Barney Gallant, a Hungarian-born entrepreneur with a flair for the illicit and the extravagant, carved out a name for himself in the roaring underbelly of 1920s Greenwich Village. A longtime Village resident and member of the Liberal Club, Gallant was more than just a businessman—he was a provocateur, an impresario of the forbidden. Before launching his own speakeasies, he managed the Greenwich Village Theater and even shared a room with the legendary playwright Eugene O’Neill. But it was in 1919, at the dawn of Prohibition, that Gallant cemented his infamy. As a partner in the Greenwich Village Inn, he made headlines when federal agents enforcing the freshly minted Volstead Act raided his establishment. When the authorities sought to arrest his waiters for serving alcohol, Gallant—true to his name—took the fall himself, refusing to comply with the law. His defiance earned him 30 days in the infamous Tombs prison and the distinction of being the first person in New York arrested for breaking Prohibition. The move made him an instant legend, and he capitalized on it spectacularly.
With a gambler’s nerve and a showman’s instinct, Gallant turned prohibition into profit, running some of the most exclusive speakeasies in the Village. His venues—Club Gallant, Barney’s, Speako de Luxe—became infamous haunts for the rebellious and the refined, attracting everyone from starry-eyed Midwestern transplants to high-society women hungry for a taste of the forbidden. Even businessmen flush with fast cash found their way into his dimly lit enclaves, drawn by the promise of a drink and the thrill of stepping outside the law. As Stanley Walker recounted in The Night Club Era (1933), the scene at Club Gallant was a swirling mix of youthful longing, old-money mischief, and everyday thirst. Gallant’s empire of indulgence helped define an era where the Village was the epicenter of both artistic revolution and underground excess. His name, like his clubs, remains etched in the lore of New York’s most notorious nightlife.