“NYC loses one of its greatest 3 a.m. fight venues.”
That was according to a 2021 tweet by the username Coach Clancy marking the official end of a 50-year-old McDonald’s on the corner of Sixth Avenue and West Third Street, which shuttered that year.
But earlier this month, the notoriously chaotic fast food location traded hands to the owner of the iconic Comedy Cellar, Noam Dworman.
Dworman purchased the building, at 136 W. Third St. in the Greenwich Village for $7.3 million, records show.
He told The Post of his plans to open a third comedy club in the city, with Comedy Cellar and Village Underground just around the block.
It will be a very “similar vibe” to the Comedy Cellar, he said, adding that it will be a “little more theatrical because we’re gonna have a mezzanine there.”
Dworman explained how the stand-up comedy industry is alive more than ever and he needed to find a way to solve the overflow problem.
“This property is a once-in-a-lifetime chance,” Dworman said. “I’ve known it my whole life. It’s right to the gateway to the Village. It’s right across the street from the subway, It’s freestanding. There’s not an issue with tenants who are inconvenienced by the club or by the lines and things like that. So I bought it with an eye-and-a-half towards my children’s future, not just mine.”
But Dworman will be taking over a site that has long been known to stir up trouble.
Once known as the enter-at-your-own-risk emporium of fast food — with a history of fast-moving fists and not a sober person in sight — this former McDonald’s was considered one of the most violent in the city, due in part to its location surrounded by bars and their belligerent patrons. Adding to the bad recipe, it was also open all 24 hours of the day.
At the time the company announced its closing, many took to social media to snarkily comment on its history.
“You could have received a mcChicken or a mcBeating,” one person quipped.
“Oh sh*t… the first mcdonalds that needed an armed guard,” another wrote.
“This just sent chills down my spine wtf that place should have survived the apocalypse,” another said.
Apart from the drama, and on the silver screen, this McDonald’s was also known as the site for the iconic “Big Daddy” scene when Adam Sandler yelled out, “Will somebody get this kid a happy meal?”
However, Dworman said the past will stay in the past.
“Whatever it was before will not affect us,” Dworman said. “People can’t get in without purchasing a ticket.”
“I hope to make a real positive pivot for the street because it was kind of seedy corner.”
Dworman expects his club to open in a year and a half. But if he had it his way, it would open sooner.
“If it was in, you know, Texas, I could probably guess like six months but New York, I think a year and a half would be very quick.
“We’re just we’re very excited. I think it’s gonna be… a really nice change for this street,” Dworman said. “We’re going to really make it, hopefully, the nicest comedy club has ever been. That’s our plan.”
The Comedy Cellar, located at 117 MacDougal St., has often been considered the best comedy club in the United States.
Notable Comedians who took its stage went on to become legends, such as Jon Stewart, Louis C.K., Dave Chappelle, Dave Attell, Kevin Hart, Jim Norton, Jeff Ross, Mitch Fatel, Darrell Hammond, Rich Vos, Aziz Ansari and Artie Lange.
Much of Jerry Seinfeld’s 2002 documentary “Comedian” was filmed at the club.
Inquiring about the name of the new place, Dworman said he is considering naming it after his father, Manny, who passed away in 2004 and who started the Comedy Cellar.
Dworman added that high-profile comedians were slow to perform at his other lesser-known clubs, but slowly started to pile in — and he expects the same to happen with this new one.
“It’s hard to understand it and comprehend that it happened slowly and gradually over so many years,” Dworman said of the success.
“People say all these wonderful things about the Comedy Cellar, and to some extent, I realized they must be true. But you know, from my point of view, I’m just running my small business as I always have and sweating small matters, like whether the food comes out on time and is properly hot and things like that.”
