Bar Owner Sides With Residents

By B.B. St. Roman

For the last few years, residents have pointed to Johnny White's Bar on St. Peter (between Royal and Bourbon) as part of the reason there is such a problem with loud motorcycles in the Quarter. So it was a great surprise when the bar's owner, Lynn Sapir, appeared at the February NONPAC meeting and voiced his agreement with the residents! "We have the same attitude that everyone else has -- they can be loud and obnoxious." Though he has nothing against catering to bikers in general, he made it clear: "We don't like the way they treat the neighborhood." The bar has posted signs and warned its clients to respect the neighborhood when they leave, but even the bar has suffered from a lack of respect: they've had to close their own doors to keep out exhaust fumes and noise as bikers rev up to leave.

It's not the local motorcyclists, Sapir is quick to point out, it's the out-of-towners. The locals know how to be quiet.

For Mardi Gras this year, Sapir decided he wasn't going to put up with all the illegally-parked bikes in front of his bar, so he had ropes and cement posts all ready to set out. But Captain Dabdoub, enjoying his first Mardi Gras as Commander of the 8th District, had a surprise for him -- the Captain had already ordered his officers to clear out all the motorcycles along St. Peter! And Dabdoub promises more action in the coming weeks.

Sapir would love to see Johnny White's return to the reputation it has had for most of its 32 years of being open night and day, that of a neighborhood bar with down-home neighborhood prices. He misses the flavor that the bar used to have with local residents there and hopes they'll stop by more often.