How sober-curious speakeasies have become New York’s hottest new night out
The law that banned the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol in the US came into force in 1920, but instead of stopping people from drinking, it merely sent them underground. For 13 long years, it was like whack-a-mole for the authorities; no sooner had they shut down one secret bar than another one sprang up overnight.
While many of these “speakeasy” bars – so named because you had to whisper a password to gain entry – were drab pop-ups in tenement buildings that served alcohol cut with formaldehyde, and small taverns in upstate towns, city centre hotspots were swanky, with the hushed sound of live jazz, plenty of shoulder shimmying and more than a whiff of organised crime.
As a
