“Topsy’s Fun House, a wonderful experience from top to bottom. Art-directed within an inch of its life, the Financial District cocktail spot is neither clownish nor self-serious, just well thought-out. And the drinks are very good.
For starters, the stools are giant springs (or, in a couple cases, car crankshafts mounted on brake drums) and they’re fun to sit on. There are bartending tools embedded in the cement just outside the front door. The front wall is painted in a harlequin-diamond pattern. Amid the punched tin, a see-through ceiling panel reveals an upside-down tableau stuck up there. All in all, Topsy’s pulled off a slick move, which is to feel au courant without looking brand-new.