where everybody knows your name

On   the eve of Yom Kippur,  a co-worker and I met up with friends at Coogan’s, an Irish pub in Washington Heights hard by New York Presbyterian. Coogan’s has been there forever and  it’s that kind of comfy bar that you can ease into a barstool  grab a pint of beer or a cocktail special for five dollars  and listen to some really entertaining karaoke.  Case in point, an older Mexican gentleman in full Mexican regalia with an elaborate sombrero, purposefully strutted into Coogan’s pulling his rolling cart and got up on stage  sang his heart out in a moving Spanish ballad and got off stage and rolled right out.  Love it!! The guys in the picture above  who were sitting next to me won two tickets to a Jets game in the nightly raffle .One of them confided to me that he’s really a die-hard Chicago Bears fan and hates the Jets even though he was a born and raised New Yorker.  Our friend Lori braved the fray and sang Cindi Lauper’s  “True Colors”  Good job!! The place is as diverse as it gets, off-duty cops, staff from the hospital, artsy types, neighborhood folks and more…..  And if your hungry, the burger and chicken quesadilla are pretty damn good.