Where to Watch the 2020 Oscars in NYC For Every Best Picture Pick

After shutting out female directors and snubbing actors of color, the Academy’s weathering another rough year. They’re hostless, under fire, hiring Billie Eilish for clout, and, somehow, resistant to making the changes necessary to stay relevant. Also, they didn’t nominate Sandler! For now, though, Oscar night is still must-see-TV -- there’s just something irresistible about watching movie stars dress up in rented diamonds, get inadvisably drunk, and open the wrong envelopes. And since neither you nor any of your friends have cable anymore, you’ve got to find a bar in NYC to watch the ceremony on Sunday, February 9.

To help, we’ve paired the nine Best Picture nominees -- Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood, Parasite, Little Women, Ford v Ferrari, 1917, Marriage Story, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, and Joker -- with a viewing party. Whether you want to pick up a divorce lawyer or meet a film buff who’s into feet, we’ve found the place for you watch the Oscars in NYC based on your pick for best flick. 

Lower East Side
Tarantino’s latest film, a love letter to Hollywood, is best watched in a temple built to motion pictures. The Metrograph movie theater will be showing the Oscars on two full-size screens, so you can sit back and watch the show like Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate watching herself in The Wrecking Crew (just, please, keep your shoes on, OK?) Spend the night wandering between the lobby and theaters, sipping cocktails, and screaming DiCaprio’s post-Lancer monologue at yourself in the bathroom mirror. 

Chinatown
For all the bleeding and singing Sondheim, Marriage Story is still just a movie about lawyers. Grab your briefcase and head to the Whiskey Tavern, a long-time lawyer haunt right down the street from the Manhattan Civil Courthouse, where they’ll be hosting an Oscar pool. You’ll be just a few blocks from the court where a couple can joyfully get a marriage license -- and, of course, the court where a couple can chew the scenery through their divorce.

Concourse Village
Before you root for your problematic fave, take a hike up the Insta-famous Joker Stairs. Located in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx, the steps connect Shakespeare and Anderson Avenues at West 167th. Pose for a photo before heading to Bronx Draft House -- just a 12-minute walk away -- to slam some beers and cheer for Joaquin Phoenix. Just make sure you visit the stairs before you get tipsy... they’re awfully steep if you’re not sober.

Nomad
Oscar Wilde, the queer icon and contemporary of Little Women author Louisa May Alcott, lends his name to this Victorian-styled bar. It’s the perfect place to cosplay Jo, Meg, Beth, or even (sorry) Amy -- your hoop skirts and Anthropologie-circa-2005 knits will fit right in among the decor. Dress like it’s a deb ball, because the bar will be hosting a full-blown Oscars Viewing Party with the show on four screens, a red carpet backdrop, and cocktails inspired by the nominated films.

Lower East Side
Looking to replicate the adrenaline rush of every male Boomer’s favorite flick of the year? At this retro arcade, you can slide on your aviators, jump behind the controls of vintage driving games Out Run and Crazy Taxi, and pretend you’re Christian Bale zooming around the track at Le Mans ‘66. They’ll be showing the Oscars on a giant projector screen, so you can catch the Academy Awards ceremony in between turns at the wheel.

Murray Hill
OK, so Lloyd George was the Prime Minister during World War One, but there’s no bar in NYC named after him, so the Churchill Tavern will have to do. Winston Churchill was merely First Lord of the Admiralty when WWI began, but he was swiftly demoted after a disastrous loss at the battle at Gallipoli. Regardless! Churchill was a British war hero, and there’s no better place to toast the British soldiers than at the tavern named after the man who uttered that famous inspirational quote: “A gentleman does not have a ham sandwich without mustard.”

Herald Square
At well over three hours, the Oscars run about as long as The Irishman, so you’ll want to pick a spot where you can stay for a while. Put on your cutest taller-than-Pacino platform shoes and head to an Irish pub, where you might just meet some new best friends who send your life spinning in a whole new direction. The Playwright has 54 TVs, but unfortunately they won’t let you pause them intermittently to watch the Oscars over the course of a few days.

Midtown East
Bring a pal (for the love of little green Äpfel, leave all of your imaginary friends -- dictatorial or otherwise -- at home) to share a few steins of bier and some schnitzel fingers. This Bavarian-style beer hall serves 2 liter boots of Hofbräu for $32, so you can get good and blotto by the time the Best Picture winner is announced. If Jojo wins, order the Bierhaus shotski to celebrate, which comes with four shots of Jägermeister: two for you and two for your friend, who is definitely, positively real.

Koreatown
To properly celebrate the first Korean film to ever be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, head to Koreatown. At Karaoke City, a gigantic sports bar and karaoke lounge, they’ll be playing the Oscars on the big screens behind the neon bar. After (or during -- that Oscars ceremony does get kind of boring) rent out a room and sing your heart out to a Parasite-themed playlist. Say, “Rich Girl”? “I Wanna Rock”? Literally anything by the Velvet Underground?

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