Union Pool’s Hookup Bar Reputation, Explained

Anyone who’s been single in New York in the last decade knows about Union Pool, Williamsburg’s ultimate destination bar to get laid, and today in honor of New York magazine’s 50th anniversary, writer Allison P. Davis writes a beautiful ode to the Brooklyn breeding ground for one-night stands.

The (in)famous bar, open at 484 Union Ave. under the BQE since 2000, has been a venue for soon-to-be-famous bands, for hanging with tacos, and for dancing. But most importantly, it has long been The Place to go find a person to take home. Davis writes that she’s been going since 2006 “for the express purpose of getting laid without much effort.” “It was like Mufasa standing with Simba on Pride Rock and explaining that everything that the light touches would be his, except in this case Ada pointed to the Shadowland and said go forth,” she says of her first visit there with a friend named Ada.

Owner Zeb Stewart tells New York his “scientific” theory about why the bar has a lusty reputation:

“You have the front door, then you have the backyard. And you have this zone that’s kind of, like, private doors on the way out to the backyard — but basically you have to walk through that zone to go to the photo booth, to the bathrooms, to the pinball machine, to the taco trucks, you know, anywhere.” And so, he explains, “it creates all this natural movement where people are constantly, casually grazing by each other, holding the door open for each other, saying hello to each other, smiling at each other, and it mixes people up, makes them interact.”

Now, although Williamsburg has changed extensively with its Apple Store and Whole Foods and other early 2000s “hipster” businesses have closed, Union Pool remains open. And despite the neighborhood’s other changes, Union Pool is still what Davis still affectionately refers to as “the boyfriend store.” She’s not the only one. People are sharing their own Union Pool sex stories like mad on Twitter today, with more than 1,000 people talking about it.

Take a look at the whole piece here.