Documentary About Iconic Coogan's Bar Is Coming To The Big Screen

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Coogan's is coming to the big screen.

The iconic Washington Heights bar and restaurant Coogan's closed its doors in April after serving customers in the community for over 35 years. Even after its closure, owners of the storied bar have found ways to continue supporting the Upper Manhattan neighborhood.

The shuttered watering hole partnered with Facebook on a small-business drive, donated over $100,000 to businesses in Harlem, Inwood, and Washington Heights, and provided Christmas lights for community trees last holiday season.

Now, the story of Coogan's and its endless cast of New York City characters is making its world premiere during the opening night of the 2021 Harlem International Film Festival on Thursday.

The documentary "Coogan's Way" will premiere Thursday as part of two triple-header screenings at the AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9 Theaters.

You'll be able to watch the documentary for yourself starting Friday on the Harlem Film Festival's website.

Director Glenn Osten Anderson takes you through a 67-minute retelling of how Coogan's came to find a home in Washington Heights, becoming a beacon of community for the many different races and creeds of the community, and how the neighborhood rallied around the bar to fight off impending closure.

The documentary tells Coogan's story through interviews with the myriad of characters that made the bar such an institution over the decades.

Owners Dave Hunt, Tess O'Connor McDade, and Peter Walsh provide their retelling of the bar's history along with Charlie Rangel, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, Lin Manuel Miranda, his father Luis Miranda, the late New York Times reporter and Coogan's regular Jim Dwyer, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, local youth coach Dave Crenshaw, writer Led Black, former employees, and many more.

"When it comes to the restaurant, it is about the people. That's the best way of saying it, it's not about the furniture, it's about the people," Walsh told Patch about the upcoming documentary premiere. "The people made us who we are, and we just had a very giving and vibrant community in Washington Heights."

Walsh sheepishly mentioned that he had a challenging time watching the documentary due to his leading role in the story, but he also couldn't contain his excitement about the upcoming premiere and the stellar job Anderson had done making the movie amid a pandemic.

Here's how the Harlem Film Festival describes the documentary:

"In the late 1980s and early 1990s, NYC’s Washington Heights neighborhood was considered the epicenter of America’s crack cocaine epidemic. Amid gang wars, street riots, and growing tensions between citizens and police – the community needed a safe space, a political hub, a cultural center, and a home-away-from-home. Coogan’s Way is the story of how a small bar and restaurant that welcomed all races, religions, and interests became a force for good in the community. And how decades later, when the owners were faced with the challenges of a rapidly changing NYC real estate market, their diverse and dynamic clientele fought for this beloved institution."

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, there is a limited invite-only audience for the in-person event at the Magic Johnson Harlem Theater, but you can livestream "Coogan's Way" on the Harlem Film Festival's website beginning Friday at midnight.

You can find that livestream and also preorder the documentary here.