Clean bars with dirty pasts

Investigating the sordid pasts of notable NYC bars and restaurants

These seven NYC bars have one thing in common (other than serving alcohol): a history of smut. And if their walls could talk, which sadly they can't, they'd almost certainly tell some wild and scandalous tales.

An opium den, a sex club, a coke bar—these spaces used to be home to some truly sinful operations. Today, however, they're all upstanding citizens of the New York bar world, but it's still fun to stop by and see if you can catch a glimpse of their naughty pasts. 

By James Mulcahy; photos by Sam Horine and Sean Ellingson

Pictured: Apothéke, in its post-opium-den iteration