Turkey’s Nest doesn’t take cards or reservations, and for most of its 45 years it didn’t take much seriously beyond a frozen margarita in a styrofoam cup. So it’s a little funny to see it on a New York City government agenda, lined up with other restaurants asking the Department of Transportation for permission to put a table on the sidewalk. The last of the old-school Williamsburg dives is now a permit applicant.
The bar at 94 Bedford Avenue, on the corner across from McCarren Park, came up at Brooklyn Community Board 1’s combined public hearing and board meeting on June 9, where the board was scheduled to review its application for a DOT Dining Out NYC permit. The application (No. 20260418030001) was added as a late revision, according to a revised notice CB1 sent to community members on June 6, and it landed ninth under Agenda Item 7, the Dining Out NYC section, alongside ten other Williamsburg and Greenpoint establishments asking for the same thing. The meeting ran at 6:00 PM at the Swinging Sixties Senior Center, 211 Ainslie Street.
Turkey’s Nest opened in the early 1980s and bills itself as “the last of the old school dive bars,” a “local dive/sports bar” now run by its third generation of management, per the bar’s own about page. Owner Steve Ehresman took it over from his father and grandfather, Greenpointers reported. It’s cash only, known for cheap drinks and frozen margaritas strong enough to relocate your weekend. Some of its employees and regulars have been around for more than 20 years, and it’s shown up in a long list of TV shows. You don’t picture a bar like this filling out a revocable-consent application.
