“It’s a great job. You get to see all your friends,” said Bowden, who tends bar Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, from 9 p.m. till close. “I like being around all of the different people who come into the bar, people from [age] 21 to people in their 70s. I meet so many interesting people, people who I would not have probably ever met or talked to, if they weren’t here in the bar.”
Such as the gray-haired senior citizen who’s become such a good friend with Bowden that the two have even attended plays together.
“If I didn’t have this job, I don’t think my [friends’ age-range] would be so big,” said Bowden, who previously tended bar at the now-closed Christopher Street. “This is just a neighborhood bar, where everybody is welcome.”
Yes, Cell Block is welcoming to all, though Bowden knows there is a huge misconception about the bar.
“For the first seven years this bar was open, this was a hardcore, leather, fetish bar. Every person who walked in here was in full leather, or rubber, and we had a play room in the back. That’s how it was for a long time—and people were scared to death to come in here,” Bowden said. “But we’re not like that anymore, though people are still scared to come in here because, in their head, they think that that’s what this place is.”
In reality, Bowden said, “it is so friendly here, with a great, wide variety of [customers].”
Bowden enjoys his free time during the days, which always includes reading USA TODAY, which he subscribes to.
Bowden also organizes an annual coat-drive, starting Nov. 1, to aide those at the Northside Grocery Center (5543 N. Broadway). He collected more than 300 coats this winter, thanks to Cell Block customers and bins he set up for donations at Cheetah Gym in Edgewater, where he trains.
“Since our customers are all different ages, we get all different types and styles of coats,” Bowden said. “The people [receiving the coats] are just so appreciative. They are so grateful, just for getting something that everyone else takes for granted.”
THE STATS
Name: Mark Bowden
Age: 48
Neighborhood: Edgewater
Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas
Relationship status: Single
Favorite Book: Prince of Tides
Favorite movies: The Color Purple and Driving Miss Daisy
Text and PHOTOS by Ross Forman