Fewer and fewer bars in the five boroughs establish themselves as a neighborhood hangout without the assistance of a television to draw patrons in. Even Greenwich Village pub staples The White Horse Tavern and McSorley's Ale House have sets, though the latter claims theirs is rarely on. Today's Times goes out in search of bars that forge ahead without the distraction of a TV, a group that Brooklyn Brewery owner Stephen Hindy calls a vanishing species. Not surprisingly, the ones they find wear their lack of television as a badge of honor at bars like Scratcher and Beer Table in Park Slope, where they seem to have no problem turning away customers looking to watch a game with their pint. An owner of the Swift Hiberian Lounge NoHo tells the Times, "We’ve never had a television because we wanted to inspire something that is close to the conviviality of pubs in Ireland.” One of the patrons there added, "The only good thing about a TV is that if you want to dump a girl, you can pretend to be watching it."