The Ear is a charming, stubborn sliver of old New York at the western end of Spring Street in a liminal neighborhood beyond SoHo’s borders and not quite The Village that—according to the eyeroll-inducing dictates of NYC real estate—is now called Hudson Square, I guess. The bar claims continuous service since 1817, which makes it one of the city’s oldest. Housed in the James Brown House historic landmark, the it’s just steps from what used to be the river’s edge, which you can see demarcated on the wall outside. But who goes to The Ear Inn for a history lesson?

The decor is unfancy, style-agnostic in a way that allows it to be itself. There’s some decorative junk above and behind the bar, wearing a half-inch-thick patina of dust. But what catches your attention is dark wood and brass warme

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