This is Joe's Cozy Corner, where Kermit Ruffins used to hang out regularly, at the corner of N. Robertson and Ursulines in Treme. He mentions Joe's in his songs. The owner, Joe Glasper, was jailed after he shot someone outside his bar who refused to stop selling beer out of his trunk. The bar remained open while Joe was incarcerated.
In May of 2005, Joe Glasper died suddenly in jail a week before we were to close on the sale of the house which I purchased from the Glasper family. The bar has been shut since just before Katrina. There was a great Jazz Funeral for Joe. He had hosted a long history of bands in his bar and was a regular stop for all second lines. Some say had Joe not died in the jail, the family of the victim he shot would have killed him anyway.
PaPa Joe's Second Line
After Joe passed, a couple kind-hearted local women were renting the place and had been in the process of starting a food pantry/community center. They painted the bricks purple. The old shoe-shine stand which stood out front has been relocated by some full-time drinkers who hang out at St. Philip/ Clairborne Ave.
Then, in the past couple weeks, one of the people focused on renovations at the Corner of Ursulines and N. Robertson uncovered another old facade decorated with it's original advertisements. This is the second one of these in the immediate area.
Incidentally, I found another one at Marais and Independence in the New Marigny area.
More Photos
2 comments:
Thanks for preserving the memory of Joe's Cozy Corner and giving us it's most recent history!! I remember visiting it about 10 years ago, last time I was in New Orleans. Since I am headed back for Jazz Fest this week, I wanted to see if Joe's was still around, so I could drop by. Sorry to hear of it's demise! Did you take over the building after his death?
This is cool.. I grew up around this bar and eventually hung as I turned into a young adult.. I seen many faces come and go around here.. Friends came and went.. This bar was like the Cheers of the hood.. Joe's Cozy corner should've been named the Crazy Corner lol!! I'll never forget this place.. 100% Treme
The Real Kashflow
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