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Hello, Dolly’s!
Dolly Parton cover band reviews Dolly Parton-themed bar
New York dolls: Julia Sirna-Frest and Maggie Robinson Katz, from the Dolly Parton cover band Doll Parts, toast Dolly’s Swing and Dive, a Dolly Parton-themed bar in Williamsburg. Photo by Caroline Ourso
TBy Bill Roundy hey’re laughing and drinking and
having a party!
A new bar with a Dolly Parton
theme opened in Williamsburg last month.
Is Dolly’s Swing and Dive any good?
To find out, we turned to the experts —
the women behind Brooklyn’s own Dolly
Parton cover band Doll Parts: Maggie
Robinson Katz and Julia Sirna-Frest.
These two devotees of the sequined
Queen of Country joined our arts editor
on a Sunday afternoon to examine the
bar’s decor, the drinks, and the bathroom,
which is covered sink-to-ceiling with
Dolly Parton album covers.
First impressions
Maggie Robinson Katz: I thought it
would be more trailer park trashy, but it’s
classy.
Julia Sirna-Frest: I do appreciate that
they didn’t go full Barbie pink, or put
gingham on the tables.
Bill Roundy: Apparently one of the
inspirations was Dolly Parton saying “It
costs a lot of money to look this cheap.”
Maggie: Considering the price of New
York real estate, that’s probably true. But
I don’t think it looks cheap. … It’s like a
cool grandma’s basement.
Julia: Like a Midwestern basement
bar, that you always wished you could go,
and now you’re 21.
Maggie: It’s a good first date place —
it’s comfortable.
Julia: It shows “I have great taste. I
love Dolly.”
Maggie (pointing): And I love a disco
ball!
The bathroom
Maggie: The bathroom! I give it 10
out of 10 Dollys! I just want to live in that
bathroom!
Julia: I want to know what happened to
all the records.
Maggie: You can see all the different
changes she’s gone through over the years,
and the different styles she’s had.
Julia: Dolly keeps changing, but she
always is who she is.
Maggie: She’s nostalgic and modern —
which is like this bar!
A photographer arrives, and our
reviewers return to the bathroom to touch
up their makeup. Moments later:
Julia: There’s no mirror in the
bathroom! Shocking!
Maggie: That’s the only downside.
The drinks
Dolly’s Swing and Dive offers a menu
of six $9 cocktails. It also offers eight
draft beers, ranging in price from $4–$8,
wines, and beer-and-shot combos. From
the cocktail list, Maggie chose a Daiquirilike
drink called Let Me Tango, while Julia
selected the Margarita-like Chapo Chapo.
Julia: The presentation is fantastic —
and they gave me an extra shot! Very
refreshing.
Maggie: This is a beautiful mezcal
drink. I like that smoke.
Julia: It’s a very easy-drinking
cocktail. Maybe that’s the danger here!
Maggie: Anywhere else, this would be
a $13 drink.
A doll’s house: The bathroom of Dolly’s is
coated in Dolly Parton album covers.
Photo by Caroline Ourso
Final verdict
Julia: How many Dollys do you give it?
Maggie: I give it… five Dollys.
Julia: Out of five?
Maggie: Yes. Five out of five. How
about you?
Julia: Four out of five. A skosh off
because of no mirror.
Dolly’s Swing and Dive 101 Kent Ave.
at N. Eighth Street in Williamsburg, (904)
414–5095, www.dollysbk.com. Open Mon–
Fri, 3 pm–4 am; Sat–Sun, noon–4 am.
Your entertainment
guide Page 37
Police Blotter ..........................8
Standing O ............................ 26
Education .............................. 27
NYC Works .............................. 31
Opinion ...................................34
Letters .................................... 35
HOW TO REACH US
COURIER L 2 IFE, JAN. 31-FEB. 6,2020
BY ROSE ADAMS
Engineering gurus will begin
studying a proposed billion
dollar passenger train
that would run through southern
Brooklyn, authorities announced
on Jan. 22.
The Metropolitan Transit
Authority awarded infrastructure
fi rm Aecom with a $1.3
million contract on Jan. 22 to
determine the feasibility study
for the project, which would revive
passenger service on the
Bay Ridge Branch — a freight
line that once carried straphangers
through Bay Ridge,
Bensonhurst, Midwood, and
East Flatbush until it was decommissioned
in 1924.
The study will evaluate the
potential for a subway, commuter
rail, light rail or even a
bus service for the line, all of
which would operate in conjunction
with existing and
planned freight rail service, the
MTA announced.
The passenger line would
stretch from Brooklyn Army
Terminal in Sunset Park to Astoria,
Queens, and would connect
to 11 existing subway stations
along the way, providing
transfers for 14 subway lines.
According to one urban
planner, the train would play a
pivotal role in linking transitstarved
residents to subways
and increasing accessibility
within Brooklyn.
“Transit service on the Bay
Ridge Line would not only provide
better transit service between
the outer boroughs, but
also cut construction and acquisition
costs since the rail
tracks are already there,” said
Tom Wright, the president and
CEO of the nonprofi t the Regional
Plan Association.
The Bay Ridge Branch
makes up about half of a longer
line called the Triboro Line —
a proposed passenger train that
would continue past Astoria,
up through the Bronx.
A map displaying the route a proposed billion-dollar passenger train would take from Staten Island through
Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. Illustration by Regional Plan Association
The Regional Plan Association
has pushed for a study
on the Triboro Line since the
1990s, and in June, support for
the train ratcheted up when Assemblywoman
Latrice Walker
(D—Brownsville) proposed a
bill calling on the Metropolitan
Transit Authority to conduct a
study for the project.
While passenger service
on the Bay Ridge Branch has
been defunct since the early
1900s, some urban planners argue
that the freight line is wellsuited
for commission because
its tracks are currently underutilized,
and the existing infrastructure
would help keep costs
down relative to building new
tunnels.
But the project’s astronomical
costs make the Bay Ridge
Branch line unlikely.
A senior analyst at the
Regional Plan Association
pegged the project’s price between
$1 billion and $2 billion
— a fi gure that would eat up
a sizable chunk of the transit
authority’s $5.7 billion budget
for all Long Island Rail
Road-related work in its 2020-
2024 Capital Plan.
Another recent MTA study
revealed that a similar proposal
to restore passenger service
along an existing Rockaway
line would cost a jaw-dropping
$6.8 billion — more than $6 billion
more than originally estimated,
the City reported.
An MTA spokesman did
not say how long the Bay Ridge
Branch study will take, but previous
feasibility studies indicate
that the project will likely
take years.
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RAIL EXPENSE!
Engineers begin million-dollar study of billion-dollar passenger train
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