ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- My Apartment, a quintessential Rochester bar that served up cold Genny to charming regulars and Kodak workers alike for decades, is back open on Mount Read Boulevard months after a devastating fire in May of 2016.
A discarded cigarette started the fire, according to John Spencer, its owner. They not only rebuilt, but expanded, adding doors that will open in the summer, new bathrooms, a pool table and now a full kitchen offering food.
Spencer bought My Apartment five years ago, from the family of its one and only previous owner. John's son Mike, now a co-owner, had been working here as a bartender.
"I have other businesses my children are involved in," John said. "They're my retirement plan. He's a great bartender and it was a great investment."
Very little was left intact the fire, except for the original tin ceiling, stained brown from years of tobacco smoke, and name plates that were originally on the front of the bar.
"When somebody would pass away, a regular customer or a friend, we would put their name on there and kind of celebrate their life," said Mike Spencer. "We're going to put that up somewhere in the new building."
In the building sure, but maybe not on the the new bar. The 36-foot piece of mahogany was at the former DeMay Hotel, which dates back to the early 1900s. It's been vacant for more than a decade and the owners there are looking to redevelop the space. John and Mike bought the bar, cut it into two pieces, and used 11 men to move it into the new space.
"We need some kind of history here because we lost so much," Mike said.