Surviving since the late 1800s, Sunny's cultivates a charming, throwback atmosphere: nautical miscellany, model ships, everything but the barnacles. The longshoremen are long gone, but loyal regulars and newcomers alike arrive to play drunken sailor at the long bar and out in the yard. Foot-stomping bluegrass and other banjo-pickin' events liven the place up, usually on Thursdays and Sundays.
Hurricane Sandy dealt the bar a tough blow and it struggled to rebound from the damage. The bar's legendary owner Sunny Balzano passed away in 2016 and real-estate-related threats have loomed for years. Sunny's Nights: Lost and Found at a Bar on the Edge of the World by Tim Sultan (2016) is a loving portrait of the bar and its owner.
