By Scott Barbarino***In the latter half of the last century, New York City was full of clubs—cabaret rooms, jazz rooms, supper clubs, and you could make a case for downtown being the heart of it all. The legendary Five Oaks was a major spot, among those rooms, nestled in the heart of Greenwich Village, serving food, drinks, song and friendship for over a half a century—from the 1930s to April 16, 1996. An underground boite on the corner of Grove and Bleecker Streets, its heartbeat was the live piano and 
the folks that gathered there for what became a nightly party, one that went into the very wee hours many days, with the last guests greeting the rising Sun.
Greenwich Village in the early twentieth century became an artists’ haven replete with a very worldly bohemian lifestyle, which then morphed into being the center of the Beat culture and then the birthplace of the 1960s counter-culture and more recently, in our time, the cradle of the modern LGBTQ+ movement. In all of those eras you’d find a unique and interesting bunch of characters. And that would be putting it mildly. Those of us that were there know “You had to be there to be there.”
You’d imagine correctly that during those heady halcyon nights downtown there were certain individuals—personalities— that helped raise the bar on what the neighborhood became, and who drew people together and created magic. Barney Josephson (Cafe Society on Sheridan Square), Art D’Luggof (The Village Gate), Mike Porco (Folk City), Jan Wallman (The Duplex), Erv Raible, Karen Miller and Rochelle Seldin (Eighty-Eights), Jerry Scott and Johny Pool (Waverly Waverly), 
Tree (Stonewall), Larry Shumel (The Barrow Street Ale House) are legendary, just to mention a few. To add to this pantheon of raconteurs was Jeremy Burrell (The Five Oaks). His effervescent personality, charm, creativity, business sense and exquisite ethics created a wonderfully talented and diverse community around him.
It is, therefore, with profound sadness that I tell you that Jeremy Burrell, who was a major part of that time in the Village, died tragically on Jan. 8, 2024. Burrell had moved to Vermont many years ago and, typically, became a valued member of the Westminster West community. Friends recalled him as “a kind, fun, creative and special person.” You can learn more about him here.
Burrell leaves behind his husband, Steven Griffiths. To send messages to Griffiths, click here.
