Please Don’t Tell Opening Second NYC Speakeasy

Please Don’t Tell is opening up a second location in the city, someone told Commercial Observer.

The popular East Village speakeasy is moving west after signing a 15-year, 6,000-square-foot lease at SW Management’s 162 West Fourth Street in the West Village, according to broker Murro Realty. 

Asking rent is about $35,000 per month, Murro said.

Entering the original speakeasy at 133 St. Mark’s Place is a bit like entering the Matrix: you need to find a payphone. Specifically, the one inside the hotdog stand known as Crif Dogs, where the phone booth opens up to the bar after calling inside. 

It’s unclear what kind of obstacles will need to be traversed in order to enter the new location.

Jarrett Sharp and Gage Sharp of Murro represented both the landlord and tenant.

The New Rochelle, N.Y.-based landlord and Please Don’t Tell — true to its nature — could not be reached for comment.

Please Don’t Tell was founded at 113 St. Mark’s Place in 2007 by Jim Meehan, Brian Shebairo and Chris Antista until the bar, and Crif Dogs, was taken over by Jeff Bell in 2019. 

Bell and Meehan made headlines around that same time when star mixologist Meehan, and author of the “PDT Cocktail Book,” was forced out of the venture, supposedly because he had been living in Oregon for some years, according to Eater NY.

Bell, who started as a barback in 2010, was general manager at the time and is now the sole proprietor.

Even though the West Fourth Street location will be the second in New York City, Please Don’t Tell’s secret has already made it overseas with PDT Hong Kong located in the Mandarin Oriental hotel.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.