Murphy's Taproom in the Union Leader

[KBCraig]

I imagine Keith would prefer if they'd actually talked about the Taproom instead of the previous tenants, but it does paint a good picture of the vibrant downtown scene. And it seems Dada can meet more Bosnians while visiting there. 

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Manchester+is+becoming+a+city+of+sidewalk+cafes&articleId=f61b41df-9107-4617-8663-d3296b61fd00

Manchester is becoming a city of sidewalk cafes

By MICHAEL COUSINEAU
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff

WHEN SHE ARRIVED from Bosnia 11 years ago, Fikreta Jutanda saw an ugly portrait of Manchester's downtown.

"Gross," recalled the West Side resident. "Everything was empty."

On a recent Friday, she enjoyed a balmy evening sitting at an outdoor table in front of Murphy's Taproom, a bar on Elm Street at the southern edge of downtown.

"Now, it's much better," she said. "I like to see people on the streets. Nobody was on the streets then."

This decade, Manchester built a downtown arena and helped curb trouble at several controversial night spots that bred crime and threatened to slow the city's progress.

Murphy's opened in the same building that housed the Omega nightclub, the scene of repeated stabbings, at least one shooting and hundreds of visits by the police in a single year.

"I can tell you almost every single night they were open, there were problems there," said Manchester police Sgt. Kevin Kincaid, who was outside Omega the night someone fired gunshots at the club.

Kincaid helped the city convince the State Liquor Commission not to renew the club's liquor license, something the city didn't take lightly.

"I remember when the downtown was dead and there were closed businesses," Kincaid said. "We don't want a reputation of closing down businesses, but we had an obligation to the businesses that were doing the right thing."

On the night of the Omega shooting, Kincaid said a man who claimed he was assaulted inside the club was denied re-entry and allegedly drove by and fired four shots, narrowly missing patrons in a line snaking around the building.

"It scared people away," he said of the repeated reports of violence at Omega and Envy, at Bridge and Elm streets. People, he said, were saying "I'm afraid to go downtown, it's so dangerous."

(Kincaid's comments were made weeks before a Saturday shooting outside Aborigen Restaurant & Bar on Central Street left three injured.)

Nowadays, patrons are more likely to be sitting on a sidewalk in front of their favorite bar or restaurant enjoying drinks than causing trouble inside.

"I like the energy here," said Mike Jakubens of Manchester outside the Brimmer just after midnight, where rock music from the band Shoeless Joe spilled out onto the street.

"It's pretty (expletive) rocking now," he said. "It feels like Boston."

He and his friend, Cheryl Plumeau, typically stop at several bars when they go out.

"We feel very safe," he said.

They aren't alone in their migration.

"It's just the strip," said Rob Casey, security manager for The Shaskeen, an Irish pub on Elm Street. "They want to walk it. Hit every location. Make the rounds."

Outdoor areas, like Shaskeen's, can be jammed one minute and nearly empty a half-hour later.

"Half the crowd moves and we'll see the next crowd from the bar down the street," Casey said.

About two dozen restaurants and bars downtown are licensed to be able to offer cafe seating on city sidewalks, according to Matt Normand of the City Clerk's Office.

The change in the nightly scene, Kincaid said, has helped mellow the evenings.

"I think what it does is it takes away from the dance crowd to a casual relaxing conversation crowd," he said.

On this warm night, 20- and 30-somethings are dressed mostly in the standard uniform of their generation -- flip-flops or sneakers with jeans and shorts. A few women jazzed up the night with summer dresses.

Midnight on Elm Street was anything but a nightmare -- except for one 20-something guy who missed an open taxi door and slammed into the side of the yellow van instead. After his friend poured him into the back seat, the tipsy man got out and climbed into the front seat before the van made a U-turn and headed south along downtown's main drag.

Personal mini-dramas played out at every watering spot.

Outside McGarvey's, people parked themselves on plastic chairs and drank alcohol from plastic cups.

"I'd rather be in Boston. There's so much drama in Manchester," one woman said.

"Everyone knows everybody," she said. "You know everyone. You hate all the people you graduated with and come back and it's drama."

Her female friend said she ignored the personal turmoil. "It's like Jerry Springer. It's like a car wreck," she said. "You just slow down and look at it, but you don't slow down and help."

As the crowd left the Brimmer nearby, many stopped to get a bite at a sidewalk stand from hot dog vendor Jonathan Hallet.

"After they can't drink anymore, they see me," he said. "It's becoming a little Boston."

Much of the downtown's resurgence gets credited to the opening of the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester.

"I think it brought a lot of people downtown for activities," Cathy Fontaine said in the arena's shadow following a Manchester Wolves playoff game.

The Wolves season ticket-holder had eaten dinner with another couple downtown before attending the indoor football game.

"We used to go to Portsmouth a lot," she said.

[error]

WHEN SHE ARRIVED from Bosnia 11 years ago, Fikreta Jutanda saw an ugly portrait of Manchester's downtown.

"Gross," recalled the West Side resident. "Everything was empty."

On a recent Friday, she enjoyed a balmy evening sitting at an outdoor table in front of Murphy's Taproom, a bar on Elm Street at the southern edge of downtown.

I think we actually met this person at a recent Taproom Tuesday.

I also note that the reporter went out of his way to not mention the people conspicuously open carrying contributing to the much safer environment.