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‘EVERYONE LOVED HIM’ Ridge bar owner
remembered as
local legend Coney Island
HEALTHCARE HERO: Alex Bass, a physician assistant at Coney Island Hospital, died of COVID-19 at age 52.
Alex Beylinson
BY BEN VERDE
Joe Joyce, owner of the
storied Bay Ridge tavern JJ
Bubbles, died on April 9 at the
age of 74 due to complications
caused by the novel coronavirus,
his family said.
At home in one of the most
bar-dense neighborhoods in
New York City, not much has
changed about JJ Bubbles in
its 42 years of operation —
something Joyce’s son Kevin
attributes to his father’s dedication
to an old-fashioned way
of doing things.
“My father was frozen in
time,” Kevin Joyce said.
Joyce opened JJ Bubbles
in 1978, near the corner of
79th Street and Third Avenue.
Prior to that, he worked as an
adaptive physical education
teacher for disabled students
at I.S. 27 on Staten Island, and
tended bar at the nearby Tankard
Inn. An army veteran,
Joyce was previously stationed
at Chu Lai during the
Vietnam War.
What did change inside
JJ Bubbles was its collection
of knick-knacks lining the
walls. Over the years, the tavern
picked up more and more
treasures, including a collection
of old earthenware beer
steins that hang from the ceiling
above the bar, and dozens
of old beer signs – all of which
Joyce collected himself. He
picked up the pieces at garage
Hosp. employee
dies of COVID-19
BY ROSE ADAMS
Alex Bass, a physician
assistant who worked at Coney
Island Hospital for 22
years, died on April 10 from
coronavirus-related complications.
He was 52.
A beloved family man
and respected healthcare
worker, Bass moved from
his home in Ukraine to
Brooklyn in 1993. He attended
Hunter College as
an undergraduate and received
his medical training
from Touro College before
working in the urology department
at Coney Island
Hospital, where his sense
of humor and generosity
won over coworkers and patients.
“If you ever called Coney
Island Hospital and
asked for Alex Bass, everyone
knew who he was,” said
Bass’ close friend, Lenny
Gets. “He was a 100-percent
positive person.“
Bass, who lived in Staten
Island with his wife and
two children, first began to
feel ill in late March. Once
his fever rose, Bass visited
a doctor in Staten Island,
a close friend of his, who
Continued on page 20 Continued on page 20
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