Last call at Coogan's :

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Title :

Last call at Coogan's : the life and death of a neighborhood bar / Jon Michaud.

Title:

Last call at Coogan's :

Author:

Michaud, Jon, 1967-

Format:

Books

Physical Description:

xiii, 306 pages : illustrations, maps ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

ISBN:

9781250221780

Production / Publication Information:

New York : St. Martin's Press, 2023.

Summary:

"The uniquely inspiring story of a beloved neighborhood bar that united the communities it served. Coogan's Bar and Restaurant opened in New York City's Washington Heights in 1985 and closed its doors for good in the pandemic spring of 2020. Sometimes called Uptown City Hall, it became a staple of neighborhood life during its 35 years in operation-a place of safety and a bulwark against prejudice in a multi-ethnic, majority-immigrant community undergoing rapid change. Last Call at Coogan's by Jon Michaud tells the story of this beloved saloon, from the challenging years of the late 80's and early 90's, when Washington Heights suffered from the highest crime rate in the city, to the 2010's, when gentrification pushed out longtime residents and nearly closed Coogan's itself; only a massive community mobilization led by superstar Lin-Manuel Miranda and local politicians kept the doors open. This book touches on many serious issues facing the country today: race relations, policing, gentrification, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Along the way, readers will meet the bar's owners and an array of its most colorful regulars, such as an aspiring actor from Kentucky who dreams of bringing a theater company to Washington Heights, a television reporter who loves karaoke, and a Puerto Rican community board manager who falls in love with an Irish cop from the local precinct. At its core, this is the story of one small business, the people who worked there, the customers they served, and the community they all called home"--

Bibliography note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Language:

English

Corporate Subject:

Coogan's Bar and Restaurant (New York, N.Y.) -- History.

Geographic Term:

New York (N.Y.) -- Social life and customs.

Subject Term:

Restaurants -- New York (State) -- New York -- History.

Interviews -- New York (State) -- New York.

HOUSE & HOME / General.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Material Type	Library	Call Number	Item Barcode	Location
Book	Searching... Andover - Memorial Hall Library	647.95 MIC	31330009357801	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

The uniquely inspiring story of a beloved neighborhood bar that united the communities it served.

Coogan's Bar and Restaurant opened in New York City's Washington Heights in 1985 and closed its doors for good in the pandemic spring of 2020. Sometimes called Uptown City Hall, it became a staple of neighborhood life during its 35 years in operation--a place of safety and a bulwark against prejudice in a multi-ethnic, majority-immigrant community undergoing rapid change.

Last Call at Coogan's by Jon Michaud tells the story of this beloved saloon, from the challenging years of the late 80's and early 90's, when Washington Heights suffered from the highest crime rate in the city, to the 2010's, when gentrification pushed out longtime residents and nearly closed Coogan's itself; only a massive community mobilization including local politicians and Lin-Manuel Miranda kept the doors open.

This book touches on many serious issues facing the country today: race relations, policing, gentrification, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Along the way, readers will meet the bar's owners and an array of its most colorful regulars, such as an aspiring actor from Kentucky who dreams of bringing a theater company to Washington Heights, a television reporter who loves karaoke, and a Puerto Rican community board manager who falls in love with an Irish cop from the local precinct. At its core, this is the story of one small business, the people who worked there, the customers they served, and the community they all called home.

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Librarian Michaud (When Tito Loved Clara) delivers a stirring tribute to Coogan's, a restaurant and bar in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. From its opening in 1985, when the neighborhood was at the mercy of drugs and gun violence, to the gentrification that pushed away many of its working-class and mostly Dominican population in the 2000s, owners Peter Walsh and Dave Hunt--and later, Tess O'Connor, who started as a bartender and ended as a partner--worked to make Coogan's a welcoming place for everyone. Cops dropped in after their shifts, local politicians met to cut deals and listen to their constituents, staff from a nearby hospital came for lunch, and residents held wakes in one of its rooms. Both Walsh and Hunt "shared a belief in the promise of New York as an engine of social cohesion," according to Michaud, a former regular who compares Coogan's to "the most democratic institutions in the city--subways, parks, and libraries--which are open to all and encourage the comingling of people from different backgrounds." A substantial rent increase, increased competition, and the Covid-19 pandemic ended Coogan's run in March 2020. Earnest, evocative, and full of crisply rendered profiles of employees and patrons, this is a rewarding study of how communities are built. (June)

Booklist Review

The forces of fate figured into both the birth and demise of Coogan's, an iconic restaurant and bar located in the northern Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights. After suffering an accident and winning a subsequent lawsuit, electrician Joey McFadden used his proceeds to fund two bars (in which he ultimately sold his interests), McFadden's and Coogan's. McFadden's friend, Sean Cannon, chose Washington Heights as a prospective location for the bar, and it opened on October 31, 1985. The initial years of Coogan's witnessed various changes in ownership, but the building's location near Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital generated foot traffic. For 35 years, folks gravitated toward the bar and restaurant for its promise of comfort, good vibes, and everlasting memories, until it closed in the spring of 2020. Last Call at Coogan's serves as a memorable Irish wake in book form for a beloved establishment where the owners looked out for the patrons as much as for themselves. Librarian and author Michaud (When Tito Loved Clara, 2011) offers a touching chronicle of a beloved New York watering hole.

Library Journal Review

This lovely book stems from a New Yorker article by librarian Michaud (When Tito Loved Clara) about the demise of his favorite neighborhood bar. If it were an obituary, it would read something like this: Coogan's. Born 1985, located on the west side of the Bronx, not far from the George Washington Bridge and one block from Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. It's an Irish bar whose Irish American owners believed in having a multicultural staff; its longtime greeter was Black, and bartenders and servers were Dominican and Indian. Patrons were of diverse backgrounds; they were hospital workers, cops, politicos, and neighborhood residents who valued a good time. Life at Coogan's was the opposite of social distancing, but by 2020, gentrification and rising costs put the restaurant at risk. Then came the pandemic. Michaud provides cameos of the owners, workers, and regulars and a rich accounting of the pleasures and woes of this remarkable neighborhood social institution. VERDICT Warm, humane, and generous, this book ticks every box for a pleasurable read.--David Keymer

Prologue	1
Part 1 In Business
1 Why Are We Going to Open a Place up There?	7
2 In over Their Heads	15
3 Uptown	23
4 The Dividing Line	29
5 Special Doesn't Come Overnight	37
6 Exactly Who You'd Hope to Find Behind the Bar	45
7 Managing	53
8 One of the Toughest Days	61
9 Reorganization	70
10 A Poet Walks into a Bar	73
11 Mutual Admiration	79
Part 2 Coogan's Castle
12 Passing the Word	85
13 Eyes on the Street	92
14 Artsy-Fartsy	100
15 Alliances	106
16 Uprising	113
17 Camelot on the Hudson	127
18 Boss Always Right	130
19 Up the Block	135
20 The Dance o' the Hop and the Barley	140
21 Spilled Milk	148
Part 3 A Moral Pub
22 A New Lease on Life	155
23 A Piece of the Pie	160
24 A Republican	163
25 In the Heights	171
26 Could We Consider Other Options?	177
27 In the Middle of It	182
28 Rules of Order	186
29 Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks	193
30 The Apostrophe	199
31 God Forgives You	204
32 Every New Yorker's Nightmare	211
33 Ballad of the Spirit	214
Part 4 Homecoming
34 Regulars	221
35 The Dreamers	226
36 Changes	230
37 How Stupid Could You Be?	236
38 Why Are You Crying?	242
39 #YeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaahBOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIII	250
40 Saved by a Neighborhood	255
41 An Attack on the Urban Ecosystem	259
42 Life Is a Vacation from Death	265
43 The Suspension of Everyday Life	267
44 A Strange Farewell	271
45 A Bar Full of Life	277
Afterword	281
Acknowledgments	287
Notes on Sources	290
Notes	296
Index	299

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents