Reader Steve wrote in awhile back to tell us of the demise of Finnegans Wake: "The corner has been sold for condos and it will be closed next July. It’s a tragedy."
So I went by for a drink. Or two.
In business since 1972 and located on First Avenue at 73rd Street, the place is just as Steve described, "a real neighborhood Irish pub filled with great locals that skew a bit older." Indeed, New York magazine says, "Those without an AARP card or a solid knowledge of the surrounding neighborhood may feel a bit out of place, but Finnegan's certainly offers a quaint alternative to the usually far-younger postgrad mob."
Perfection.
The bartender, a very friendly guy, informed me that a 33-story tower is coming. (The news originally came out in July. The Post lays the blame on the "Second Avenue Subway real estate boom"-- so say a prayer for Heidelberg and the rest of Yorkville's German soul.)
The bartender also noted that one business on the block is giving the developers a fight. Stay tuned.
(And here's an explanation of why James Joyce put no apostrophe in Finnegans Wake.)
A small thing: their signage has no apostrophe, just like Joyce’s title.
ReplyDeleteThe vestigially interesting shops/bars/restaurants on the Upper East Side are almost always located in old tenement buildings, which are inexorably being replaced by new residential high-rises with banks and Duane Reades in their (larger) retail spaces. Also, the area now is something of a "restaurant desert."
ReplyDeleteThis is my neighborhood pub. Ive been coming here for 30 years. Im sick of this. They completely gentrified 86th st, right out of all the German places I grew up on. Now this. Had it.
ReplyDelete