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Only a handful of venues in New York have as much energy as neighborhood Greenpoint haunt, Ponyboy. Set on a corner of Manhattan Ave surrounded by dollar stores and 24-hour laundromats, the bar is always a bustling hangout. When open, visitors can grab expertly mixed cocktails at the handsome front bar, or head to a red-lit back room with velvet booths and a sunken dance floor to find weekly happenings like all-vinyl disco sets and local funk band performances.
Like pretty much every bar in the city, Ponyboy is temporarily closed to the public right now. In the meantime, the local-bar-meets-discothèque is keeping the party going with to-go cocktails in striking glass bottles, decked out in memorable hand-drawn art.
“We wanted to offer our customers and supporters more than just our delicious cocktails, but a piece of our culture, and something tangible to remember a positive aspect of this otherwise very dark time,” explains Ponyboy co-honcho James Dorje.
Their lineup of limited-edition bottled cocktails features hand-drawn labels from talented local artists, many with passionate local followings.
The street artist Gazoo, who helped build Ponyboy when they opened their doors in 2018, created the current bottle label for the Rum For Your Life cocktail, a strong pineapple-infused rum punch drink with spiced rum, dark rum, overproof rum, ginger, mint, pineapple, lime, soda. (You already know Gazoo’s work around the city if you’ve seen the phrase “To the Moon” followed by a sweeping arrow. It's tagged on sidewalks everywhere.)
Smurfo, a resident DJ at Ponyboy, created another humorous label for the Purple Rain cocktail made with butterflypea infused vodka, peach suze, lemon, elderflower, demerera. On the label, you can see a half Prince-half horse centaur, with an angel’s halo being rained on, by, you guessed it, purple rain.
Each bottle will cost you $50, and you can choose from five cocktails on the menu including Rum For Your Life, Purple Rain and the Giddy Up Pony, which is spiked with tequila, mezcal, green chartreuse, lime, agave, habanero and Forgetmenot—a mix of mezcal, watermelon, ginger, lime, jalapeño and aquafaba with a matcha salt rim.
You can stop by their pick-up window Thursday through Saturday from 3pm to 10pm to snag one for yourself. Based on weather and demand, the bar may extend their operating hours in the future, so check their Instagram for update. Ponyboy is also offering free delivery on orders over $100 in Brooklyn (two bottles), or free delivery with a $200 order (four bottles) to Manhattan. If you're looking for something a bit stronger than tea for the next few weekends.
Ponyboy is located at 632 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222.
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