Beer belly — or baby bump?
A storefront in the East Village is billing itself as the city’s “first bar for pregnant women.”
Gestations at Fifth Street and Avenue A proclaims, “All you mothers-to-be should come check out our trimester specials and our 9-month happy hour because now you’re drinking for two!”
Its Facebook page — which features a pregnant lady popping a bottle of bubbly — claims that expectant mamas are the perfect clients because they can fit more booze in their stomachs.
“The bigger the belly, the more you can drink. True for men and pregnant women #gestationsny,” it declares.
It may just be a tasteless advertising gimmick — but the wacky signage has sparked plenty of, well, pregnant pauses from passers-by.
Nearby residents say businesses will do anything — including going against the long-standing advice of doctors not to drink while knocked up.
“It’s just silly. People are running out of ideas!” said one neighbor.
Others called it just plain tacky.
“It’s insane . . . I think it portrays a poor image,” another neighbor fumed. The storefront, at 504 E. Fifth Street, which once hosted a pharmacy, has sat vacant for three years. Signs for the new “bar” popped up on Thursday — along with a Facebook page that urges visitors to download the bar-finding app Bartendr.
“#gestationsny will have free pregnancy test kits when you buy a pitcher. Check out our profile on #BARTRENDr to see what else we’ll carry,” the Facebook page boasts.
Just hours after the signs went up, one reviewer on the app quipped, “What a perfect place to find women already on the perfect birth control!”
The business hasn’t applied for a liquor license or other permits for the space, said Community Board 3 leader Susan Stetzer.
“They’re saying it’s a bar, but they haven’t applied for a liquor license. At this point it’s nothing . . . Maybe it’s going to be a milk bar or a juice bar,” she said.
A sultry female’s voice on the business’s answering machine invites guests to “visit us on October 25 at 504 East Fifth Street before that water breaks.”
The business behind the sign didn’t return requests for comment on Friday.