Times Square’s last dive bar fights for life against Durst Organization: ‘We’re still a slice of old New York’
He’s not going to take a dive.
Adam Lee Glenn, the 44‑year‑old proprietor of Jimmy’s Corner—Times Square’s final dive bar—has filed suit against the Durst Organization. He wants to stop the real‑estate powerhouse from evicting him after the bar has been a staple on West 44th Street for more than five decades.
According to the complaint, when the Durst family plans to sell the building, they intend to invalidate the lease because the bar’s namesake, Jimmy Glenn, died in 2020. They claim that the loss of his life should make the lease void, a move framed by Glenn as a betrayal of the close friendship he once shared with former Durst chairman Seymour Durst.
“I sort of always knew that one day — and I hoped it was far away — like progress is going to come,” Adam Glenn said. “But I hoped that when it did, it would come in the right way and that they would sort of have the grace and the decency to do this in a way that works for all of us.
“I feel like they’ve taken a position that they don’t need to do that. And so, you know, I took the position that if you’re not going to do the decent thing, then I’m going to fight you.”
Jimmy’s Corner opened in the early 1970s, founded by Hall of Fame boxing trainer Jimmy Glenn, who filled the cramped space with boxing memorabilia. He also stood up against the “Bad Old Days” of Times Square—then a neighborhood saturated with sex shops, prostitutes, and gangs—providing a safe haven for local residents.
“I’m proud that I still get people who come, like, who used to live in the building next door,” Adam Glenn added. “And they said, ‘I lived in Times Square in the 80s and the only reason I felt safe was because I knew Jimmy was here. The only reason this block felt okay was because your family watched out for us.’”
As Times Square transformed from a gritty red‑light district to a glossy tourist hotspot, Jimmy’s Corner has remained a refuge for both natives and visitors craving a $3 beer and a taste of an earlier era.
“Jimmy’s Bar is one of the last legs that represent New York,” recalled Clarence Sessoms III, a 36‑year‑old regular from the Bronx. “You take Jimmy’s out of New York, you take the foundation from New York.”
Dan Dion, 55, has been a regular for 25 years, visiting from Nashville, Tennessee. “Everybody’s welcome here, everybody feels comfortable here and in the world of Times Square that has changed so much in 25 years, this place hasn’t changed at all,” he said.
“It should have landmark status as far as I’m even concerned.”
Glenn had a lease with the Dursts until the original owner’s death in 1995. Afterward, his son Douglas took the helm. The lawsuit alleges that the Durst family used their friendship with the elderly Glenn and the terms of a 2019 lease to justify the eviction, arguing the lease was void after Jimmy’s death—well before its scheduled end in 2029.
Jimmy Glenn died of COVID‑19 in 2020, and his son Adam has been running the bar since. In 2023, the Durst landlords attempted to terminate the lease, claiming that many patrons—particularly black men—had smoked outside, a claim the lawsuit asserts was racially motivated. The dispute faded that year but resurfaced now.
Jimmy Glenn would never have signed a lease modification that would end his family’s legacy, the suit argues.
A spokesperson for Durst Organization said the company had tried to keep the bar open for years because of the relationship between the two families. When the property came up for sale, the company allegedly “went above and beyond” its lease obligations out of respect for Jimmy Glenn.
“We told Adam Glenn over a year ago he would have to vacate the building, we offered him $250,000 even though we were not required to do so, and allowed the bar to remain open longer,” the spokesperson explained. “These efforts have not been met with good faith. We have done our best to be good neighbors, and we regret it has come to this. This is truly the story of no good deed goes unpunished.”
Adam Glenn said he expected to relocate the bar someday, hoping to do so “the right way.”
“There will always be a Jimmy’s Corner in New York and I will find a forever home,” he said. “But in the meantime, I’m not going to stop fighting to be here.”
“We’re still a slice of old New York. People come in and they feel a little touch of, ‘Oh, this is what New York used to be.’ And I like giving people a real New York experience.”
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