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This venue is closed.

Add Cash Checking to the list of bars in low-rent neighborhoods capitalizing on a proletarian past—Happy Ending, Pencil Factory, Pianos, and Tenement are others. And while it isn't the first Brooklyn bar to take over a check-cashing storefront (68 Jay St., Moto), Cash Checking is certainly the only one to keep the old décor, including linoleum floors and tinted windows that just scream bulletproof. Thankfully, all this repurposing adds up to an extemporaneous night out—it's the patrons, not the bar, that glamorize this burned-out block stalked mostly by prostitutes in previous years. Red lights lend artsy New Romantic types in coifed 'dos, skinny ties, and look-sharp suits the proper cheesy '80s music-video vibe, and the tiny bar does double-duty as a DJ booth. The one-room space is small, but a mellow outdoor patio that peers out onto a vacant graffitied lot handles smokers, spillage, and late Sunday-afternoon BBQs. And while the recently shuttered Domino's factory down the street means there are no longer any checks to cash, luxury loft apartments just might bring with them a bona fide bank. — Carla Spartos