Duff's is a heavy metal dive in Brooklyn. Now, for anyone that has never been to a city, let me be the first to tell you that you've probably never been to an actual dive bar. There are plenty of bars around Myrtle Beach that look trashy, but your odds of being stabbed in them are low. ...Duff's...well that's a different story.
Duff's is in this neighborhood called Williamsburg. To a certain extent, Williamsburg is the poster child of gentrification - back in the 80's, it was a center for gang violence. Now it's mostly home to hipsters, who are significantly less likely to shoot you. The problem is, it's not entirely home to hipsters. Long story short, just because they aren't filming movies about gangs there anymore doesn't necessarily mean it's any safer.
And here's the kicker about gentrification - throughout the 90's, the neighborhood was a mecca for artists and musicians because of the low rent and proximity to subways. Now that same proximity has driven rent prices so high that many artists are being forced out of the community. Yet more tension.
So tucked away in this unstable, multicultural neighborhood is a little hole in the wall. No, seriously. It's a hole in the wall. Don't believe me?
That's Duff's. Yea, it's in that picture. See the little "A" in the marker? (Click on the picture for the full size image) Yea, that's the stairs, Duff's is down there.
Join us next time, when we venture down the rabbit hole.
