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Last Call at Coogan's: The Life and Death of a Neighborhood Bar
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About This Book
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 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.
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Reviews
"Michaud provides cameos of the owners, workers, and regulars and a rich accounting of the pleasures and woes of this remarkable neighborhood social institution."
"For most of their customers, alcohol is a means, not an end ..."
"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."
"...a stirring tribute ..."
"From these few pages of more personal writing, one has the sense of an earnest, inquisitive and genial customer, if not someone who kept his internal stenographer on call at all hours of the night."
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