in its original space, and it remains an active, ticketed venue today.
Where Is The Bitter End? (147 Bleecker Street, NYC)
The club occupies 147 Bleecker Street, on the block between Thompson Street and LaGuardia Place, right along the stretch of Bleecker known for its concentration of live-music rooms in Greenwich Village. The address hasn’t changed since 1961 — it’s the same room, the same stage, the same brick wall.
By subway, the closest stops are Bleecker Street (6 train) and West 4th Street–Washington Square (A, C, E, B, D, F, M), both roughly a 5-to-10-minute walk. Broadway–Lafayette and Christopher Street–Stonewall are also within an easy walk if you’re coming from the East Village or the West Village.
History: From Fred Weintraub’s Coffeehouse to Paul Colby’s The Bitter End
Advertising executive Fred Weintraub opened The Bitter End in 1961 as a coffeehouse built around Tuesday-night folk hootenannies. During renovations he uncovered a red brick wall beneath crumbling plaster, and rather than cover it up, he turned it into the stage backdrop that’s still the club’s visual signature today. Bob Dylan and Joan Baez were among the young folk artists who cut their teeth there as the Greenwich Village folk revival took shape.
Paul Colby joined the club as a booker in 1968 and bought it outright in 1974, and the venue is still frequently billed as Paul Colby’s The Bitter End in vintage press, memorabilia, and longtime-fan references — a name that stuck through Colby’s four-decade run. In June 1975, Colby briefly renamed the club The Other End; it was under that name that Bob Dylan launched his Rolling Thunder Revue from the venue before it reverted to The Bitter End a few years later. Colby ran the club with partners Paul Rizzo and Kenny Gorka until his death in 2014 at age 96.
The Bitter End’s Capacity and What the Room Feels Like
The Bitter End’s capacity is about 230 people, making it one of the more intimate rooms on the New York club circuit — small enough that every seat feels close to the stage, large enough to support a full touring calendar. There’s no true balcony or tiered seating; it’s a single standing-room-focused floor with limited bar and table seating, oriented toward that same red brick wall backdrop Weintraub exposed in 1961.
That small footprint is part of the draw for artists and audiences alike: unlike arena-scale rock venues, The Bitter End has always traded size for atmosphere, which is exactly why so many now-famous names chose it for their earliest New York shows rather than bigger rooms uptown.
Legendary Artists and Comedians Who Played There
Over more than six decades, The Bitter End’s stage has hosted a remarkable cross-section of American music: Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Joan Baez, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, and Jackson Browne all performed there early in their careers, and more recently Lady Gaga and Norah Jones played the same room on their way up. It’s also one of the rare clubs with an equally deep comedy pedigree, having showcased Woody Allen, Billy Crystal, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Joan Rivers.
That dual legacy — folk-rock proving ground and stand-up incubator in the same 230-seat room — is a big part of why music historians treat The Bitter End as a landmark rather than just another Bleecker Street bar.
Landmark Status and the 1992 Fight to Save It
In 1992, a landlord dispute put The Bitter End at real risk of eviction. Benefit concerts featuring Peter, Paul and Mary, Kris Kristofferson, and George Carlin helped keep the doors open, and that same year New York City granted the venue official Landmark designation — a rare protection for a working nightclub rather than a museum piece, and one that formally recognized its place in the city’s cultural history.
The Bitter End Today
The Bitter End is still an active, ticketed live-music venue in 2026, running a regular calendar that spans singer-songwriters, rock acts, and recurring programs like its Village Nights series celebrating decades of Greenwich Village music history. The club has continued to invest in its sound system in recent years, a sign of ongoing operation rather than a venue coasting on nostalgia.
Ownership has stayed close to the Colby era: longtime partner Paul Rizzo has continued running the club, keeping it under connected leadership rather than passing to an unrelated operator. For current listings, the venue’s own site and major ticketing platforms carry the up-to-date show schedule.
the bitter end nyc FAQs
Where exactly is The Bitter End located?
147 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, between Thompson Street and LaGuardia Place. The nearest subway stops are Bleecker Street (6 train) and West 4th Street–Washington Square (A, C, E, B, D, F, M), each about a 5-to-10-minute walk.
What is The Bitter End’s capacity?
The Bitter End holds roughly 230 people. It’s a small, standing-room-focused club with limited table and bar seating, not a tiered or seated theater.
Is The Bitter End still open?
Yes. It remains an active, continuously operating live-music venue with a regular concert calendar, making it New York City’s oldest rock club still running in its original space.
Why is it sometimes called “Paul Colby’s The Bitter End”?
Paul Colby became the club’s booker in 1968 and bought it outright in 1974, running it for four decades until his death in 2014. His name became so closely tied to the venue that it’s still commonly billed as Paul Colby’s The Bitter End.
Is The Bitter End the same club as The Other End?
Yes. Paul Colby briefly renamed the venue The Other End starting in June 1975 — the name under which Bob Dylan launched his Rolling Thunder Revue there — before it reverted to The Bitter End a few years later.
When did The Bitter End open?
The Bitter End opened in 1961, founded by Fred Weintraub as a Greenwich Village coffeehouse hosting folk-music hootenannies.
Who owns The Bitter End now?
Longtime Colby-era partner Paul Rizzo has continued to run the club, keeping ownership within the venue’s existing lineage rather than passing to an outside operator.
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