Ding Dong Lounge
Lower East Side Dive on the Upper West. Located at Columbus & 106th Street. Crowd skews towards grad students and neighborhood folk. It's a bit of a walk from campus.
The New York Times said the bar has "the décor of an angst-ridden freshman’s dorm room," probably in reference to the peeling punk posters plastered everywhere [1]. Some of the taps are guitar necks. And there's a pool table and a Ms. Pac-Man machine.
There's often live music which is... hit, or very miss.
Good news: $2 for cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon, $3 for beer on tap, $5 for well drinks. And their "special": a $3 shot-and-a-beer of off-brand hooch.