Keep The Jar Bar Alive: Aid Jason Spratt

This fund has been created to try and right an egregious wrong that occurred to a local business and its owner. A great contributor to our neighborhood was attacked and left for dead in broad daylight in the very streets he tries to help; More details can be found below.

So we've set this up because it's time someone that has given the community so much, be on the receiving end of being taken care of.

A Brief History of The Jar Bar: One of the oldest businesses in our neighborhood, it's been around since 1927, under a few different names depending on which of the seven generations of owners it was under. It was one of the first bars in NYC to serve alcohol as soon as prohibition was repealed. It's a lovely and cozy little bar.

A little about Jason Spratt, the current owner: He came to Sunnyside from Ireland 19 years ago, paving his own way before acquiring the bar about 10 years ago. He's known throughout Sunnyside for helping out locals, hosting free cookouts on holidays at the bar to give back and feed families for free throughout the neighborhood (out of his own pocket, not the bar's), as well as employing locals. He's contributed, donated, and/or participated in many local programs and organizations. Sunnyside Shines can attest that within his short time of being a local business owner, he's actually contributed more than $10K in donations to the community, a record unmatched by any other business in the area. Should he lose the bar, the neighborhood not only loses such a positive light in the community, but it strips Jason of being able to give back, which he absolutely loves doing.

The Incident(s):On September 29th, 2024, Jason Spratt was viciously attacked and put into a coma for four days in the middle of the day while en route to drop off the bar's earnings, $17,500. Just 24 hours earlier, his mum had arrived from Ireland to visit, only for a mother's worst fear to happen and spend most of her NYC visit in a hospital next to her son's hospital bed.

While in his coma, a set of perpetrators had broken into the bar around 5 am and had emptied the bar's safe of its emergency funds of $13,000.

Jason came out of his coma with stitches and a huge scar on his skull from where the attackers repeatedly kicked him before leaving him for dead. He got to spend about 36-48 hours with his mum before she had to depart to Ireland. They got to go get CAT scans, MRIs, pick up prescriptions, as well as fill out police reports.

As someone who has met Jason on several occasions, he is absolutely the last person in the world you'd expect this to happen to. The bar has been left strapped to pay its rent, utilities, inventory, and staff. I've tried donating my own time to help recover footage from the CCTV system to help detectives with their investigation. I'll be further helping by trying to upgrade and install a new CCTV system to be more proactive about such unsavory behavior.

We're asking for any aid to help keep the Jar Bar open for years to come, making up for the losses so that staff can be compensated on time, the bar's rent, Jason won't have to worry about medical expenses, upgrading CCTV, etc.

If you cannot give, the very least that could be done is visit the establishment, have a pint, attend an event such as Open Mic Nights, Halloween Scare-aoke (Karaoke). That directly contributes to helping while quenching your thirst. It's pretty tough to beat the Jar's Happy Hour prices.

Please have a look at the article below covering the attacks, and if you have any information that can lead to an arrest, please contact the 108th Precinct to assist in the investigation.

Sunnyside Post article of the events

Thanks again for anything you can help accomplish.