Out & About

Oh, it's great to hear the really good human stories that are out there; like the New York Irish Center in Long Island City, Queens where a lot of the older Irish  immigrants are been well taken care of by none other than Father Colm Campbell himself.

Located just across the East River from Manhattan, in Long Island City, "the Center" has a remarkable story in the history of Irish immigration to New York.

Eight years ago, members of the city's Irish community, immigrants themselves and business leaders in the construction and restaurant trades, banded together to secure a property that could serve as a Center for all things Irish in the region, under the guidance of the community's spiritual leader, Belfast-born Fr. Colm Campbell.

Within a couple of years the building was fully renovated and providing a home and valuable services to Irish immigrants; among them were the elderly.

These seniors brought to light the shameful fact that older generations of Irish immigrants had largely been forgotten, with their contributions to the community under-appreciated, and in increasing danger of falling into isolation as they aged.

Fr. Colm made sure that this would no longer be the case, and he started the Senior Lunch Club, a day each week when Irish seniors can come together, enjoy a good meal, a cup of tea and a biscuit, and most importantly, sit and chat and stay in touch with each other.

And, in a great example of a community giving back, Fr. Colm was able to enlist restaurants to supply the lunches on a rotating basis.

Now the Center wants to extend the opportunity to become part of this remarkable story.

If you are a New York restaurant owner, they invite you to join with the many fine establishments already participating.

Here are the restaurants who donate their time and food. Thanks to all of you for a job well done (again you can't beat the Irish) from The Irish Examiner newspaper: The Astoria Brewhouse, The Banc Cafe, Bar43, Bliss Restaurant in Sunnyside, Bourbon Street, Brendan's, The Butcher's Block, The Coliseum, Connolly's Corner, The Copper Kettle in Woodside, The Corner Stone in Maspeth, Cronin & Phelan's, The Cuckoo's Nest, Donovan's Pub, The Grandstand in Elmhurst, Harbor Light, The Irish Pub, Langan's, Lillie's, Maggie's Place, Maspeth Ale House, McGee's, The Molly Wee, O'Reilly's, The Oldcastle, O'Lunney's, O'Neill's, P.D. O'Hurley's, PJ Moran's, Rosie O'Grady's, Sidetracks, Vertigo and Yer Man's in Glendale.

Great stuff lads!

Want to become a donating restaurant? If so, please send an email to: GiveFood@newyorkirishcenter.org with a subject of: 'Yes, I will give back!'

The Emerald Isle Immigration Center hosted a number of Citizenship events during April, offering the community in Queens and the Bronx the opportunity to learn about the naturalization process and receive help from the Center's counselors to process their applications.

The Queens events were held on April 5 and on April 16 and the Bronx office hosted sessions on April 7 and 9.

The Citizenship Informational Evenings, which took place in both offices, saw the Center offer direct contact with USCIS officers, who presented informative presentations on the N-400 application process.

The center has processed a total of more than 70 new applications for US citizenship as a result of this initiative.

They noted their gratitude to the USCIS public affairs department for attending with their staff on Tuesday, April 5 when the Queens office was packed to capacity.

Those in attendance were also greeted by EIIC chair, Brian O'Dwyer and New York City Council Member, Daniel Dromm.

On June 12, The Molloy College Irish Studies Institute in conjunction with Martin Galvin, Esq., and Brian O'Keefe, Esq., President of the Nassau County Brehon Law Society, will present a discussion on the Great Irish Hunger Strike of 1981. 

The event will take place at 3pm in the Multipurpose Room, Wilbur Arts Center, Molloy College, Rockville Centre.

Galvin, a New York born attorney of Irish ancestry, has been a featured guest on ABC's Nightline, NBC's Today, CNN, PBS as well as Irish, and British television networks. 

People magazine called him the foremost advocate for the Irish Republican cause in America. 

He is slated to discuss the cause and effect of the hunger strike in 1981 that took the lives of 10 Irish patriots (including Bobby Sands) who had been imprisoned in H-Block prison and were fighting to get recently revoked rights reinstated from the British. 

The lecture will focus on these men, what the issues were in Ireland at the time, and the effect that it had on the United States. 

A question and answer session will be moderated by Mr. O'Keefe.

The Irish Studies Institute works to illuminate and document the central role Irish Americans have played, and continue to play, in the United States; and to extend and enrich exchanges between Irish Americans and those from other cultural backgrounds. 

The Institute will highlight the rich history, integration and cultural exchanges of the Irish throughout the New York metropolitan area and beyond.

For further information please contact Catherine Muscente, The Molloy College Irish Studies Institute on (516) 678-5000 ext. 6218 or cmuscente@molloy.edu.  There is no charge for this event.

The response on the airfares to Ireland for a $500 round-trip has been unbelievable. We'd like to hope that the airlines might take it up for the whole year round... gee I might even go myself, and I am sure thousands of others might do the same; it's only a suggestion... 

Now that I've got that off my chest, here's some good news: I went to Kennedy's on 57th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues) which is back open again.

Its new owners are none other than Paul Hurley and Michael Glynn together with one of the top executive chefs, Paul Loftus.

Now what a trio you have here reestablishing this great restaurant with the cream of the crop in both management and service; now where would you get Dublin and Galway together? Oh you never know, begorra... I hope I said that right?

In all seriousness the place is looking like its old self with Neil in the front bar and, yes, he's back in the back bar: the one and only Maurice O'Connell - one of New York's most famous bartenders for over 30 years and well known to all celebrities and politicians.

That said, why are the Health Department seemingly trying to close down all the restaurants and bars in the city? It's got out of hand now with what they are doing and it just seems thatmost of the inspectors don't know their right hand from their left.

The Mayor and the New York City Council House Speaker and the Council must stop this as it looks like a shake down. After all, these hard working owners and managers who give more employment than anybody else in this great city of New York are suffering for the misguidance of some of these inspectors who walk in as if they are little 'jobs-worths'.

See you all next week...