7B Vazacs Horseshoe Bar

Art & Culture | Bars

A Classic Dive Bar Featured in a Medley of Movies & TV Shows

7b Vazacs Horsehoe Bar East Village

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About 7B Vazacs Horseshoe Bar

 & why it made the Carpe City list

  • Although there are plenty of quality dive bars in the area, none have serious movie and TV filming credits like Vazac’s
  • A low-key, local dive, good for sports watching, pinball and a decent jukebox selection.
  • With its fancy Tudor-style windows the building has been around since the 1930s originally as a Polish catering hall.
  • Movies and TV Filmed Here:
    • Godfather II – This is where the Rosato brothers attempt to kill Frank Pentangeli
    • Rent – Vazacs is used as the façade for the Life Café which was the setting for the La Vie Boheme scene. The real Life Café was around the corner and was a hangout for artists and writers. It is said that Jonathan Larson was inspired by the café and did most of his writing there. It’s now a low-key bar called Maiden Lane.
  • More TV & Movies Filmed at Vazac’s
    • Crocodile Dundee
    • Serpico
    • Sex and the City
    • Five Corners with Jodie Foster
    • The Verdict with Paul Newman
    • Angel Heart with Micky Rourke & Robert DeNiro
    • What Happens In Vegas with Ashton Kutcher and Rob Corddry
    • Law & Order
    • And most recently Vazacs is prominently featured in Marvel Comics’ Jessica Jones series as Luke Cage’s bar.

Carpe City Trivia

Why is the horseshoe considered lucky?

If you did not already know, horseshoes are thought to bring good luck and protection and are often seen hanging over the entrance of a home.

This legend of luck stems from 969 AD when the savvy St. Dunstan, the patron saint of blacksmiths, tricked the devil. One day the devil approached St. Dunstan as he was blacksmithing away and demanded that the saint make him some shoes for his hooves. St. Dunstan, recognizing that it was the devil complied and then proceeded to pound the shoes into the devil’s hooves with such force that the devil cried out in excruciating pain. St. Dunstan would not stop until the devil agreed to never go near another horseshoe again. Thus, it is now a lucky charm to ward off evil.

How to properly hang a horseshoe over your home is consistently a source of debate. Some believe that it should be hung with the prongs facing up like a “U” shape. The “U” acts like a cup that keeps the luck inside the home. The opposing faction believes that it should be prong-side down so that everyone who walks under it gets a little of the iron luck mojo.

What kind of knife did Crocodile Dundee use?

The famous “This is a Knife” of the Crocodile Dundee movie is modeled after a Bowie knife but is actually an original design. It was made by Australian gunsmith, John Bowring specifically for the movie. If you are interested in picking up your own Dundee Croc Slayer, the closest thing out there is an “Outback Bowie Knife” by Down Under Knives. From what we have read, there were only a few official Dundee knives made so if you are seeing one on Ebay… well…That is not a knife.

By: Christi Scofield
Photography by:

Giphy, CSS

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