The West End (former)

About this listing

Where jazz and "beat" culture fans and Columbia students have gathered

Place Details

Place Matters Profile

Nominations

This is where the beat generation began. Where Jack Karouac, Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassidy and many other "beats" first met and hung out. The West End was also one of the major Jazz Clubs of the 1960's and 1970's where many of the famous names in Jazz including Dizzy Gillespie and Lionel Hampton played.

For the past 100 years, the bar at The West End has been the most important meeting place for Columbia University and Barnard Students.

What makes this place matter is the long history it has had with Columbia University, the neighborhood and the generations of Jazz and beat aficianados. The center rectangular bar and the old, worn-in booths on either side of the restaurant have become the core DNA of The West End. Thousands of people have stories of events that took place here.

(April 2007)