If the library at my university or high school looked anything like this joint, maybe I would have spent a little more time there. As it was, the place might as well have been filled to the rafters with poop the way I stayed away. Luckily, the Hudson Library Bar has way more wood than feces, and tons more class than the industrial structures that made up the architectural genius of the E.S. Bird (which, ironically, was always lined with pigeons and their droppings) and Seeley G. Mudd libraries. I’m going to go ahead and assume the Dewey Decimal System never saw the light of day in this faux version at the Hudson hotel, but it’s nice to think that someone somewhere thought that people might actually enjoy hanging out in an environment with cushy chairs and non-fluorescent lighting. While the space itself is pretty cool, with its two or three-story ceiling and wrap-around balcony (complete with books and stuff), calling this a bar is kind of a stretch. The drink service is more like one of those roll-up wedding kiosks than an actual bar bar. There isn’t a thing on tap, and the bottled beer is limited. There is a pool table, though, which makes the place seem a little more like a drinking establishment than the fancy-pants Starbucks that it ends up being. Apparently there are even computers hanging out somewhere in the place. Our little group hunkered down by the big fireplace, sitting on ottomans and what I can only think were African drums that we probably shouldn’t have been squatting on. If you happen to work nearby, this really is a pretty mellow and comfortable place to go to discuss that job offer you’re considering or coup you’re planning. [MF]
356 W 58th St.
212/554-6317