Lafayette Court, Pageant Books, and The Central Bar (9th Street)

109 East 9th Street, between 3rd and 4th Ave, was the home of Pageant Books and Prints (made famous in Hannah and Her Sisters) from the 1950's through the 1990's.  It later became, in rapid succession, Pageant (a restaurant), No. 9 (a restaurant), and The Central Bar, an Irish pub that remains at the address.  The building is adjacent to a small private street/driveway known once as Lafayette Court.

1933 view of the north side of 9th Street between 3rd and 4th Avenues.  No. 109 is on the left, with nos. 111 and 113 to the right, which were demolished in the early 1960's and replaced by the St. Mark apartment building at 115 East 9th.  It's difficult to tell what business exists at 109 in this photo.
NYPL Digital Gallery

Map showing no. 109 and the adjacent Lafayette Court, with its own addresses.  Note the Bible House across 9th Street.
NYPL Digital Gallery

In 1911, a real estate deal combined the building at 59 Fourth Ave with two of the lots on the adjacent Lafayette Court behind the building.  The building was apparently expanded and the unusually-shaped result can be seen here.
Deal in Fourth Avenue Loft Zone, New York Times, June 7, 1911

Pageant Books and Prints, no. 109 East 9th St, c. 1986, with Michael Caine and Barbara Hershey from Hannah and Her Sisters.

Luke Wilson and Rainn Wilson in a scene from My Super Ex-Girlfriend, filmed inside The Central Bar, 2006.

A current view of no. 109 from Google, note the gated Lafayette Court to the left.

Some NY Times articles about 109 East 9th Street's shady past...

• 1878: A group runs a scam selling broken-down horses
  SWINDLERS BALKED: At No. 109 East Ninth-street...and in a number of other localities are pseudo livery-stables which, the Police say, are run by a company of swindlers...
• 1895: A fight over loud children
  BADLY WOUNDED WITH A BOTTLE: William Tardoe of 109 East Ninth Street was struck on the head Monday night with a soda-water bottle by Mrs. Catherine Lynch of the same address.
• 1900: Policeman slips and falls, perhaps
  POLICEMAN BADLY INJURED: Patrolman Benjamin Harrison...was found suffering from concussion of the brain and a possible fracture of the skull...in front of 109 East Ninth Street...
• 1954: A coffee roaster faces prison
  ROASTER CONVICTED; Faces 4-Year Term for Adding Cereal to His '100% Coffee': Herman Wiengast, president of the Louvain Coffee Company, 109 East Ninth Street, was convicted yesterday in Federal Court...